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href="/bsb/matthew/4.htm" class="clickchap" style="color:#001320" title="Click any translation name for full chapter">  (Click for Chapter)</a></div><div id="par"><span class="versiontext"><a href="/niv/matthew/4.htm">New International Version</a></span><br />After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nlt/matthew/4.htm">New Living Translation</a></span><br />For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/esv/matthew/4.htm">English Standard Version</a></span><br />And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/bsb/matthew/4.htm">Berean Standard Bible</a></span><br />After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/blb/matthew/4.htm">Berean Literal Bible</a></span><br />And having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/kjv/matthew/4.htm">King James Bible</a></span><br />And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nkjv/matthew/4.htm">New King James Version</a></span><br />And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb_/matthew/4.htm">New American Standard Bible</a></span><br />And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb/matthew/4.htm">NASB 1995</a></span><br />And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb77/matthew/4.htm">NASB 1977 </a></span><br />And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lsb/matthew/4.htm">Legacy Standard Bible </a></span><br />And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/amp/matthew/4.htm">Amplified Bible</a></span><br />After He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights, He became hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/csb/matthew/4.htm">Christian Standard Bible</a></span><br />After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/hcsb/matthew/4.htm">Holman Christian Standard Bible</a></span><br />After He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/asv/matthew/4.htm">American Standard Version</a></span><br />And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he afterward hungered.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/cev/matthew/4.htm">Contemporary English Version</a></span><br />After Jesus had gone without eating for 40 days and nights, he was very hungry. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/erv/matthew/4.htm">English Revised Version</a></span><br />And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he afterward hungered.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/gwt/matthew/4.htm">GOD'S WORD® Translation</a></span><br />Jesus did not eat anything for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of that time, he was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/gnt/matthew/4.htm">Good News Translation</a></span><br />After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/isv/matthew/4.htm">International Standard Version</a></span><br />After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, he finally became hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/msb/matthew/4.htm">Majority Standard Bible</a></span><br />After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/net/matthew/4.htm">NET Bible</a></span><br />After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nheb/matthew/4.htm">New Heart English Bible</a></span><br />And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/wbt/matthew/4.htm">Webster's Bible Translation</a></span><br />And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/wey/matthew/4.htm">Weymouth New Testament</a></span><br />There He fasted for forty days and nights; and after that He suffered from hunger.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/web/matthew/4.htm">World English Bible</a></span><br />When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. <div class="vheading2"><b>Literal Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lsv/matthew/4.htm">Literal Standard Version</a></span><br />and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He hungered.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/blb/matthew/4.htm">Berean Literal Bible</a></span><br />And having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/ylt/matthew/4.htm">Young's Literal Translation</a></span><br /> and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he did hunger.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/slt/matthew/4.htm">Smith's Literal Translation</a></span><br />And having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry.<div class="vheading2"><b>Catholic Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/drb/matthew/4.htm">Douay-Rheims Bible</a></span><br />And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/cpdv/matthew/4.htm">Catholic Public Domain Version</a></span><br />And when he had fasted for forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nabre/matthew/4.htm">New American Bible</a></span><br />He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nrsvce/matthew/4.htm">New Revised Standard Version</a></span><br />He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.<div class="vheading2"><b>Translations from Aramaic</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lamsa/matthew/4.htm">Lamsa Bible</a></span><br />So he fasted forty days and forty nights; but at last he was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/aramaic-plain-english/matthew/4.htm">Aramaic Bible in Plain English</a></span><br />But he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.<div class="vheading2"><b>NT Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/anderson/matthew/4.htm">Anderson New Testament</a></span><br />And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/godbey/matthew/4.htm">Godbey New Testament</a></span><br />And having fasted forty days and forty nights, He afterward hungered.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/haweis/matthew/4.htm">Haweis New Testament</a></span><br />And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he became hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/mace/matthew/4.htm">Mace New Testament</a></span><br />there having fasted forty days and forty nights, he at length grew hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/wey/matthew/4.htm">Weymouth New Testament</a></span><br />There He fasted for forty days and nights; and after that He suffered from hunger.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/worrell/matthew/4.htm">Worrell New Testament</a></span><br />And, having fasted forty days and forty nights, He afterwards hungered.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/worsley/matthew/4.htm">Worsley New Testament</a></span><br />and when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, at last He was <i>very</i> hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/parallel/matthew/4-2.htm">Additional Translations ...</a></span></div></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><a name="audio" id="audio"></a><div class="vheadingv"><b>Audio Bible</b></div><iframe width="100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hriiyJYqzvc?start=617" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="vheadingv"><b>Context</b></div><span class="hdg"><a href="/bsb/matthew/4.htm">The Temptation of Jesus</a></span><br><span class="reftext">1</span>Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. <span class="reftext">2</span><span class="highl"><a href="/greek/2532.htm" title="2532: kai (Conj) -- And, even, also, namely. "></a> <a href="/greek/3522.htm" title="3522: nēsteusas (V-APA-NMS) -- To fast, abstain from food. From nestis; to abstain from food.">After fasting</a> <a href="/greek/5062.htm" title="5062: tesserakonta (Adj-AFP) -- Forty. The decade of tessares; forty.">forty</a> <a href="/greek/2250.htm" title="2250: hēmeras (N-AFP) -- A day, the period from sunrise to sunset. ">days</a> <a href="/greek/2532.htm" title="2532: kai (Conj) -- And, even, also, namely. ">and</a> <a href="/greek/5062.htm" title="5062: tesserakonta (Adj-AFP) -- Forty. The decade of tessares; forty.">forty</a> <a href="/greek/3571.htm" title="3571: nyktas (N-AFP) -- The night, night-time. A primary word; night.">nights,</a> <a href="/greek/5305.htm" title="5305: hysteron (Adv) -- Lastly, afterward, later. Neuter of husteros as adverb; more lately, i.e. Eventually."></a> <a href="/greek/3983.htm" title="3983: epeinasen (V-AIA-3S) -- To be hungry, needy, desire earnestly. From the same as penes; to famish; figuratively, to crave.">He was hungry.</a> </span> <span class="reftext">3</span>The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”…<div class="cred"><a href="//berean.bible">Berean Standard Bible</a> · <a href="//berean.bible/downloads.htm">Download</a></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="crossref" id="crossref"></a><div class="vheading">Cross References</div><div id="crf"><span class="crossverse"><a href="/exodus/34-28.htm">Exodus 34:28</a></span><br />So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/deuteronomy/9-9.htm">Deuteronomy 9:9</a></span><br />When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/deuteronomy/9-18.htm">Deuteronomy 9:18</a></span><br />Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/1_kings/19-8.htm">1 Kings 19:8</a></span><br />So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/luke/4-2.htm">Luke 4:2</a></span><br />where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/mark/1-13.htm">Mark 1:13</a></span><br />and He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to Him.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/hebrews/4-15.htm">Hebrews 4:15</a></span><br />For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/matthew/6-16.htm">Matthew 6:16-18</a></span><br />When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. / But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, / so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/matthew/9-14.htm">Matthew 9:14-15</a></span><br />Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast so often, but Your disciples do not fast?” / Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/matthew/17-21.htm">Matthew 17:21</a></span><br />But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/luke/2-37.htm">Luke 2:37</a></span><br />and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/acts/13-2.htm">Acts 13:2-3</a></span><br />While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” / And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/acts/14-23.htm">Acts 14:23</a></span><br />Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/2_corinthians/11-27.htm">2 Corinthians 11:27</a></span><br />in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/jonah/3-5.htm">Jonah 3:5</a></span><br />And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.</div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="tsk" id="tsk"><div class="vheading">Treasury of Scripture</div><p class="tsk2">And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.</p><p class="hdg">fasted.</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/exodus/24-18.htm">Exodus 24:18</a></b></br> And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/exodus/34-28.htm">Exodus 34:28</a></b></br> And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/deuteronomy/9-9.htm">Deuteronomy 9:9,18,25</a></b></br> When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, <i>even</i> the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water: … </p><p class="hdg">he was.</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/matthew/21-18.htm">Matthew 21:18</a></b></br> Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/mark/11-12.htm">Mark 11:12</a></b></br> And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/john/4-6.htm">John 4:6</a></b></br> Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with <i>his</i> journey, sat thus on the well: <i>and</i> it was about the sixth hour.</p><div class="vheading">Jump to Previous</div><a href="/joel/2-28.htm">Afterward</a> <a href="/joel/2-28.htm">Afterwards</a> <a href="/zechariah/7-6.htm">Fasted</a> <a href="/joel/2-12.htm">Fasting</a> <a href="/matthew/3-4.htm">Food</a> <a href="/jonah/3-4.htm">Forty</a> <a href="/micah/6-14.htm">Hunger</a> <a href="/luke/6-3.htm">Hungered</a> <a href="/luke/6-3.htm">Hungred</a> <a href="/ezekiel/18-16.htm">Hungry</a> <a href="/matthew/3-14.htm">Need</a> <a href="/jonah/1-17.htm">Nights</a> <a href="/matthew/3-15.htm">Suffered</a><div class="vheading2">Jump to Next</div><a href="/matthew/15-37.htm">Afterward</a> <a href="/matthew/14-22.htm">Afterwards</a> <a href="/acts/13-2.htm">Fasted</a> <a href="/matthew/6-16.htm">Fasting</a> <a href="/matthew/6-16.htm">Food</a> <a href="/mark/1-13.htm">Forty</a> <a href="/matthew/5-6.htm">Hunger</a> <a href="/matthew/21-18.htm">Hungered</a> <a href="/matthew/12-1.htm">Hungred</a> <a href="/matthew/12-1.htm">Hungry</a> <a href="/matthew/4-4.htm">Need</a> <a href="/matthew/12-40.htm">Nights</a> <a href="/matthew/9-20.htm">Suffered</a><div class="vheading2">Matthew 4</div><span class="reftext">1. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/matthew/4-1.htm">Jesus, fasting forty days, </a></span><br><span class="reftext">3. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/matthew/4-3.htm">is tempted by the devil and ministered unto by angels.</a></span><br><span class="reftext">12. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/matthew/4-12.htm">He dwells in Capernaum;</a></span><br><span class="reftext">17. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/matthew/4-17.htm">begins to preach;</a></span><br><span class="reftext">18. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/matthew/4-18.htm">calls Peter and Andrew,</a></span><br><span class="reftext">21. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/matthew/4-21.htm">James and John;</a></span><br><span class="reftext">23. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/matthew/4-23.htm">teaches and heals all the diseased.</a></span><br></div></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div> </td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="combox"><div class="padcom"><a name="study" id="study"></a><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top"><a href="/study/matthew/4.htm">Study Bible</a></td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/study/matthew/" title="Book Summary and Study">Book ◦</a> <a href="/study/chapters/matthew/4.htm" title="Chapter summary and Study">Chapter </a></tr></table></div><b>After fasting forty days and forty nights</b><br>The number forty is significant in biblical history, often associated with periods of testing, trial, and preparation. For example, Moses fasted for forty days and nights on Mount Sinai (<a href="/exodus/34-28.htm">Exodus 34:28</a>), and Elijah did the same on his journey to Mount Horeb (<a href="/1_kings/19-8.htm">1 Kings 19:8</a>). The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years (<a href="/numbers/14-33.htm">Numbers 14:33-34</a>). This period of fasting by Jesus in the wilderness symbolizes a time of spiritual preparation and mirrors these Old Testament events, highlighting Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. The wilderness itself is a place of desolation and testing, reminiscent of the Israelites' journey and their reliance on God for sustenance.<p><b>He was hungry</b><br>This phrase emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, showing that He experienced physical needs and limitations like any other human. It underscores the reality of the Incarnation, where Jesus, though fully divine, took on human flesh and its accompanying frailties (<a href="/philippians/2-7.htm">Philippians 2:7-8</a>). The hunger also sets the stage for the subsequent temptation by Satan, where Jesus' physical weakness contrasts with His spiritual strength and reliance on God's Word. This moment foreshadows Jesus' role as the Bread of Life (<a href="/john/6-35.htm">John 6:35</a>), who provides spiritual nourishment to those who believe in Him.<div class="vheading2">Persons / Places / Events</div>1. <b><a href="/topical/j/jesus_christ.htm">Jesus Christ</a></b><br>The central figure in this passage, Jesus is the Son of God who has come to fulfill His mission on earth. In this context, He is preparing for His public ministry through fasting and prayer.<br><br>2. <b><a href="/topical/t/the_wilderness.htm">The Wilderness</a></b><br>A desolate and isolated place where Jesus went to fast and pray. It symbolizes a place of testing and spiritual preparation.<br><br>3. <b><a href="/topical/f/fasting.htm">Fasting</a></b><br>A spiritual discipline that Jesus undertakes for forty days and nights, signifying a period of intense spiritual focus and reliance on God.<br><br>4. <b><a href="/topical/f/forty_days_and_forty_nights.htm">Forty Days and Forty Nights</a></b><br>A significant period in biblical terms, often associated with testing, trial, and preparation (e.g., the Israelites' 40 years in the desert, Moses' 40 days on Mount Sinai).<br><br>5. <b><a href="/topical/h/hunger.htm">Hunger</a></b><br>A natural human response to fasting, highlighting Jesus' humanity and His reliance on God for strength and sustenance.<div class="vheading2">Teaching Points</div><b><a href="/topical/t/the_importance_of_spiritual_preparation.htm">The Importance of Spiritual Preparation</a></b><br>Jesus' fasting underscores the necessity of spiritual preparation before undertaking significant tasks or ministries. Believers are encouraged to seek God earnestly in prayer and fasting to align their hearts with His will.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/r/reliance_on_god_in_weakness.htm">Reliance on God in Weakness</a></b><br>Jesus' hunger reminds us of His humanity and His reliance on God. In our own times of weakness, we are called to depend on God's strength and provision.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/t/the_significance_of_fasting.htm">The Significance of Fasting</a></b><br>Fasting is a powerful spiritual discipline that helps believers focus on God, deny the flesh, and grow in spiritual strength. It is a practice that can lead to deeper intimacy with God and clarity in hearing His voice.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/e/endurance_through_trials.htm">Endurance Through Trials</a></b><br>The forty days and nights symbolize a period of testing. Believers can take comfort in knowing that God is with them during trials, providing the endurance needed to overcome.<a name="commentary" id="commentary"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/matthew/4.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(2) Forty days and forty nights.--Here we have an obvious parallelism with the fasts of Moses (<a href="/exodus/34-28.htm" title="And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote on the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.">Exodus 34:28</a>) and Elijah (<a href="/1_kings/19-8.htm" title="And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.">1Kings 19:8</a>), and we may well think of it as deliberately planned. Prolonged fasts of nearly the same extent have been recorded in later times. The effect of such a fast on any human organism, and therefore on our Lord's real humanity, would be to interrupt the ordinary continuity of life, and quicken all perceptions of the spiritual world into a new intensity. It may be noted that St. Luke describes the Temptation as continuing through the whole period, so that what is recorded was but the crowning conflict, gathering into one the struggles by which it had been preluded. The one feature peculiar to St. Mark (who omits the specific history of the temptations), that our Lord "was with the wild beasts" (<a href="/mark/1-13.htm" title="And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him.">Mark 1:13</a>). suggests that their presence, their yells of hunger, their ravening fierceness, their wild glaring eyes, had left, as it were, an ineffable and ineffaceable impression of horror, in addition to the terrors and loneliness of the wilderness as such.<p><span class= "bld">He was afterward an hungred.</span>--The words imply a partial return to the common life of sensation. The cravings of the body at last made themselves felt, and in them, together with the memory of the divine witness that had been borne forty days before, the Tempter found the starting-point of his first attack. Of that attack there may well have been preludes during the previous time of trial. Now it came more distinctly.<p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/matthew/4.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And when he had fasted... he was afterwards an hungred</span>. He was so absorbed in prayer that it was only after his six weeks meditation that he felt the need of food. But though his humanity had been elevated and his spiritual sense quickened by this at the time almost unconscious fast, it left him physically prostrate and completely exposed to attack. "In certain morbid conditions, which involve a more or less entire abstinence from food, a period of six weeks generally brings about a crisis, after which the demand for nourishment is renewed with extreme urgency. The exhausted body becomes a prey to a deathly sinking. Such, doubtless, was the condition of Jesus; he felt himself dying. It was the moment the tempter had waited for to make his decisive assault" (Godet). Luke (cf. Mark?) probably (though not in the Revised Version) represents the temptation as continuous during the whole period. Of this Matthew says nothing, but only describes the final scenes, when the might of the tempter was felt to the uttermost, and his defeat was most crucial. <span class="cmt_word">Forty</span>. Trench's remark is well worth study: "On a close examination we note it to be everywhere there [<span class="accented">i.e.</span> in Holy Scripture] the number or signature of penalty, of affliction, of the confession, or the punishment, of sin (Studies, p. 14). <span class="cmt_word">Nights</span>. The mention of nights as well as days brings out more vividly the continuance and the completeness of the abstinence (cf <a href="/genesis/7-4.htm">Genesis 7:4, 12</a> [17, LXX.]; <a href="/exodus/24-18.htm">Exodus 24:18</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/9.htm">Deuteronomy 9</a>, especially 18; <a href="/1_kings/19-8.htm">1 Kings 19:8</a>). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/commentaries/matthew/4-2.htm">Parallel Commentaries ...</a></span><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><a name="lexicon" id="lexicon"></a><div class="vheading">Greek</div><span class="word">After fasting</span><br /><span class="grk">νηστεύσας</span> <span class="translit">(nēsteusas)</span><br /><span class="parse">Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/greek/strongs_3522.htm">Strong's 3522: </a> </span><span class="str2">To fast, abstain from food. From nestis; to abstain from food.</span><br /><br /><span class="word">forty</span><br /><span class="grk">τεσσεράκοντα</span> <span class="translit">(tesserakonta)</span><br /><span class="parse">Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/greek/strongs_5062.htm">Strong's 5062: </a> </span><span class="str2">Forty. The decade of tessares; forty.</span><br /><br /><span class="word">days</span><br /><span class="grk">ἡμέρας</span> <span class="translit">(hēmeras)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/greek/strongs_2250.htm">Strong's 2250: </a> </span><span class="str2">A day, the period from sunrise to sunset. </span><br /><br /><span class="word">and</span><br /><span class="grk">καὶ</span> <span class="translit">(kai)</span><br /><span class="parse">Conjunction<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/greek/strongs_2532.htm">Strong's 2532: </a> </span><span class="str2">And, even, also, namely. </span><br /><br /><span class="word">forty</span><br /><span class="grk">τεσσεράκοντα</span> <span class="translit">(tesserakonta)</span><br /><span class="parse">Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/greek/strongs_5062.htm">Strong's 5062: </a> </span><span class="str2">Forty. The decade of tessares; forty.</span><br /><br /><span class="word">nights,</span><br /><span class="grk">νύκτας</span> <span class="translit">(nyktas)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/greek/strongs_3571.htm">Strong's 3571: </a> </span><span class="str2">The night, night-time. A primary word; 'night'.</span><br /><br /><span class="word">He was hungry.</span><br /><span class="grk">ἐπείνασεν</span> <span class="translit">(epeinasen)</span><br /><span class="parse">Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/greek/strongs_3983.htm">Strong's 3983: </a> </span><span class="str2">To be hungry, needy, desire earnestly. From the same as penes; to famish; figuratively, to crave.</span><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading">Links</div><a href="/niv/matthew/4-2.htm">Matthew 4:2 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/matthew/4-2.htm">Matthew 4:2 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/matthew/4-2.htm">Matthew 4:2 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/matthew/4-2.htm">Matthew 4:2 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/matthew/4-2.htm">Matthew 4:2 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="//bibleapps.com/matthew/4-2.htm">Matthew 4:2 BibleApps.com</a><br /><a href="//bibliaparalela.com/matthew/4-2.htm">Matthew 4:2 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="//holybible.com.cn/matthew/4-2.htm">Matthew 4:2 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="//saintebible.com/matthew/4-2.htm">Matthew 4:2 French Bible</a><br /><a href="/catholic/matthew/4-2.htm">Matthew 4:2 Catholic Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/matthew/4-2.htm">NT Gospels: Matthew 4:2 When he had fasted forty days (Matt. Mat Mt) </a></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="/matthew/4-1.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Matthew 4:1"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Matthew 4:1" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="/matthew/4-3.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Matthew 4:3"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Matthew 4:3" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>