Page Index
Last Updated: May 1, 2009
Section 1 - Temptation Allegory: Overlap / Re-Arrangement
Greek Texts - Luke & Matthew in parallel
English Texts - with detailed footnotes
Main Differences - Luke & Matthew
Section 2 - Main Gospel Texts: Re-Arrangement
Chart 1 - Alteration: Parable & Main Gospel
Comments - change in focus
Section 3 - Summary
Temptation Allegory:
Overlap & Re-arrangement
I. The Temptation Allegory
The first thing we notice with the Temptation Incident is that although all four of the O.T. quotations are near-identical, one of them is out of order.
| The Four Temptation Quotations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Luke | Matthew | |
| (1) Deut. 8:3 | (1) Deut. 8:3 | |
| (2) Deut. 6:13 | - - - - - - - | |
| (3) Psa. 91:11-12 (4) Deut. 6:16 |  | (2) Psa. 91:11-12 (3) Deut. 6:16 |
| - - - - - - - | (4) Deut. 6:13 | |
It should be noted that although there are four O.T. quotations, there are actually only three 'Temptations' in the story itself. The entire Second Temptation has been moved from its position in Luke to the end of the passage in Matthew. However we care to explain it, the Second and Third Temptations have been exchanged.
| The Three Temptations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Quote | Luke | Matthew |
| Satan: "Make bread from these stones..."
Jesus: "Not by Bread alone..."(Deut. 8:3) | (1) 4:3 - 4 | (1) 4:3 - 4 |
| Satan: "Worship me..." Jesus: "Serve the LORD only..." (Deut. 6:13) | (2) 4:5 - 8 | - - - |
| Satan: "Angels will save you..." (Psa. 91:11-12) Jesus:"Do not test the LORD..." (Deut. 6:16) | (3) 4:9 - 12
| (2) 4:5 - 7 |
| Satan: "Worship me..." Jesus: "Serve the LORD only..." (Deut. 6:13) | - - - | (3) 4:8 - 10 |
Parallel Texts for Luke & Matthew
We may also observe that the actual literary dependance appears undeniable. In Greek, it is plain that either Luke and Matthew both used the same written document as a source, or else one copied the other: (We have used Nestle/Aland 27th ed., corrected using Textus Receptus for haplography errors, for th Greek text)
| Text in Parallel | |
|---|---|
| Luke | Matthew |
| Ἰησοῦς δὲ πλήρης πνεύματος ἁγίου ὑπέστρεψεν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, καὶ ἤγετο ἐν τῷ πνεύματι ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ 2 ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα πειραζόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου. καὶ οὐκ ἔφαγεν οὐδὲν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, καὶ συντελεσθεισῶν αὐτῶν ἐπείνασεν. | Τότε ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀνήχθη εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος, πειρασθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου. 2 καὶ νηστεύσας ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα καὶ νύκτας τεσσαράκοντα ὕστερον ἐπείνασεν. |
| Temptation 1 | |
|
3 Εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ διάβολος,
Εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰπὲ τῷ λίθῳ τούτῳ ἵνα γένηται ἄρτος. 4 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Γέγραπται ὅτι Οὐκ ἐπ’ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος. [ ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι θεοῦ. ] |
3 Καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ πειράζων εἶπεν αὐτῷ,
Εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰπὲ ἵνα οἱ λίθοι οὗτοι ἄρτοι γένωνται. 4 ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν, Γέγραπται, Οὐκ ἐπ’ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος θεοῦ. |
| Temptation 2 (Matt. = 3) | |
|
5 Καὶ ἀναγαγὼν αὐτὸν
ο διαβολος εις ορος υψηλον
ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ πάσας τὰς βασιλείας
τῆς οἰκουμένης
ἐν στιγμῇ χρόνου·
6 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ διάβολος,
Σοὶ δώσω τὴν ἐξουσίαν ταύτην ἅπασαν καὶ τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν, ὅτι ἐμοὶ παραδέδοται καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν θέλω δίδωμι αὐτήν· 7 σὺ οὖν ἐὰν προσκυνήσῃς ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ, ἔσται σοῦ πᾶσα. 8 καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτῷ εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Υπαγε οπισω μου, Σατανα! Γέγραπται, Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις. |
8 Πάλιν παραλαμβάνει αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος εἰς ὄρος ὑψηλὸν λίαν, καὶ δείκνυσιν αὐτῷ πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν, 9 καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ,
Ταῦτά σοι πάντα δώσω ἐὰν πεσὼν προσκυνήσῃς μοι. 10 τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Ὕπαγε, Σατανᾶ· γέγραπται γάρ, Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις. |
| Temptation 3 (Matt. =2) | |
|
9 Ἤγαγεν δὲ αὐτὸν εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ ἔστησεν ἐπὶ τὸ πτερύγιον τοῦ ἱεροῦ, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ,
Εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, βάλε σεαυτὸν ἐντεῦθεν κάτω· 10 γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι 12 καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι Εἴρηται, |
5 Τότε παραλαμβάνει αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν, καὶ ἵστησιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ πτερύγιον τοῦ ἱεροῦ, 6 καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ,
Εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, βάλε σεαυτὸν κάτω· γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι Πάλιν γέγραπται, |
| Ending | |
| 13 Καὶ συντελέσας πάντα πειρασμὸν ὁ διάβολος ἀπέστη ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ ἄχρι καιροῦ. | 11 Τότε ἀφίησιν αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελοι προσῆλθον καὶ διηκόνουν αὐτῷ. |
Luke & Matthew: English
| Parallel English Text | |
|---|---|
| English text is provided from the KJV2000 | |
| Introductory Section | |
| Luke | Matthew |
| And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. | 1 Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry. |
| Footnotes: For the introductory section, Matthew edits Luke's fuller text succinctly and efficiently, although minus poetic expression. Some information is 'lost': The 40 whole days of temptation is now telescoped down to the final verbal exchange, as Matthew's text has been corrected to reflect the recorded story better. | |
| Temptation 1 | |
| Luke | Matthew |
| 3 And the devil said unto him, If you are the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. |
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. |
| Footnotes: Matthew substitutes "the tempter" (Greek: ο πειραζων), repeating the same word used in the introduction, possibly for variety or to allude to the same vocabulary found in John's Gospel (see Jn 8:6 etc.). The expanded text for Deut. 8:3 may reflect Matthew's desire to provide fuller and more accurate O.T. Quotations. | |
| Temptation 2 (Matt. = 3) | |
| Luke | Matthew |
|
5 And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give you, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If you therefore will worship me, all shall be yours. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get you behind me, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. |
8 Again, the devil took him up into an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And said unto him, All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me. 10 Then said Jesus unto him, Begone, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. |
| Footnotes: Matthew again edits the story down, deleting the repetition of "devil", shortening Satan's speech, and avoiding the Hebrew expression "Get thee behind me, Satan...", which is associated with Peter, the figurehead of the early Church. Matthew's Gospel has many such minor cleanups, meant to remove Peter's negative image in the Gospels. If Matthew is responsible for the change in the order of the three temptations, no explanation can be found in the story itself. It can only be accounted for by appealing to evidence outside the text (see below). | |
| Temptation 3 (Matt. =2) | |
| Luke | Matthew |
|
9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, "If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here: 10 For it is written, 12 And Jesus answering said unto him, "It is said, You shall not test the Lord your God." |
5 Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And said unto him, "If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, 7 Jesus said unto him, "It is written again, You shall not test the Lord your God." |
| Footnotes: Matthew substitutes "the holy city" for Jerusalem, a positive reference which has no real support in Mark, John or Luke. Jerusalem is portrayed as a very "unholy" city by Jesus. This reflects a Jewish Christian perspective that seems to be pre-70 A.D., after which Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans. Correcting Luke's original quote "It is said...", to make it an explicit Scripture reference again reflects Matthew's concern to find more prophetic fulfilments and O.T. references. | |
| Ending | |
| Luke | Matthew |
| 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him for a season. | 11 Then the devil left him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. |
| Footnotes: Matthew seems to recall the expression in John 1:51, an apparent reference to the Transfiguration, which however is not recorded in John's Gospel itself. This leaves Jn 1:51 hanging unless we refer to Mark. Matthew may be intending to provide extra instances which would more satisfactorily fulfill the saying in John. | |
Main Differences in the Accounts
A few features (and minor variants) can be accounted for by Luke attempting to improve and naturalize the Greek expressions, whether or not he is working from a Hebrew or pre-translated original source.
Matthew's occasional independance in expression can also be accounted for by his (or his translator's) rather less creative and more slavish translational habits.
When the editing habits of the two evangelists (and/or their translators & copyists) are accounted for, there remain large sections which are copied near verbatum, and this suggests an underlying common written document. The main remaining difference between the accounts is simply the change in the order between the Second and Third Temptations.
It must be admitted that this switch in order doesn't have much impact on the Temptation story by itself, but it is inexplicable that the order could have been mixed up in a written source document.
The real clue to the dislocation is in the fact that it must follow the dislocations in the text that it is meant to track. If the main Gospel text has been deliberately re-arranged by one or other Evangelist (and it certainly has), and if the Temptation Allegory is meant to parallel the main Gospel text, then this explains the corresponding re-arrangement in the Temptation Allegory.
Main Gospel Texts:
Re-Arrangement
Chart
II. Comments
Summary
Meaning & Impact
