Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
Parallel translations
- WEB Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.
- KJV Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
- BSB Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
- NASB Again, the devil *took Him along to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;
- NLT Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
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
The devil offers Jesus the kingdoms of the world and their glory. It frames the final temptation: a shortcut to dominion without the cross.
Overview
From a high mountain the devil displays the world's kingdoms in their splendor, claiming authority to grant them. This is a temptation to seize the rule that is rightly Christ's, but by worship of Satan rather than through suffering and obedience. Jesus, who will one day receive all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), refuses to gain His inheritance by any path but the Father's appointed way of the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Jn 2:15–16Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.
- Rev 11:15The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!”
- Luke 4:5–7The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
- Ps 49:16–17Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
- Matt 16:26For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?
- Heb 11:24–26By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
- 1 Pet 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;
- Dan 4:30The king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?
- Esth 5:11Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
- Esth 1:4He displayed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent majesty many days, even one hundred eighty days.
- Matt 4:5Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 4:8 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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