Luke 4:1-2

The Temptation of Jesus

4:1 Then ¹  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River ²  and was led by the Spirit ³  in ⁴  the wilderness, ⁵  4:2 where for forty days he endured temptations ⁶  from the devil. He ⁷  ate nothing ⁸  during those days, and when they were completed, ⁹  he was famished.

[4:1]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate continuity with the previous topic.

[4:1]  ² tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[4:1]  ³ sn The double mention of the Spirit in this verse makes it clear that the temptation was neither the fault of Jesus nor an accident.

[4:1]  ⁴ tc Most mss (A Θ Ξ Ψ 0102 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) read εἰς τὴν ἔρημον (ei" thn erhmon, “into the wilderness”), apparently motivated by the parallel in Matt 4:1. However, the reading behind the translation (ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, en th ejrhmw) is found in overall better witnesses (Ì^4vid,7,75vid א B D L W 579 892 1241 pc it).

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Or “desert.”

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “in the desert, for forty days being tempted.” The participle πειραζόμενος (peirazomeno") has been translated as an adverbial clause in English to avoid a run-on sentence with a second “and.” Here the present participle suggests a period of forty days of testing. Three samples of the end of the testing are given in the following verses.

[4:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:2]  ⁸ sn The reference to Jesus eating nothing could well be an idiom meaning that he ate only what the desert provided; see Exod 34:28. A desert fast simply meant eating only what one could obtain in the desert. The parallel in Matt 4:2 speaks only of Jesus fasting.

[4:2]  ⁹ tn The Greek word here is συντελεσθείσων (suntelesqeiswn) from the verb συντελέω (suntelew).