Section 4:1–13
Satan tempted Jesus
In this section, Luke wrote that the devil (Satan) tempted Jesus, that is, the devil tried to persuade Jesus to do things that God did not want Jesus to do. Luke told about three of those things. Jesus did not do any of the things that the devil suggested. He refused the devil and his temptations by quoting the word of God from the book of Deuteronomy.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
The Temptation of Jesus
-or-
Jesus Is Tempted by the Devil (New Century Version)
There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 4:1–11, and a shorter version occurs in Mark 1:12–13.
Paragraph 4:1–2
4:1a
Then: After the baptism of Jesus in 3:21–22, Luke gave a list of Jesus’ ancestors in 3:23–38. This was background information about Jesus. Here in this paragraph, Luke continued the story of Jesus’ life by telling what happened after Jesus was baptized. In some languages, it may be natural to show that this story continues from 3:22 by repeating part of the information in that verse. For example:
⌊After John baptized him, Jesus,⌋
In other languages, it may be natural to begin this paragraph with a time word or phrase, as the Berean Standard Bible and some other English versions do by saying Then. This reflects a connecting word that is in the Greek.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit: The phrase Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit means that the Holy Spirit came to be with Jesus. The Holy Spirit guided Jesus and gave him power to do all that God wanted him to do. Another way to translate this is:
the power of the Holy Spirit was with him (Contemporary English Version)
A similar expression occurs in 1:15c.
the Holy Spirit: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Holy Spirit refers to the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is God, together with God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is Spirit in the sense that he is a living being who does not have a physical body. He is Holy in the sense that he is divine. He is perfect in every way and is completely pure and sinless. Because of these qualities, he is worthy of awe.
Some other ways to translate Holy Spirit are:
Spirit/Breath of God
-or-
God’s Spirit
-or-
Sacred Spirit
The Holy Spirit is not a ghost of a dead person. Your translation should not imply this or that God has died.
This term also occurs in 3:16d. Translate it the same way in both places. See also holy, sense A2, in Key Biblical Terms.
returned from: In this context, the phrase returned from means “left.” Jesus left the Jordan River where John had baptized him and went into the desert. For example:
he left the Jordan River (God’s Word)
the Jordan: The phrase the Jordan here means the Jordan River.
4:1b
and was led by the Spirit: The verb was led is passive. If it is more natural in your language to use an active verb here, you can say:
the Spirit led him
led: The word led here means “guided” or “directed.”
the Spirit: The word Spirit here refers to the Holy Spirit. This is the same Spirit as in 4:1a.
into the wilderness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wilderness refers to a wild or desolate area where few people lived. It was often a dry area, and so some English versions translate the word as “desert.” However, it was not just barren sand and rock. Some wild grasses and bushes grew there.
Some languages have a special word to refer to such an area, such as “the bush” (Africa) or “steppes” (Asia). It may be appropriate to use such a word if it does not have wrong cultural connotations in this context.
This same word occurs in 1:80b and 3:2b.
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