Matthew 4:5

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

Matthew 4:5 in Other Translations

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

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

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

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

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.

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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 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.’”

Cross References

• 1. Nehemiah 11:1; Daniel 9:24; Matthew 27:53