Matthew 4:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

NIV: Jesus answered, 'It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.''

NASB: But He answered and said, 'It is written: ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF God.’?'

CSB: He answered, "It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

NLT: But Jesus told him, 'No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ '

KJV: But 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.

NKJV: But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

After Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness, He was hungry. "Fasting" does not require that a person have no food, at all, for the entire period. Given that Jesus was in the wilderness, however, scholars speculate He might have gone entirely without food and only taken in water. His body would have been aching to eat something. Satan's first temptation to Jesus is designed to exploit His human, physical appetite. He challenges Jesus to turn rocks into loafs of bread if He is the Son of God.

Satan knew Jesus was God's Son, and so did Jesus. The point of the temptation—and that remark—is to goad Jesus into acting independently of God the Father. Satan's goal is to cause Jesus to sin through exercising His own will instead of the Father's. Jesus understood clearly that the Father meant for Him to endure temptations in His physically weakened condition.

Jesus resists each temptation while quoting from Deuteronomy, tying His own experience of 40 days in the wilderness to Israel's experience of the 40 years after their escape from Egypt. Here, Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 8. In that passage, Moses is addressing the Israelites just as they are preparing to go finally enter the Promised Land of Israel:

"You shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD" (Deuteronomy 8:2–3).

Jesus tells Satan in no uncertain terms that He will live on obedience to the Father's word before giving into His appetite for food.

Matthew 4:1–11 describes Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. After 40 days and nights of fasting, Jesus faces three temptations from Satan. Each one attempts to lure Christ into abusing His power; to take immediately what God the Father has promised to provide later. Jesus resists each temptation with a quote from Deuteronomy, refusing to rebel against the plans of God the Father. Finally, Jesus refuses to worship the devil in exchange for the kingdoms of the earth. He tells the devil to leave, and angels come minister to Him.

Matthew 3 ended with the Holy Spirit coming to rest on Jesus following His baptism. Now the Spirit leads Him into the wilderness to endure tempting by the devil after 40 days of fasting. Jesus demonstrates His sinlessness by resisting all temptations. He begins His ministry in the region of Galilee, settling in Capernaum and calling some disciples to follow Him. Jesus' work in Galilee includes traveling from place to place, proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of heaven is near and healing every kind of affliction. He soon becomes famous, drawing huge crowds from great distances.

Matthew 3 ends with a great affirmation from the voice of God the Father: Jesus is His Son. Immediately after that, God's Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness for a time of temptation by the devil. Jesus passes that test and then begins His ministry in the region of Galilee. Jesus begins to call His disciples and travel around the region. He teaches in the synagogues and heals people with every kind of affliction. Jesus' fame grows quickly. This provides Him a large audience for the Sermon on the Mount, which Matthew begins to record in chapter 5.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.