Matthew 4

Then the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness, an empty and unsettled place, to be tempted by the devil.

1Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

NoteThe King James "led up of the Spirit" uses "of" where modern English says "by." The Greek word translated "tempted" covers two senses at once: luring someone into wrongdoing, and putting someone to the proof to see what they are made of. Both senses are live here. "Devil" renders a Greek word meaning slanderer or accuser.

2He went without food for forty days and forty nights, and after that he was hungry.

2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

NoteForty days and nights is a standard span in the Hebrew scriptures for a long ordeal or a period of preparation: the rain of the flood, Moses on the mountain, Elijah's journey, and Israel's forty years in the wilderness. A reader of Matthew's day would hear the echo. Going without food was a recognized religious practice, usually joined to mourning or prayer.

3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

NoteThe wilderness of Judea is covered in rounded limestone stones that look very like the small flat loaves of the region, so the suggestion is a taunt aimed at what is in front of his eyes. The Greek "if you are the Son of God" can be read either as a genuine doubt or as "since you are," a dare to prove what is already claimed; the wording leaves both open.

4But Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say, 'A person shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

NoteJesus is quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, words spoken to Israel about their forty years in the wilderness, when God fed them with manna. "It is written" was the ordinary formula for introducing a quotation from scripture, the way we might say "the text reads."

5Then the devil took him into the holy city, Jerusalem, and set him on the highest point of the temple.

5Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

NoteThe "holy city" is Jerusalem, called holy because the temple stood there. "Pinnacle" in 1611 English means the topmost point or a projecting wing, not a spire. The temple platform stood on the edge of a steep drop into the Kidron valley, so a fall from its highest corner was a very long one.

6He said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For the Scriptures say, 'He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

6And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

NoteThe devil is quoting Psalm 91:11-12, a psalm about God protecting those who trust him. Scripture is being used against scripture here, which is why the next verse answers with another quotation.

7Jesus said to him, "The Scriptures also say, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

7Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

NoteQuoting Deuteronomy 6:16, which refers to an incident at Massah where Israel demanded that God prove himself by producing water. In 1611 English "tempt" commonly meant to put to the test or try out, which is its sense here; it does not mean to entice God into sin.

8Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and how splendid they were.

8Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9He said to him, "I will give you all of this if you will fall down and worship me."

9And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

NoteThe Greek word behind "worship" describes the physical act: going down on your face before someone, the homage given to a king or to a god. "Fall down and worship" is one gesture, not two.

10Then Jesus said to him, "Go away from me, Satan. For the Scriptures say, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"

10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Note"Satan" is a Hebrew word meaning the adversary or the opponent, used as a name by this period. "Get thee hence" is simply "go away from here." The quotation is from Deuteronomy 6:13.

11Then the devil left him. And look: angels came and took care of him.

11Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Note"Ministered unto him" means waited on him or looked after him. Given that the previous verses turn on forty days without food, the service in view is most naturally the bringing of food.

12When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he went away to the region of Galilee.

12Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;

NoteThis is John the Baptist, whose preaching and baptizing opened the previous chapter. He was arrested by Herod Antipas, the Roman-appointed ruler of Galilee and Perea. "Cast into prison" is the King James way of saying he was jailed.

13He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, a town beside the lake, in the territory of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali.

13And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:

NoteThe King James "upon the sea coast" means the lakeshore, not an ocean coast. Capernaum was a fishing town on the northwest shore of the lake, sitting on a trade road, and considerably busier than the hill village of Nazareth. Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the northern districts had carried their names since the land was divided among the tribes centuries earlier.

14This happened so that what God said through the prophet Isaiah would come true:

14That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

Note"Esaias" is simply the Greek spelling of the name Isaiah, carried into the King James from the Greek New Testament.

15"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan River, Galilee where many Gentiles live…

15The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

NoteThe quotation is Isaiah 9:1-2. "The way of the sea" was a real road, the trade route running from Egypt up through this region toward Damascus. "Beyond Jordan" means the far, eastern side of the Jordan River. "Gentiles" means everyone who is not Jewish; the northern district had a large non-Jewish population, which is why Isaiah gives it that name.

16the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. For those who sat in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has dawned."

16The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Note"The region and shadow of death" translates a Hebrew expression for the deepest possible darkness, the blackness of a place where no light reaches. The image is of people sitting still in the dark rather than walking through it.

17From that time on, Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near."

17From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Note"Repent" translates a Greek word meaning to change your mind and turn around, a redirection of a whole life rather than an episode of feeling sorry. Matthew almost always writes "kingdom of heaven" where the other gospels write "kingdom of God"; "heaven" was a customary respectful substitute for naming God directly. "At hand" means near, close enough to reach out and touch.

18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the water, because they were fishermen.

18And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

NoteThe Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake, roughly thirteen miles long and eight wide, not a sea. The net being thrown is a circular one weighted around the rim, cast by hand from the shallows or from a boat so that it drops over a school of fish. "Simon called Peter" notes a nickname: Peter comes from the Greek word for rock.

19He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people."

19And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Note"Follow me" was the standing invitation of a teacher to a student. A student did not attend lectures; he attached himself to his teacher, walked behind him, lived alongside him and learned by imitation. "Fishers of men" uses "men" in the older inclusive sense of human beings.

20They left their nets right away and followed him.

20And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, repairing their nets. Jesus called them,

21And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

NoteThe King James "ship" means a small open wooden fishing boat rowed or sailed by a handful of men, not a large vessel. The linen nets tore constantly on rocks and had to be washed, dried and repaired after every night's work, which is what these two are doing.

22and they immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

22And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

NoteLeaving the boat and their father meant walking out of a family business. The boat, the nets and the hired help were the household's livelihood, and sons were expected to work in it and eventually inherit it.

23Jesus traveled all through Galilee. He taught in their synagogues, preached the good news about the kingdom, and healed every kind of sickness and every kind of disease among the people.

23And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

NoteA synagogue was the local meeting house where Jews of a town gathered, chiefly on the sabbath, to read the scriptures aloud and discuss them. A visiting teacher could be invited to speak. "Gospel" is an old English word meaning good news; the Greek behind it was used for the announcement of a victory or the accession of a new ruler.

24News about him spread through all of Syria. People brought him everyone who was sick with various diseases, those in severe pain, those controlled by demons, those who had seizures, and those who were paralyzed. And he healed them.

24And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

Note"Syria" is the Roman province to the north, with Damascus and Antioch as its major cities, so this means word traveled well beyond Galilee. "Divers diseases" means various diseases, and "torments" means severe pains. The "devils" of this verse translate a different Greek word from the one used for the devil earlier in the chapter: these are demons, lesser spirits held to afflict people. "Lunatick" literally means moonstruck, a standard term in 1611 for people with seizures, because the condition was thought to follow the phases of the moon. "Palsy" means paralysis.

25Large crowds followed him from Galilee, from the Decapolis, from Jerusalem, from Judea, and from the land beyond the Jordan River.

25And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

NoteThe Decapolis, literally "Ten Cities," was a league of mostly Greek-speaking cities lying east and south of the lake, with their own culture and largely non-Jewish populations. Judaea is the southern region around Jerusalem. "Beyond Jordan" again means the eastern side of the river, the district known as Perea. The list adds up to people coming from every direction, including territory outside Jewish jurisdiction.