Luke 4:6-11

Context
4:6 And he¹ said to him, “To you² I will grant this whole realm³ – and the glory that goes along with it,⁴ for it has been relinquished⁵ to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. 4:7 So then, if⁶ you will worship⁷ me, all this will be⁸ yours.” 4:8 Jesus⁹ answered him,¹⁰ “It is written, ‘You are to worship¹¹ the Lord¹² your God and serve only him.’”¹³

4:9 Then¹⁴ the devil¹⁵ brought him to Jerusalem,¹⁶ had him stand¹⁷ on the highest point of the temple,¹⁸ and said to him, “If¹⁹ 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,’²⁰ 4:11 and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”²¹

[4:6] ¹tn Grk “And the devil.”

[4:6] ²sn In Greek, this phrase is in an emphatic position. In effect, the devil is tempting Jesus by saying, “Look what you can have!”

[4:6] ³tn Or “authority.” BDAG 353 s.v. ἐξουσία 6 suggests, concerning this passage, that the term means “the sphere in which the power is exercised, domain.” Cf. also Luke 22:53; 23:7; Acts 26:18; Eph 2:2.

[4:6] ⁴tn The addendum referring to the glory of the kingdoms of the world forms something of an afterthought, as the following pronoun (“it”) makes clear, for the singular refers to the realm itself.

[4:6] ⁵tn For the translation of παραδέδοται (paradedotai) see L&N 57.77. The devil is erroneously implying that God has given him such authority with the additional capability of sharing the honor.

[4:7] ⁶tn This is a third class condition: “If you worship me (and I am not saying whether you will or will not)…”

[4:7] ⁷tn Or “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.

[4:7] ⁸tn One could translate this phrase “it will all be yours.” The sense is the same, but the translation given is a touch more emphatic and more likely to catch the force of the offer.

[4:8] ⁹tn Grk “And Jesus.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:8] ¹⁰tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A Θ Ψ 0102 Ë¹³ 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.

[4:8] ¹¹tn 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.

[4:8] ¹²tc 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.

[4:8] ¹³sn 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.

[4:9] ¹⁴tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:9] ¹⁵tn Grk “he”; the referent (the devil) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:9] ¹⁶map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:9] ¹⁷tn Grk “and stood him.”

[4:9] ¹⁸sn 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.

[4:9] ¹⁹tn This is another first class condition, as in v. 3.

[4:10] ²⁰sn 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).

[4:11] ²¹sn A quotation from Ps 91:12.