Scriptures Plain & Simple (Matthew 4:1-11)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Matthew 4:1-11:

The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert,
where he was tested by the devil and ate nothing
       for forty days and forty nights.

When Jesus was about starved, the devil came up and said:
“You claim to be God’s Son,
       so turn these stones into bread!”

“Read the Bible,” said Jesus,
“Nourishment from God’s Word
       is all anyone really needs’.”

Now on the pinnacle of the Jerusalem temple,
       the devil challenged Jesus, “Jump off! —
Like the Bible says, ‘God will send angels
       to protect your feet from the stones’.”

“Read it again,” replied Jesus. “It says,
Don’t ever try to put God to the test!”

Finally, from the top of a high mountain,
the devil pointed out the authority of all earthly kingdoms,
       “They’re yours.’ Just kneel and worship me.”

“Enough of you!” answered Jesus,
       “The Bible teaches us to worship only God.”

So the devil departed,
       and angels descended to wait on Jesus.

Translation commentary on Matthew 4:7

Again it is written is similar in form to the structure in verse 4; Good News Translation has “But the scripture also says.” Other possibilities are “In another place the scripture says” or “Another passage of scripture says.”

You shall not tempt the Lord your God comes from the Septuagint of Deuteronomy 6.16.

The You in the quotation does not refer to the Devil but to the people of Israel, to whom this statement was originally made. The translator should take care that the reader will not be confused about this. Translators may have “You people,” “None of you,” or the impersonal “One.”

Tempt translates a compound form of the verb made from the same root as the one used in Matthew 4.1; either may mean “put to the test” or “tempt,” depending upon the context. Elsewhere in the New Testament this compound form of the verb appears only in Luke 4.12; 10.25; and 1 Corinthians 10.9, where it is used in parallel with the verb of 4.1. The Deuteronomy passage refers to the time when the Israelites put God to the test at Massah (see Exo 17.1-7). They were thirsty and demanded that God work a miracle, but here Jesus refuses to put God to the test by demanding a miracle of him. The sense of tempt that people first think of is “to try to get someone to do wrong,” an idea that would certainly not fit in this context. Translators will do better to follow Good News Translation, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” or to use an expression such as “Don’t try to force God to prove himself,” “Don’t try to test God,” or, as in Barclay, “You must not try to see how far you can go with the Lord your God.”

It is not possible here to give a complete discussion of how to translate Lord. Translators look for a term used for someone to whom others owe allegiance. This is sometimes the same term as “chief” or “elder brother.” In some languages it is “the owner of the people” or even “our owner.” (Translators can discuss this with their translation consultant.)

It is used here with your God. The “your” in the quotation meant the God the people of Israel worshiped. Therefore “you” should not refer to the Devil. But translations can say “the Lord, the God of Israel” or “the Lord who is God.” It can also be in the third person, as in “No one must put the Lord his God to the test.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .