Matthew 4

¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

² When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.

³ The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴ But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple,

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, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

⁹ He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee.

¹³ Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,

¹⁴ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,

¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,

¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness saw a great light; to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light has dawned.”

¹⁷ From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

¹⁸ Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

¹⁹ He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.”

²⁰ They immediately left their nets and followed him.

²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them.

²² They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.

²³ Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.

²⁴ The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them.

²⁵ Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

Around Matthew 4

Book context

MatthewEditorial draft

Matthew opens by presenting Jesus as “the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1) and keeps connecting his life to the Hebrew Scriptures. Its teaching centres on the Kingdom of Heaven (4:17), gathers long blocks of Jesus’ teaching such as the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 to 7), and closes with the commission to make disciples of all nations (28:19). The book does not name its author; early church tradition attributes it to the apostle Matthew. Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) dates it around AD 60 to 65 and holds that it was the first Gospel written. Many later scholars think Mark came first, so the order of the Gospels is debated.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · debated · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

Matthew 4 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

Right after the voice from heaven comes the silence of the desert. The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness, and he fasts forty days and forty nights. Then he is hungry. The tempter comes with three tests: turn these stones into bread, throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple, take all the kingdoms of the world if you will worship me. Each time Jesus answers with Scripture, beginning with “Man shall not live by bread alone”. The devil leaves, and angels come and serve him.

When he hears that John has been arrested, Jesus withdraws to Galilee and settles in Capernaum. Matthew sees Isaiah's words coming true: “the people who sat in darkness saw a great light”. Jesus begins to preach what John preached.

By the lake he meets two pairs of fishermen, Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John. They leave nets, boat and father to follow him. Then he goes through Galilee teaching and healing, and crowds follow.

Background

The forty days recall Moses on Sinai and Israel's forty years in the wilderness; the replies Jesus gives all come from Deuteronomy 6 and 8. The devil quotes Psalm 91 in the second test. Galilee was a mixed region with many Gentile neighbors, which is why Matthew uses Isaiah's phrase Galilee of the Gentiles. Capernaum was a fishing town on the northwest shore of the lake. This chapter closes the opening section of the Gospel and leads into the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5 to 7.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 22 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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