Matthew 4:5

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

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Matthew 4:5 in Other Translations

KJV

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

ESV

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple

NLT

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple,

MSG

5 For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said,

CSB

5 Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him stand on the pinnacle 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Matthew 4:5 In-Context

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

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”