As noted in the introduction to this section, the sequence of the second and third temptations differs in Matthew and Luke. Luke’s arrangement avoids the double change of scene that is found in Matthew: desert to Jerusalem, Jerusalem to a high mountain.

Again (Good News Translation “Then”) translates the same adverb used in verse 7; there it was equivalent to “also,” while the meaning here is “next in sequence.” A literal rendering may lead to the faulty conclusion that this is the second time that the Devil had taken Jesus to a very high mountain: “Once again, the devil took him to a very high mountain” (New English Bible). A number of translations have attempted to avoid this erroneous impression; for example: “Next, taking him to a very high mountain” (New Jerusalem Bible). Translators can also use “After that.” In some languages it may not be necessary to use any transition word at all.

Instead of took … to a very high mountain, Luke (4.5) has simply “took … up.” But a number of scholars are convinced that Matthew intends a parallel between this experience and that of Moses, when he was taken up to a high mountain to see “all the land” (Deut 34.1-4). Matthew places several other important events of Jesus’ ministry on a mountaintop: the sermon (5.1), the transfiguration (17.1), and the ascension (28.16).

For a translation of took, see comments on Matthew 4.5.

If translators are working in areas where mountains are unknown, they usually say “where the land was very high” or “to where the land was high so a person could see a great distance.” Of course, no mountain is high enough so that someone could see all over the world from that spot. But translators should retain this exaggerated style in any case.

Kingdoms here means “countries,” “nations,” or “lands,” not just areas ruled over by kings.

And the glory of them, a Hebraism, is rendered “in all their greatness” by Good News Translation; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “in their greatness and beauty”; New English Bible “in their glory”; New American Bible “in their magnificence.” Translations can also use “all their powers” or “all their wealth.” They can also make this a separate sentence: “He showed him how great and beautiful they were.”

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 .