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 the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Jesus did not eat anything for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of that time, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4Jesus answered, “Scripture says, ‘A person cannot live on bread alone but on every word that God speaks.’ ”

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 cloud as he went up the mountain. He stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.
• Exodus 34:28Moses was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the promise, the ten commandments.
• Deuteronomy 9:9When I went up on the mountain to get the stone tablets, the tablets of the promise that the Lord made to you, I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights without food or water.
• Deuteronomy 18:18So I will send them a prophet, an Israelite like you. I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.
• 1 Kings 19:8He got up, ate, and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled for 40 days and nights until he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
• Luke 4:2where he was tempted by the devil for 40 days. During those days Jesus ate nothing, so when they were over, he was hungry.
• Matthew 21:18In the morning, as Jesus returned to the city, he became hungry.
• Mark 11:12The next day, when they left Bethany, Jesus became hungry.
• John 4:6Jacob’s Well was there. Jesus sat down by the well because he was tired from traveling. The time was about noon.
• Hebrews 2:14Since all of these sons and daughters have flesh and blood, Jesus took on flesh and blood to be like them. He did this so that by dying he would destroy the one who had power over 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