where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.
Parallel translations
- WEB He was there in the wilderness forty days tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals; and the angels were serving him.
- KJV And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
- BSB and He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to Him.
- NKJV And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
- NASB And He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving Him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus endures forty days of testing by Satan in the wilderness, sustained by angels. He stands firm where others fell.
Overview
The forty days recall Israel's forty years and Moses' and Elijah's wilderness experiences, marking Jesus as the faithful representative of His people. Confronting Satan directly, Jesus begins His campaign against the kingdom of evil that the Gospel will trace. The wild animals and serving angels hint at restored creation and divine care for the obedient Son.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Heb 2:17–18Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
- Heb 4:15For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.
- Exod 34:28He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
- Matt 26:53Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?
- Matt 4:10–11Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
- Deut 9:25So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Yahweh had said he would destroy you.
- Deut 9:18I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger.
- Deut 9:11It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that Yahweh gave me the two stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant.
- 1 Kgs 19:5–8He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat!”
- Exod 24:18Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
- 1 Tim 3:16Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 1:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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