Matthew 4:4

Juan de Flandes' The Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness shows Jesus rebuffing Satan's proffered stone

Matthew 4:4 is the fourth verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Jesus, who has been fasting in the desert, has just been encouraged by Satan to make bread from stones to relieve his hunger, in this verse he rejects this idea.

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

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.

The World English Bible translates the passage as:

But he answered, "It is written,

‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that proceeds

out of the mouth of God.’"

For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 4:4

Jesus rebuts Satan's advances by quoting scripture. The verse in question is from Deuteronomy 8:3. In its original context the verse is describing how while wandering through the wilderness in Exodus the Israelites lacked food. Despite God's promises they complained and worried about their hunger, but in the end God provided manna to feed them all. This same reply is also quoted in Luke 4:4, though in Luke it is somewhat abbreviated not containing "but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." The quote uses the exact wording of the Septuagint, but Hill notes that it is not an exact translation of the original Hebrew which has "everything" rather than "every word."^[1] Gundry feels the author of Matthew added this section to emphasize Jesus' obedience to God.^[2] Jones states that by replying with nothing but quotes from scripture Jesus illustrates his "perfect detachment from everything except God's will."^[3]

Jesus rejects Satan's idea, and uses nothing but a word of scripture as his argument. France notes that God's word would not literally make up for not having any food. Instead it is a question of priority. If God instructed Jesus to fast in the desert, then it is that word that must be followed and it takes priority over any feelings such as hunger.^[4]

There are a number of explanations for why Satan attempted to have Jesus turn stones into bread and why it was important that Jesus refuse. The act of using God's powers to create bread is not in itself wrong, as demonstrated in Matthew 14 and 15 where Jesus actually does perform this miracle. In the Middle Ages it became common to argue that Satan was simply tempting Christ into gluttony. Most modern scholars do not accept this view. France notes that tempt should better be translated as test that Satan was testing Jesus' understanding of his role rather than luring him into evil.^[5] Jones notes that calling someone who has fasted for forty days gluttonous because they want food is not very fair. Most modern scholars thus reject the sin explanation.^[6] Another view that was popular for a time was that this represented Jesus rejecting the role of the "economic messiah," that in this verse he demonstrates that it is not his role to feed the hungry of the world, but rather to provide spiritual sustenance. The most popular view today is that this passage echoes the history of Israel. The quote itself comes from the part of the Old Testament describing the period after the Exodus when the Israelites were wandering hungry in the wilderness and complaining about their hunger. This verse is seen to demonstrate that Jesus does not make the same mistake they did and accepts that God will ensure his safety.

The phrase "man shall not live by bread alone" is today a common expression meaning that people need more than material things to truly live. However, it is also sometimes used in almost the opposite sense to justify materials luxuries beyond simple things like bread. Fortna notes that the word usually translated as man would more accurately be replaced by human beings as in the original Greek it is gender neutral.^[7]

References