Text -- Matthew 4:1-21 (NET)

The Temptation of Jesus

4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 4:2 After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished. 4:3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” 4:4 But he answered, answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, 4:6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 4:7 Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’” 4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur. 4:9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.” 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” 4:11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began ministering to his needs.

Preaching in Galilee

4:12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned, he went into Galilee. 4:13 While in Galilee, he moved from Nazareth to make his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 4:14 so that what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: 4:15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles– 4:16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.” 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach this message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

The Call of the Disciples

4:18 As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). 4:19 He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” 4:20 They left their nets immediately and followed him. 4:21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then he called them.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Mat 4:1

¹ tn Or “desert.”

NET Notes: Mat 4:2

¹ tn Grk “and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry.”

NET Notes: Mat 4:3

¹ tn Grk “say that these stones should become bread.”

NET Notes: Mat 4:4

¹ tn Grk “answering, he said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been changed for clarity.

² tn Or “a person.” Greek ὁ ἄνθρωπος (Jo anqrwpo") is used generically for humanity. The translation “man” is used because the emphasis in Jesus’ response seems to be on his dependence on God as a man.

³ tn Grk “will not live.” The verb in Greek is a future tense, but it is unclear whether it is meant to be taken as a command (also known as an imperatival future) or as a statement of reality (predictive future).

⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 8:3.

NET Notes: Mat 4:5

¹ sn The order of the second and third temptations differs in Luke’s account (4:5-12) from the order given in Matthew.

² tn Grk “and he stood him.”

³ sn The highest point of the temple probably refers to the point on the temple’s southeast corner where it looms directly over a cliff some 450 ft (135 m) high. However, some have suggested the reference could be to the temple’s high gate.

NET Notes: Mat 4:6

¹ sn A quotation from Ps 91:11. This was not so much an incorrect citation as a use in a wrong context (a misapplication of the passage).

² sn A quotation from Ps 91:12.

NET Notes: Mat 4:7

¹ sn A quotation from Deut 6:16.

NET Notes: Mat 4:8

¹ tn Grk “glory.”

NET Notes: Mat 4:9

¹ tn Grk “if, falling down, you will worship.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

NET Notes: Mat 4:10

¹ tc The majority of later witnesses (C² D L Z 33 Ï) have “behind me” (ὀπίσω μου; opisw mou) after “Go away.” But since this is the wording in Matt 16:23, where the text is certain, scribes most likely added the words here to conform to the later passage. Further, the shorter reading has superior support (א B C*^vid K P W Δ 0233 Ë^1,13 565 579* 700 al). Thus, both externally and internally, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.

² sn A quotation from Deut 6:13. The word “only” is an interpretive expansion not found in either the Hebrew or Greek (LXX) text of the OT.

NET Notes: Mat 4:11

¹ tn Grk “and behold, angels.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

NET Notes: Mat 4:12

¹ tn Grk “he.”

² tn Or “arrested,” “taken into custody” (see L&N 37.12).

NET Notes: Mat 4:13

¹ map For location see Map1 D3; Map2 C2; Map3 D5; Map4 C1; Map5 G3.

² tn Grk “and leaving Nazareth, he came and took up residence in Capernaum.”

sn Capernaum was a town located on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region, and it became the hub of operations for Jesus’ Galilean ministry.

map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

³ tn Or “by the lake.”

sn By the sea refers to the Sea of Galilee.

NET Notes: Mat 4:14

¹ tn The redundant participle λέγοντος (legontos) has not been translated here.

NET Notes: Mat 4:16

¹ sn A quotation from Isa 9:1.

NET Notes: Mat 4:17

¹ tn Grk “and to say.”

NET Notes: Mat 4:18

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² tn The two phrases in this verse placed in parentheses are explanatory comments by the author, parenthetical in nature.

NET Notes: Mat 4:19

¹ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

sn The kind of fishing envisioned was net – not line – fishing (cf. v. 18; cf. also BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμφιβάλλω, ἀμφίβληστρον) which involved a circular net that had heavy weights around its perimeter. The occupation of fisherman was labor-intensive. The imagery of using a lure and a line (and waiting for the fish to strike) is thus foreign to this text. Rather, the imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long hours, and often little results. Jesus’ point may have been one or more of the following: the strenuousness of evangelism, the work ethic that it required, persistence and dedication to the task (often in spite of minimal results), the infinite value of the new “catch” (viz., people), and perhaps an eschatological theme of snatching people from judgment (cf. W. L. Lane, Mark [NICNT], 67). If this last motif is in view, then catching people is the opposite of catching fish: The fish would be caught, killed, cooked, and eaten; people would be caught so as to remove them from eternal destruction and to give them new life.

NET Notes: Mat 4:20

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² sn The expression followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.

NET Notes: Mat 4:21

¹ tn Or “their boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do here); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats), while Matthew does not.

² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.