The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 115

Ver. 8.-The tempter (1 Thess. iii. 5 only; ont, but [e.g. eh. xiv. 19) broken" (Thayer). cf. 2 Oor. xi. S). Came; oame up to him In Luke tho devil points to one stone only, (,rpocr•ll.6@11). 'l'he word expresse11 local e.nd tempts him to bid it become e. loaf. nee.moss, and suggests, though we cannot Ver. 4.-It is written. Onr Lord's three affirm it as oertllin, the.t he appeared visibly. quotatious are from Deut. viii. S ; vi. 16, 18. The thought of physical nenmess is con- Some portion of Deuteronomy (oh. vi. 4-9: tinued in •· taketh him" (vers. 5, 8), and "the xi. 13-21, because included in the Sh'mn) de\"il leaveth him" and "angels re.me near" we.a the first pa.rt of Soripture taught aJ ewish (ver. 11; r.f. ver. 5, note). On the other child. Possibly, though there is no evidence hand, such oxpressions may be pe.rabolio, upon the subject, the neighbouring portions e.nd intended t,o express the closeness of the were often e.dded. If they bad been in our spiritual oombe.t. To him; not afl:er "came," Lord's case, such e. recurrence of them to out after "said " (Revised Version, with his mind in his present state of exhaustion manuscripts). If thou be; m·t (Revised is in complete accord with psychological Version) (el • . . eT)-the "if" of assump- probability. Man . . . God (Dent. viii. 3, tion ( cf. Col. iii. 1). The devil does not LXX.). As we could not accept Weiss's attempt to throw doubt on the truth of the interpretntion of the object of the devil's utterance in eh. iii. 17. His words rather temptation, so neither can we accept hie mce.n, " Thou knowest what was se.id, thou interpretation of our Lord's reply, that it he.st been grodually realizing that assure.nee is equivulent to "Not by means either of Sonship; use, then, that privilege which nntnre.l or supernntural, is man's life really thou undoubtedly hast" (comp. eh. xxvii. sustained, but by cxo.ct obedienoe to God's 40, where, in mockery, the same truth is command." Our Lord quotes the passage assumed). Wctstein, following Origen e.nd in its primary meaning, which we.s fully psendo-Igne.tius, • Philipp.,'§ 9, says that the applicable to the present occasion. It is tempter did not know, or e.t least doubted, equivalent to "Man lives, not necessarily whether Jesus was really God, for otherwise by nature.I means, but by even snpeme.tnral he wonld never have tempted him. This is, means, if God so wishes." "The creative surely, to miss the meaning of the tempta- word, the ~:;,µa 0eoii, which alone imparts to tion for onr Lord himself ; for he was the bread its sustaining power, can sustain, tempted as Man. Se.tan might well have even as he is confident that in the present known that he was God incarnate, and yet need it will sustain, apart from the hreo.d " not have known whether as Me.n he might (Trench, ' Studies,' p. 35). The words of not yield. Weiss(' Life,' i. 343) mistakenly Deuteronomy are paraphrased in Wied. xvi. thinks that the object of thisfirsttempte.tion 26, where the author, in a thoroughly Jewish was to insinuate doubt in the mind of J eims exposition, enumerates tho lessons taught by es to his Meesie.hship. "Command that the giving of the manna. "It was e.ltered these stones become bread, e.nd if thou canst . . . that thy children, 0 Lord, whom thou not do so, then thou a.rt not the Son of God." Iovest, might know that it is not the growing Command the.t; el,rbv (cf. Westcott and Hort, of fruits that nourisheth man; bnt that it is ii App., p. 164) 1va (cf. eh. xx. 21, and thy Word, which preaerveth them that put Winer, § xliv. 8). These stones, i.e. lying their trust in thee." By every word. 'E,rl about. Farrar (on Luke iv. 3; e.nd espccis.lly (Textns Receptus; Westcott and Hort) is in • Life of Chrut,' illustrate<l edit., pp. 99, doubtless right. The a.Iteration to,,, (Lach- 100) suggests the.t there is a special re- mann, Tregelles) is probably due to e. ference to the" loe.f-shaped fossils,'' septaria, tendency towards the simple expression of which nre found in Palestine-ea, indeed, in means, but perhaps to the feeling that life, most other countries. Bnt though these especially spiritual life, is me.intained rather "flattened nodules of calcareous clay, iron- in a sphere thau on e. basis (cf. Rom. x. 5; stone, or other me.tter" (Page, 'Handbook Gal. iii. 12). of Geolog. Terms,' etc., 1859, p. 327) often Ver. 5.-Then the devil taketh him np. MSume fantastic shapes, perhaps even dis- Revised Version omits "up." Matthew tantly resembling either an English loaf or (,rapall.aµ/Jrf.v« here e.nd ver. 8) lays stress e. fle.t Jewish cake ('Dide infra), it seems on the companionship, and, in a ecuse, com- quite unnecesse.ry to see any allusion to them pulb-ion; Luke ( 1,-ya-y,v, vcr. 9; &va-ya-ycliv, Lcrc. (For the comparison of bread and e. ver. 5), on guidance nnd locality. Into the stone, cf. eh. vii. 9.) Be made; Revised holy oity (Luke," into Jcruso.lem "). From Version, become; rightly, because there is no Isa. Iii. 1, the end of wuich verso, "There thought of tl1e process of mannfocture in she.II no more come into thee the uncircum- -y.!vuivn,. Bread; Revised Version margin, cised and the unclean," heightens tho im- "Greek, loaves" (lfp-ro,). "The Israelites plied contra.et of the devil's presence thero. made bree.d in the form of an oblong or (For the expression, of. e.lso eh. xxvii. 53: round cake, fill thick as one's thumb, and as Rev. xi. 2; xxi. 2, JO: also Heh. xl., xii.) large 1111 e. plate or platter; hence it was not The name has remained down to the preson, llll, IV, 1-26.J THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 105