Matthew 4:5

5 Then the Devil took Him to the Holy City and caused Him to stand on the roof of the Temple,

Matthew 4:5 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 4:5

Then the devil taketh him up
This was done, not in a visionary way, but really and truly: Satan, by divine permission, and with the consent of Christ, which shows his great humiliation and condescension, had power over his body, to move it from place to place; in some such like manner as the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, ( Acts 8:39 ) he took him up, raised him above ground, and carried him through the air, "into, the holy city": this was Jerusalem; for Luke expressly says,

he brought him to Jerusalem,
( Luke 4:9 ) called so, because of the presence, worship, and service of God, which had been in it, though then in a great measure gone; and according to the common notions of the Jews, who say F2 Jerusalem was more holy than any other cities in the land, and that because of the Shekinah. The inscription on one side of their shekels was (vdqh rye Mlvwry) , "Jerusalem, the holy city" {c}. Satan frequents all sorts of places; men are no where free from his temptations; Christ himself was not in the holy city, no nor in the holy temple; hither also he had him,

and setteth him upon a pinnacle,
or "wing of the temple". In this place F4 the Jews set James, the brother of Christ, and from it cast him down headlong: this was the (akron) "the summit", or "top" of it; and intends either the roof encompassed with battlements, to keep persons from falling off; or the top of the porch before the temple, which was 120 cubits high; or the top of the royal gallery, built by Herod, which was of such an height, that if a man looked down from it, he soon became dizzy F5. The view Satan had in setting him here appears in the next verse.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 Bemidbar Rabba, fol. 183. 4. & Maimon. Hilch. Beth. Habechirah, c. 7. sect. 14. & 6. 16.
F3 Waserus de Antiq. Numm. Heb. l. 2. c. 5.
F4 Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 2. c. 23.
F5 Joseph. Antiq. Jud. l. 15. c. 14.

Matthew 4:5 In-Context

3 So the Tempter came and said, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn into loaves."
4 "It is written," replied Jesus, "`It is not on bread alone that a man shall live, but on whatsoever God shall appoint.'"
5 Then the Devil took Him to the Holy City and caused Him to stand on the roof of the Temple,
6 and said, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down; for it is written, "`To His angels He will give orders concerning thee, and on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any moment thou shouldst strike thy foot against a stone.'"
7 "Again it is written," replied Jesus, "`Thou shalt not put the Lord thy God to the proof.'"
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