Luke 4:8-13

4:8 Jesus ¹  answered him, ²  “It is written, ‘You are to worship ³  the Lord ⁴  your God and serve only him.’” ⁵ 

4:9 Then ⁶  the devil ⁷  brought him to Jerusalem, ⁸  had him stand ⁹  on the highest point of the temple, ¹⁰  and said to him, “If ¹¹  you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 4:10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ ¹²  4:11 and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” ¹³  4:12 Jesus ¹⁴  answered him, ¹⁵  “It is said, ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹⁶  4:13 So ¹⁷  when the devil ¹⁸  had completed every temptation, he departed from him until a more opportune time. ¹⁹ 

¹ tn Grk “And Jesus.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A Θ Ψ 0102 ˹³ Ï it), have “Get behind me, Satan!” at the beginning of the quotation. This roughly parallels Matt 4:10 (though the Lukan mss add ὀπίσω μου to read ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, σατανᾶ [{upage opisw mou, satana]); for this reason the words are suspect as a later addition to make the two accounts agree more precisely. A similar situation occurred in v. 5.

³ tn Or “You will prostrate yourself in worship before…” The verb προσκυνέω (proskunew) can allude not only to the act of worship but the position of the worshiper. See L&N 53.56.

⁴ tc Most later mss (A Θ 0102 Ï) alter the word order by moving the verb forward in the quotation. This alteration removes the emphasis from “the Lord your God” as the one to receive worship (as opposed to Satan) by moving it away from the beginning of the quotation.

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the devil) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn Grk “and stood him.”

¹⁰ sn The reference to the highest point of the temple probably refers to the one point on the temple’s southeast corner where the site looms directly over a cliff some 450 feet (135 m) high. However, some have suggested the reference could be to the temple’s high gate.

¹¹ tn This is another first class condition, as in v. 3.

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

¹⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 91:12.

²¹ tn Grk “And Jesus.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

²² tn Grk “Jesus, answering, said to him.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified to “Jesus answered him.”

²³ sn A quotation from Deut 6:16 used by Jesus in reply to the devil. The point is that God’s faithfulness should not be put to the test, but is rather a given.

²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate a summary.

²⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the devil) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁸ tn Grk “until a favorable time.”