Paragraph 4:5–7

In this paragraph, Matthew reported the second way that the devil tempted Jesus. In this paragraph, the devil tempted Jesus to put himself in danger. If Jesus had put himself in danger, he would have been testing God to save him from danger. This would have been a sinful thing for Jesus to do.

4:5a

Then: The conjunction Then introduces a new part of the story. It also indicates that 4:5 happened after 4:4. The Greek text does not indicate how much time passed between these two stories. Use a general term that indicates that the events in this paragraph happened after the events in 4:3–4.

This same word occurs in 4:1a.

the devil took Him to the holy city: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as took refers to someone taking along another person. The devil went to Jerusalem and took Jesus with him. You should not imply that the devil used physical force to take Jesus along with him.

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

the devil went to the holy city and took Jesus ⌊with him⌋
-or-
the devil led Jesus to the holy city (New Century Version)
-or-
the devil went with Jesus to the holy city

the holy city: The phrase the holy city refers to Jerusalem. You may want to include this implied information. For example:

Jerusalem, the Holy City (Good News Translation)
-or-
the holy city of Jerusalem (New Century Version)

4:5b

and set Him: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as set Him also means “placed him.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

caused him to stand
-or-
had him stand (New International Version)
-or-
put him (New Century Version)

The Greek text does not indicate whether the devil was with Jesus on top of the temple. So it is best to leave this point vague. If you must indicate where the devil was, remember that he had a conversation with Jesus. So he was probably close.

the pinnacle of the temple: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the pinnacle of the temple probably refers to the top of one of the temple towers. Towers were built into the wall of the temple complex. If a man fell or jumped off from there, he would die when he hit the ground.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the highest part of the temple (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the roof of the temple

temple: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as temple refers to the temple building and the walls and courtyards that surrounded it. The temple was in Jerusalem and was the most important place where Jews worshiped God.

Here are some other ways to translate the word temple:

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

house/building of God
-or-
place of sacrifice
-or-
house/place of worship
-or-
holy/sacred house

• If your language has a word for “temple,” consider using it. But you may need to modify it by saying:

temple of the Jews/Lord

Be sure to use a different term from the one you have chosen for “synagogue.” There was only one temple, but there were many synagogues.

See the word temple, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for more information.

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