Luke 4 is the fourth chapter of the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, traditionally attributed to

Luke the Evangelist Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...

, a companion of

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

on his missionary journeys. This chapter details

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

' three

temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 1 ...

, the start of his "

Galilean Generically, a Galilean (; he, גלילי; grc, Γαλιλαίων; la, Galilaeos) is an inhabitant of Galilee, a region of Israel surrounding the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret). The New Testament notes that the Apostle Peter's accent gave him a ...

Ministry", and his rejection at

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

, which

Luke People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

contrasts with his acclaim in nearby

Capernaum Capernaum ( ; he, כְּפַר נַחוּם, Kfar Naḥum, Nahum's village; ar, كفر ناحوم, Kafr Nāḥūm) was a fishing village established during the time of the Hasmoneans, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It ...

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

and is divided into 44 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Papyrus 4 Papyrus 4 (, part of ''Suppl. Gr.'' 1120) is an early New Testament papyrus of the Gospel of Luke in Greek. Opinions differ as to its age. It has been dated anywhere from the late second century to the fourth century. Description It is one o ...

(AD 150-175; extant verses: 1-2, 29-32, 34-35) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(325-350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(330-360) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D or 05 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 5 (in the von Soden of New Testament manuscript), is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century writ ...

(~400) *

Codex Washingtonianus The Codex Washingtonianus or Codex Washingtonensis, designated by W or 032 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 014 ( Soden), also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Gospels'', and ''The Freer Gospel'', contains the four biblical gospels an ...

(~400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400-440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(~450; extant verses 26-44) *

Papyrus 7 Papyrus 7 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), or ε 11 ( von Soden), designated by , is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of Luke 4:1-2. Possibly it is a patristic fragment (like e.g. P. Oxy. 40 ...

(4th-6th century; extant verses 1-2)

Old Testament references

*: * :

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

* : Isaiah 61:1– 2

Jesus' three temptations (4:1-13)

Jesus, as in

Matthew 4 Matthew 4 is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament of Christian Bible.Halley, Henry H (1962) ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House.Holman Illustrated Bibl ...

and

Mark 1 Mark 1 is the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Text The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 45 verses. Textual witnesses Some early manuscripts conta ...

, travels into the desert and

fasts Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see "Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after com ...

for forty days. He is confronted by

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

, who tempts (or tests) him. 'Tested' is the preferred wording of several modern translations, e.g. the

Contemporary English Version The Contemporary English Version or CEV (also known as Bible for Today's Family) is a translation of the Bible into English, published by the American Bible Society. An anglicized version was produced by the British and Foreign Bible Society, w ...

, Expanded Bible and New Testament for Everyone. *First, Satan commands him to turn stones into bread. Jesus replies, "Man shall not live by bread alone"
4
quoting

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

from Deuteronomy 8:3: ''Man shall not live by bread alone''. The words ''but by every word of God'', which reflect the Deuteronomy text (''by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD''), are added in the

Textus Receptus ''Textus Receptus'' (Latin: "received text") refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant denomi ...

but absent from critical texts of the

Greek New Testament Greek New Testament refers to the New Testament in Koine Greek. It may also refer to the following texts: * ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' * ''Textus Receptus'', the basis of the King James Bible * ''Novum Testamentum Graece'', a critical edition of t ...

. *Secondly, Satan shows Jesus "... all the kingdoms of the world"
5
and tells him that he can have them all if he falls down and worships him. Jesus replies with a further quote from Deuteronom
6:13
"It is written: 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'"
8
*Finally, Satan takes Jesus to the top of the

Temple of Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...

and quotes

br>91:11-12
as a criterion for a test of favor with

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

, to which Jesus quotes Deuteronom
6:16
"... You shall not tempt the Lord your God."
12
. This narrative is also found in Matthew 4:1– 11, but in Matthew the order of the second and third temptations is reversed. This was most probably in Q if that

hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obse ...

is correct; perhaps their copies of Q were in a different order? This difference in orders presents a challenge for

redaction Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple sources of texts are combined and altered slightly to make a single document. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent wo ...

al criticism. It is unclear whether in Q, if it existed, the order was originally the same as Luke's and Matthew changed it to have it end on a mountain, a common motif of Matthew, such as Matthew 5:1 and Matthew 28:16, or Luke changed it to have the temptations end in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Luke ends his gospel in Jerusalem in

Luke 24 Luke 24 is the twenty-fourth and final chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed th ...

. Most scholars believe Matthew's order was the order Q used.

Verse 13

Luke then says that Satan left Jesus "for a season" or "until an opportune time". Satan appears later in

Luke 22 Luke 22 is the twenty-second chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It commences in the days just before the Passover or Feast of Unleavened Bread, and records the plot to kill Jesus Christ; the institution of t ...

, entering

Judas Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...

and leading him to betray Jesus. Raymond Brown sees his return in when Jesus says to those arresting him "But this is your hour, and the power of darkness". The late nineteenth-century Anglican cleric

Frederic Farrar Frederic William Farrar (Bombay, 7 August 1831 – Canterbury, 22 March 1903) was a cleric of the Church of England (Anglican), schoolteacher and author. He was a pallbearer at the funeral of Charles Darwin in 1882. He was a member of the Cambr ...

, in his commentary on Luke for the

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologian ...

, argues that this does not mean Jesus faced no other temptations during his life, quoting

Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; it, Bonaventura ; la, Bonaventura de Balneoregio; 1221 – 15 July 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan, bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister G ...

's view that "he endured temptations, too, at other times".Farrar, F. W. (1891)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
on Luke 4, accessed 23 May 2018

Rejection at Nazareth (4:14-30)

Jesus returns to

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

"in the power of the Spirit", says Luke, and teaches in many of the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

s there. One

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

, he goes to the synagogue in his hometown of

, gets up and reads a section of the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

, Isaiah 61:1– 2, referring to himself (verse 21) as the fulfillment of this

prophecy In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...

. Luke's text uses the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

version, but the version Jesus read would have been written in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. The people are amazed at his "gracious words" ( gr, τοις λογοις της χαριτος, ''tois logois tēs charitos'', verse 22), "the discourse of which verse 21 is a compendium", but Jesus goes on to rebuke them, saying "Truly, I say to you ... no prophet is acceptable in his hometown."

Verses 25–30

:''But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.'' He tells them how in the time of

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books of ...

only a woman from

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

(the

widow of Zarephath A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can s ...

) was saved ( verses 25–26, cf 1 Kings 17:7-16)), and during the time of

Elisha Elisha ( ; or "God is my salvation", Greek: , ''Elis îos'' or , ''Elisaié,'' Latin: ''Eliseus'') was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eli ...

, while there were many lepers in Israel, only a

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

(

Naaman Naaman ( he, נַעֲמָן ''Naʿămān'', "pleasantness") the Aramean was a commander of the armies of Ben-Hadad II, the king of Aram-Damascus, in the time of Joram, king of Israel. According to the Bible, Naaman was a commander of the army o ...

) was healed (verse 27, cf 2 Kings 5:1-19). Outraged, the people attack him and chase him to the top of a hill and try to throw him off, but Jesus slips away through the crowd and continues "on his way". There are many hills in and around Nazareth, although the

Upper Galilee The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mountai ...

region, further to the north, is more mountainous. Traditionally this event has been associated with

Mount Precipice Mount Precipice ( he, הר הקפיצה, "''Har HaKfitsa''"; ar, جبل القفزة, "''Jebel al-Qafzeh''", "Mount of the Leap"), also known as Mount of Precipitation, Mount of the Leap of the Lord and Mount Kedumim is located just outside the ...

(also known as the Mount of Precipitation), some from Nazareth, but scholars now argue that this is unlikely to have been the venue because it is further than a Sabbath day's walk from the city. Eric Franklin notes that Jesus' continuation "on his way" denotes not just his escape from peril but a movement towards his goal, Luke using the same verb, ἐπορεύετο, ''eporeueto'', as he uses in , πορευεσθαι, ''poreuesthai'', to indicate his steadfast journey towards Jerusalem. The event is perhaps also depicted, though not word for word, in

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

br>6:1-6
and Matthe
13:53-58
but these accounts do not include the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

examples, and reflect different agendas.

Teaching and healing (4:31-41)

Jesus goes to

and exorcises a possessed man in the synagogue, the first of Luke's 21

miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

. He goes to

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

's house and heals his sick mother-in-law.

has this occur after Jesus called his disciples, while Luke puts that event into chapter 5. He heals more and more people, then retreats to the wilderness for solitary

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

. They come and find him there but he tells them that he must also go to the surrounding towns, where he is to travel and preach the good news of the

Kingdom of God The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" b ...

, "for I was sent for this purpose". This section, , is almost exactly the same as

and can also be partially found in .

Johann Bengel Johann Albrecht Bengel (24 June 1687 – 2 November 1752), also known as ''Bengelius'', was a Lutheran pietist clergyman and Greek-language scholar known for his edition of the Greek New Testament and his commentaries on it. Life and career Be ...

notes: Here is Jesus’ "Creed": the reason for His many journeyings".

Jesus preaches in Galilee (4:42-44)

In verse 44, Luke affirms that Jesus continued preaching "in the synagogues of Galilee" (KJV, NKJV). Some ancient manuscripts ( א, B, C, L and other

uncial Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one ...

s) refer to τὰς συναγωγὰς τῆς Ἰουδαίας, ''tas synagōgas tēs Ioudaias'', "the synagogues of

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous L ...

". This manuscript tradition is reflected in the

Novum Testamentum Graece (''The New Testament in Greek'') is a critical edition of the New Testament in its original Koine Greek, forming the basis of most modern Bible translations and biblical criticism. It is also known as the Nestle–Aland edition after its mos ...

, and hence in most modern Bible translations, including the RSV, ESV, NRSV, NASB, NAB and NIV. Nestle, E.
Luke 4
cf. : RSV, NRSV, ESV, NASB, NAB, NIV and NJB translations

References

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Gospel of Luke Luke 04 Phoenicians in the New Testament Temptation of Christ Christianity in Nazareth Elijah Elisha