4:11a
In Greek, there is a word at the beginning of this verse part that introduces a quotation. The devil started quoting from Psalm 91 in 4:10b, and this word shows that he broke off his quotation and resumed it here after leaving out some words. Specifically, the devil left out the phrase “to guard you in all your ways” from Psalm 91:11 and continued the quotation with Psalm 91:12.
The words that the devil left out would have shown that the purpose of angels’ protection is to help people keep obeying God. That would have defeated his efforts to tempt Jesus. Several English translations, such as the English Standard Version and NET Bible, use quotation marks to show that the quotation from Psalm 91 breaks at the end of 4:10b and resumes in 4:11a. You may wish to indicate this in a way that is natural in your language.
they will lift You up in their hands: The clause they will lift You up in their hands means “the angels will carry/support you.”
The devil was quoting Psalm 91:12. In that verse, angels lift up someone so that he will not stumble on the stones as he walks. Here the devil applied this verse to mean that the angels would catch Jesus if he jumped. Since the devil was quoting from Psalm 91:12, you should use a verb from your language that fits the context of the psalm. Use a verb that means carry or support. Do not use a verb such as “catch.” For example:
They will support you in their arms (Revised English Bible)
-or-
They will carry you in their arms (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
with their hands they will lift you up (NET Bible)
in their hands: In some languages, the phrase in their hands is implied by the verb used to translate “lift You up.” If that is true in your language, you do not need to translate it explicitly.
4:11b
so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone: The phrase strike Your foot against a stone means “hit your foot on a stone” or “stumble over a stone.” Psalm 91:12 describes someone who is walking along a path. As he walks, God’s angels protect him from stumbling on a rock, falling down, and hurting himself.
Satan quoted this verse and applied it to Jesus. He meant that if Jesus jumped from the top of the temple, he would not be hurt on the rocks/stones below. So here a literal translation of the phrase strike Your foot against a stone may be better than translating it as “stumble.”
Some other ways to translate this are:
so that you never hit your foot against a rock (God’s Word)
-or-
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone (New Living Translation (2004))
so that…not: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that…not links two actions. One action prevents the other action from happening. The purpose for which the angels carried someone (4:11a) was to prevent that person from being harmed (4:11b).
In this context, the devil quoted the psalm to say that angels would protect Jesus. They would protect him so that he would not be harmed if he jumped from the temple.
Some other ways to translate this are:
in order that you not injure your foot
-or-
to prevent your foot from striking
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