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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mat C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28
Mat 4 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25
OET (OET-LV) Then the Yaʸsous is_saying to_him:
Be_going_away Satan/(Sāţān), because/for it_has_been_written:
You_will_be_prostrating the_master the god of_you, and only unto_him you_will_be_serving.
OET (OET-RV) “Go away, Satan,” Yeshua replied, “because it’s written in the scriptures that you should worship Yahweh your God and should only serve him.”
In this section, God allowed Satan to tempt Jesus so that Jesus could show that he always obeyed his Father. The children of Israel had failed to obey God during their forty years in the wilderness. But Jesus, as the Messiah, proved his obedience to God during his forty days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness. He “passed” this test and demonstrated that he truly was the “Son of God.”
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The temptation of Jesus
The devil tried to make Jesus sin
Jesus was tempted by the devil
There is a parallel passage for this section in Luke 4:1–11, and a shorter version occurs in Mark 1:12–13.
In this paragraph, Matthew reported the third way that the devil tempted Jesus. Here, the devil tempted Jesus to make an agreement with him. The devil asked Jesus to worship him as God, and then the devil would reward him.
“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared.
Then Jesus said to him, “Go away from me, Satan!
But Jesus said to the devil, “Satan, leave!
But Jesus refused. He told Satan to leave him
“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared: The BSB places the words Jesus declare in the middle of what Jesus said. This is good English style. However, in some languages it may be more natural to put these words at the beginning of 4:10. For example:
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan!” (ESV)
As in the previous two temptations, Jesus here refused to do what the devil wanted him to do. In some languages, it may be natural to make this explicit. For example:
But Jesus refused. He said to him
Away from Me, Satan!: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Away from Me is a command. Jesus commanded Satan to leave him.
Here are some other ways to translate this command:
Go away, Satan! (GNT)
Go away from me, Satan! (NCV)
It may be more natural in your language to have the name first. For example:
Satan, leave me!
Satan: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Satan is simply a transliteration of the Hebrew word which means “enemy.” Satan is one of the devil’s names. This is the first time in Matthew that the devil is referred to by his name Satan.
You should transliterate the word Satan in a way that sounds natural in your language.
“For it is written:
For/Because it is written in the Scriptures,
I will never worship you because the Scriptures say,
because of what God’s book says. It says that
For: The Greek conjunction that the BSB here translates as For also means “because.” It introduces the reason clause (4:10c) of a reason-result statement. The result is implied. The implied information is: “I will not worship you.”
result (implied) | I will not worship you, |
reason (4:10c) | for/because it is written that only God is to be worshipped. |
Here are some other ways to translate this:
Translate the implied information and the conjunction. For example:
I will not worship you, for/because it is written…
It is written…. So/Therefore I will not worship you.
Translate “For it is written…” as a separate sentence and leave the conjunction and relationship implied. For example:
It is written in the Scriptures… (NCV)
Scripture says…. (GW)
it is written: As in 4:4a and 4:6b, Jesus used the phrase it is written to introduce words from the Hebrew Scriptures.
Here is another way to translate this:
The scripture says (GNT)
The quote in 4:10c are words that God gave to Moses, and Moses wrote them down. So you could translate this phrase as:
Moses wrote
‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
‘You(sing) must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”
‘It is the Lord your God whom you(sing) must honor. He is the only one you must submit to.’ ”
a person must bow down and adore only the Lord God.
‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’: This sentence is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:13. These words were a command to each of the people of Israel. In Greek, the verbs Worship and serve and the pronoun your are singular. However, since the command is given to everyone, in some languages it may be more natural to use the plural forms. For example:
You(plur) must worship the Lord, who is your God, and obey only him.
People must worship the Lord their God and serve only him.
Jesus quoted this command in order to tell Satan that he would never worship him. He was declaring that he would obey the Scriptures and only worship the Lord God.
Worship…serve: The two verbs Worship and serve are a doublet. This means that these two words mean almost the same thing. To Worship God is to bow before him and adore him. (See the note on “worship me” in 4:9.) To serve God means to do the things that show that you honor him as your God. These two verbs work together to describe how people should act toward God.
Here are some other ways to translate these verbs:
Bow down to the Lord your God and respect only him.
You must submit to the Lord your God and honor him alone.
Jesus was not commanding Satan to worship the Lord. In some languages, a literal translation may imply that Jesus was telling Satan what to do. If that is the case in your language, you may need to say explicitly to whom the command was addressed. For example:
This command to the people of Israel is written in God’s book: You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.
Another possibility is to use indirect speech. For example:
The Scripture says that a person must worship the Lord his God and serve only him.
It is written that we(excl) must worship the Lord our God and serve him alone.
Note 1 topic: writing-quotations
λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς
˓is˒_saying ˱to˲_him ¬the Jesus
Consider natural ways of introducing direct quotations in your language. Alternate translation: [Jesus tells him]
Note 2 topic: writing-quotations
γέγραπται γάρ
˱it˲_˓has_been˒_written for
In Matthew’s culture, it is written was a normal way to introduce a quotation from an important text, in this case, the book of Deuteronomy (see [Deuteronomy 6:13](../deu/06/13.md)). If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable phrase that indicates that Jesus is quoting from an important text. Alternate translation: [For you can read in the Scriptures] or [For it says in the book of Deuteronomy]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
γέγραπται
˱it˲_˓has_been˒_written
If your language does not use the passive form, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [Moses wrote this in the Scriptures]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
γέγραπται & Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις, καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις.
˱it˲_˓has_been˒_written & ˓the˒_Lord (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ὕπαγε Σατανᾶ γέγραπται γάρ Κύριον τόν Θεόν σοῦ Προσκυνήσεις καί αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις)
If it would be clearer in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. If you do, you will need to delete the single quotation mark at the end of the second quotation. Alternate translation: [it is written that you shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve only him]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / declarative
Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις, καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις.
˓the˒_Lord (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ὕπαγε Σατανᾶ γέγραπται γάρ Κύριον τόν Θεόν σοῦ Προσκυνήσεις καί αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις)
The author of the quotation is using a statement to give a command. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a command form. Alternate translation: [You must worship the Lord your God, and you must serve only him]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism
Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις, καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις
˓the˒_Lord (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ὕπαγε Σατανᾶ γέγραπται γάρ Κύριον τόν Θεόν σοῦ Προσκυνήσεις καί αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις)
These two phrases mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. Hebrew poetry was based on this kind of repetition, and it would be good to show this to your readers by including both phrases in your translation rather than combining them. However, if it would be helpful to your readers, you could connect the phrases with a word other than and in order to show that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: [You must worship the Lord your God; yes, you must serve only him]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular
σου προσκυνήσεις & λατρεύσεις
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ὕπαγε Σατανᾶ γέγραπται γάρ Κύριον τόν Θεόν σοῦ Προσκυνήσεις καί αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις)
Since the author of the quotations is addressing each specific person who is part of God’s people, the words You, your, and you in the quotation are singular. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a form that makes this clear. Alternate translation: [Each of you shall worship … your … each of you shall serve]
OET (OET-LV) Then the Yaʸsous is_saying to_him:
Be_going_away Satan/(Sāţān), because/for it_has_been_written:
You_will_be_prostrating the_master the god of_you, and only unto_him you_will_be_serving.
OET (OET-RV) “Go away, Satan,” Yeshua replied, “because it’s written in the scriptures that you should worship Yahweh your God and should only serve him.”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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