Matthew 4:2

Matthew 4:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
• New International Version (NIV)After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

Context of Matthew 4:2

1Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights, He became hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’ ”

Matthew 4:2 word by word

καὶ νηστεύσας ἡμέρας τεσσεράκοντα καὶ νύκτας τεσσεράκοντα ὕστερον ἐπείνασεν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• when he had fastedνηστεύωnēsteuō · to fastG3522
• fortyτεσσαράκονταtessarakonta · fortyG5062
• daysἡμέραhēmera · dayG2250
• nightsνύξnux · nightG3571
• he wasπεινάωpeinaō · to hungerG3983
• afterwardὕστερονhusteron · laterG5305

Cross-references for Matthew 4:2

• Exodus 24:18Moses entered the midst of the cloud and went up the mountain; and he was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
• Exodus 34:28Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
• Deuteronomy 9:9When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food or drink water.
• Deuteronomy 18:18I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
• 1 Kings 19:8So he got up and ate and drank, and with the strength of that food he traveled forty days and nights to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God.
• Luke 4:2for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they ended, He was hungry.
• Matthew 21:18Now early in the morning, as Jesus was coming back to the city, He was hungry.
• Mark 11:12On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He was hungry.
• John 4:6and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, tired as He was from His journey, sat down by the well. It was then about the sixth hour (noon).
• Hebrews 2:14Therefore, since [these His] children share in flesh and blood [the physical nature of mankind], He Himself in a similar manner also shared in the same [physical nature, but without sin], so that through [experiencing] death He might make powerless (ineffective, impotent) him who had the power of death—that is, the devil—

Commentaries on Matthew 4:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2And when he had fasted forty days - It is remarkable that Moses, the great lawgiver of the Jews, previously to his receiving the law from God, fasted forty days in the mount; that Elijah, the chief of the prophets, fasted also forty days; and that Christ, the giver of the New Covenant, should act in the same way. Was not all this intended to show, that God's kingdom on earth was to be spiritual and Divine? - that it should not consist in meat and drink…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Had fasted - Abstained from food. Forty days and forty nights - It has been questioned by some whether Christ abstained wholly from food, or only from the food to which he was accustomed. Luke says Luke 4:2 that he ate nothing. This settles the question. Mark says Mark 1:13 that angels came and ministered unto him. At first view this would seem to imply that he did eat during that time. But Mark does not mention the time when the angels performed this…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Forty days and forty nights (see Exodus 24:18; 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8): God tested Israel for forty-years in the wilderness (Exodus 16:35; Deuteronomy 1:3).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights--Luke says "When they were quite ended" (Lu 4:2). he was afterward an hungered--evidently implying that the sensation of hunger was unfelt during all the forty days; coming on only at their close. So it was apparently with Moses (Ex 34:28) and Elijah (1Ki 19:8) for the same period. A supernatural power of endurance was of course imparted to the body, but this probably operated through a natural…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 4:2

• Fasting
• Forty
• Hunger
• Jesus Continued
• Satan
• Temptation

In the dictionaries

• Dash
• Fame
• Fast
• Humiliation of Christ
• Light
• Satan
• Temptation
• Tempter
• Torment
• Adam in the Old Testament

Commentaries on Matthew 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings