MATTHEW 4      Other translations  -  previous  -  next  -  meaning  -  Matthew  -  BM Home  -  Full Page

Matthew Chapter 4

Chapter IV.

1. Then was jesus led away into the wilderness by the spirit, to be tempted of the devil.
2. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He afterwards hungered.
3. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If You be the Son of God, say that these stones be made bread.
4. But He answering said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that goes forth through the mouth of God.
5. Then the devil takes Him into the holy city, and sets Him on a pinnacle [a wing] of the temple;
6. And says to Him, If You be the Son of God, cast Thyself down : for it is written, that He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, and in [their] hands they shall bear You up, lest any time You dash your foot against a stone.
7. jesus
said to him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.
8. Again the devil takes Him to an exceeding high mountain, and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9. And says to Him, All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me.
10. Then says jesus to him, Get you hence, satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.
11. Then the devil leaves Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
12. But when jesus had heard that John was delivered up [into custody], He returned into Galilee;
13. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea-coast, in the borders of Zabulon of Nephthalim:
14. That it might be fulfilled which was declared by Esaias the prophet, saying,
15. The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
16. The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.
17. From that time jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent you: for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand.
18. And jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19. And He says to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him.
21. And going on from there, He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.
22. And they straightway, leaving the ship and their father, followed Him.
23. And jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every malady in the people.
24. And the report of Him went forth into all Syria; and they brought to Him all the distempered, that were beset with diverse diseases and torments, and those that were possessed with demons, and those that were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them.
25. And there followed Him many multitudes from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and beyond Jordan.

EXPOSITION.

Chapter IV.

verses 1, 2, 3. Then was Jesus led away into the wilderness, &c. - Inasmuch as a wilderness signifies a state of temptations, and forty, whether years or days, signify the entire duration from beginning to end, therefore the Lord's temptations, which He endured from childhood even to the passion of the cross, and which were most intense, are meant by the temptations of forty days in the wilderness, as described in the Evangelists; by which description is not meant, that the Lord was in the wilderness only forty days, and that at the end of that time He was tempted of the devil, but that [He was tempted] during His whole life, even to its conclusion, when He was seized with intense anxiety of heart in Gethsemane, and afterwards endured the dreadful passion of the cross; for the Lord, by temptations, admitted into the Humanity which He had from the mother, subdued all the hells, and at the same time glorified His Humanity: but concerning these temptations of the Lord, see the things which have been written in the Arcana Coelestia, which have been collected into one in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, NJHD 201: all those temptations of the Lord are signified by the temptations in the wilderness during forty days and forty nights, inasmuch as a wilderness signifies a state of temptations, and forty days and nights all their duration. The reason why more is not written in the Evangelists concerning those temptations is, because more was not revealed about them; nevertheless, in the Prophets, and especially in the Psalms of David, they are described at large: by the beasts, with which the Lord is said to have been, are signified the infernal societies; and by fasting is signified affliction, such as is felt in temptation-combats. AE 730.

What is signified by a wilderness, and what by the Lord's temptations forty days and forty nights, has been shown above: that He is said to have been tempted by the devil signifies, that He was tempted by the hells in which evils originate, thus by the very worst; for those hells principally fought against the Lord's Divine Love, inasmuch as the ruling love in those hells is self-love, and this love is opposite to the love of the Lord, thus to the love which is from the Lord. AE 740. See also D. Lord. 33.

And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, &c. - That by forty days and nights is signified the duration of temptation, appears from the Word of the Lord: the reason of such signification is grounded in this, because the Lord suffered Himself to be tempted during forty days, as is plain from Matt 4:1, 2; Luke 4:2; Mark 1:18. And whereas all and every thing which was instituted in the Jewish church, and in the other representative Churches, before the coming of the Lord, was typical of Him, so, also, were forty days and nights, in that they represented and signified in general all temptations, and in particular every duration of temptation. AC 730.

In the Word of the life of the Lord, written by the Evangelists, no mention is made of any temptation except the last, and that which He endured in the wilderness; the disciples were kept unacquainted with any other temptations and even those they were acquainted with, according to the sense of the letter, appear so light and trifling as scarce to amount to any temptation; for so to speak and so to answer, appears to have nothing in it of temptation, when yet, in the Lord's case, it was more grievous than any human mind can conceive or believe; no one can know what temptation is unless he has been in it. The temptation which is related in Matt 4:1-11; Mark 1:12, 13; Luke 4:1-13; contains a summary description of the Lord's temptations in general, showing that, out of love towards the whole race of mankind, he fought against the loves of self and of the world, with which the hells were replete. In all temptation, assault is made against the love in which a man is principled, and the degree of the temptation is according to the degree of the love. If no assault is made upon the love, there is no temptation. To destroy anyone's love, is to destroy his very life; for love is life. The life of the Lord was love towards the whole human race, which was so great and of such a nature, as to be nothing but pure love, Against this life of His were admitted continual temptations, from his earliest childhood to His last hour in the world. The love which was the Lord's veriest life is signified when it is said that "He hungred;" and that "the devil said to Him, If you be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread; and Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Luke 4:2, 3, 4; Matt 4:2, 3, 4. AC 1690.

Verse 4. It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, &c. - That to understand what is true and will what is good, is spiritual food, may be manifest to every reflecting person from this consideration, that he who enjoys material food for the nourishment of the body, is better nourished by such food, if at the same time his mind [animus]be cheerful, and he be engaged in discourse concerning such things as favor his cheerfulness, which is a proof that there is a correspondence between spiritual food, which is of the soul, and material food, which is of the body; the same may be further manifest from this consideration, that he who is in the desire of imbuing his mind [animus]with such things as relate to science, to intelligence, and to wisdom, begins to be in sorrow and in torment when such things are withheld from him, and like a person in hunger, is desirous of returning to his spiritual food, thus to the nourishment of his soul. That spiritual food is what nourishes the soul, as material food the body, may also be manifest from the Word, as in Moses, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by everything uttered from the mouth of Jehovah does man live." Deut 8:3. Matt 4:4. What is uttered from the mouth of Jehovah is, in general, the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord; thus every truth of wisdom, specifically the Word, in which and from which are those things which relate to wisdom. AC 5576.

Sustenance, in a spiritual sense, is nothing else but an influx of good and truth through heaven from the Lord; hence the angels are sustained, and hence the soul of man, that is, his internal man, is sustained; to this sustenance corresponds the sustenance of the external man by meat and drink; wherefore by meat is signified good, and by drink truth; such also is the correspondence, that when man feeds on his food, the attendant angels are in the idea concerning good and truth, and what is. wonderful, with a difference according to the species of food. That the soul of man, that is, the internal man, is sustained by spiritual meat and drink, that is, by good and truth, is manifest from the Lord's words in Moses: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every enunciation of the mouth of Jehovah does man live," Deut 8:3; the enunciation of the mouth of Jehovah is the good and truth which proceed from Him. AC 5915.

With respect to the affection of man, the case is the same as with the man himself, that unless he be supported with food he dies: man also, as to his interiors, is nothing but affection; a good man is the affection of good, and thence of truth; but an evil man is the affection of evil, and thence of the false: this is especially manifest from man when he becomes a spirit; the sphere of life which then flows forth from him is either of the affection of good or of the affection of evil: his nourishment or sustenance in this case is not from natural meat and drink, but from spiritual, which is the false grounded in evil to an evil spirit, and truth grounded in good to a good spirit: the nourishments of human minds, whilst they live embodied in the world, are no other [than such spiritual nourishments], and hence it is that all articles of food, as bread, flesh, wine, water, and several others, in the spiritual sense of the Word, signify such things as are of spiritual nourishment. From these considerations it is also evident what is meant by the Lord's words in Matthew: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word which goes forth from the mouth of God," Matthew 4:4; also what by His words in Luke: "You shall eat and drink on My table in My kingdom." Luke 22:30. AC 9003.

Verse 5. The holy city.-Jerusalem was called the holy city because it signified the church as to the doctrine of truth, and the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord is what is called holy: that that city, without such representation and consequent signification, was in no wise holy, but rather profane, may be manifest from this consideration, that they rejected. the Lord, and there crucified Him; wherefore also it is called Sodom and Egypt, Rev 11:8; but whereas it signified the church as to the doctrine of truth, it was called not only the holy city, but also the city of God, and the city of the Great King. AE 223.

Verses 6, 7. If you be the Son of God, &c.-Every genuine rational principle consists of good and truth; the Lord's rational Divine as to good could not suffer, or undergo temptations, for no genius or spirit causing temptations can approach to Good Divine, and it is above every attempt of temptation; but Truth Divine could be tempted, for there are fallacies, and false principles more especially, which clash with it, and thereby tempt it: it was Truth Divine which was no longer acknowledged when the Lord came into the world, wherefore it was this principle by virtue of which the Lord underwent and sustained temptations. Truth Divine in the Lord is what is called the Son of Man; but Good Divine in the Lord is what is called the Son of God; concerning the Son of Man the Lord frequently declares that He should suffer, but never concerning the Son of God. That the Son of God, or the Lord as to good in the Human Divine, could, not be tempted, is evident also from the Lord's answer to the tempter: "The tempter said, If You be the Son of God, cast Thyself down, for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning You, lest perchance You dash Your foot against a stone: Jesus said to him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God" AC 2813.

Verse 8. Again, the devil takes Him to an exceeding high mountain.-Hereby is signified that the devil tempted the Lord by the love of self, for this love is signified by a high mountain: for the three temptations described signify and involve all the temptations which the Lord sustained when He was in the world; for the Lord, by temptations from the hells, admitted into himself, and by victories on the occasion, reduced all things in the hells into order, and also glorified His Humanity, that is, made it Divine: the reason why all the Lord's temptations were so briefly described is, because He no otherwise revealed them; nevertheless, in the internal sense of the Word, they are described at large. AE 405. See also AC 1690.

Verse 10. Get you hence, satan.-They who are in evil by derivation from the understanding are called satans; but they who are in evil by derivation from the will are called devils: it is on account of this universal distinction that mention is made in the Word of satan and the devil. C. S. L. 492. See also AC 10642.

Verse 11. Angels came and ministered to Him, &c. - After every spiritual temptation comes illustration and affection, thus pleasantness and delight; pleasantness from illustration by truth, and delight from the affection of good: the reason is, because by temptations truths and goods are implanted and conjoined; hence man, as to his spirit, is introduced more interiorly into heaven, and to the heavenly societies with which he had before been; when temptation is finished, communication with heaven is opened, which before had been in part closed; hence come illustration and affection, consequently pleasantness and delight, for the angels on such occasion, with whom communication is given, flow in by truth and by good. AC 8367. See also AC 1690.

Verses 13-18. The land of Zabulon and the land of Naphthali, &c.-The land of Zabulon and the land of Naphthali, and Galilee of the Gentiles, signify the establishment of a church amongst the Gentiles, who are in the good of life and receive truths, thus are in their conjunction, and in combat against evils and falses: that the establishment of a church and the reformation of such Gentiles is meant, is evident also from this consideration, that it is said beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, and also the people that sat in darkness have seen a great light, and to them that sat in the region and shade of death has the light arisen. By Zabulon and Naghthali, in the supreme sense, is signified the union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Humanity of the Lord, by temptations admitted into Himself, and victories by his own proper power, as in David. Psalm 67:28, 29. AE 447. See also AE 439.

Verse 16. The people that sat in darkness, &c. - In this passage darkness signifies the falses of ignorance, such as formerly prevailed, and at this day prevail, among the well-disposed Gentiles: these falses are altogether distinct, from the falses of evil, for these latter have evil stored up in them, because they are derived from evil, whereas the former have good stored up in them, inasmuch as they have good for their end; wherefore they who are principled in the former falses are capable of being instructed in truths, and also, when they are instructed, receive truths in the heart, by reason that the good, which is in their falses, loves truth, and also conjoins itself to truth when it is heard: it is otherwise with the falses" of evil; these are averse from and reject all truth, by reason that it is truth, and thus has no agreement with evil. Darkness also signifies in the Word mere ignorance, arising from deprivation of truth, as in David, Psalm 18:28, 139:11, 12; darkness also signifies natural light, for this in respect to spiritual light is as darkness; wherefore also the angels, when they look down into the natural light of man, such as is in the natural thought of men, view it.as darkness, and the things which are in it as in darkness; this light is signified by darkness in Gen 1:2-5. And whereas the sense of the letter of the Word is natural, therefore also that sense in the Word is called a cloud and likewise darkness, in respect to the internal spiritual sense, which is the light of heaven, and is called glory. AE 526. See also AR 413.

Verses 18, 19. Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, &c.- A spiritual sense is in these words, as in all other parts of the Word: by the Lord's choosing those fishermen, and saying that they should become fishers of men, was signified that they should gather together [men] to the church; by the nets which they spread, and in which they included a great multitude of fishes, so that the ships threatened to sink, was signified the reformation of the church by them; for by fishes are there signified the knowledges of truth and good, by which reformation is effected, also the multitude of men who were to be reformed. AE 513.

Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother.-The reason why Peter was the first of the apostles is, because truth derived from good is the first thing, of the church; for man from the world does not know anything concerning heaven and hell, nor concerning a life after death, yea, nor concerning god his natural light teaches nothing else but what has entered through the eyes, thus nothing but what relates to the world and to himself; his life also is from the same source, and so long as man is in these things alone, he is in hell: but that he may be brought forth thence, and led forward to heaven, it is necessary that he learn truths, which not only teach that there is a God, and that there is a heaven and a hell, and also a life after death, but also teach the way to heaven: hence it may be manifest that truth is the first thing by which the church appertains to man, but it is truth derived from good; for truth without good is merely knowledge that a thing is so, and knowledge alone has no other effect than to make a man capable of Becoming a church; but he does not become a church until he lives according to knowledges, in which case truth is conjoined with good, and man is introduced into the church: truths also teach how man ought to live; and when in this case he is affected with truths for the sake of truths, which is the case when he loves to live according to them, he is then led of the Lord, and conjunction is given him with heaven, and he becomes spiritual, and after death an angel of heaven. Nevertheless, it is to be noted that truths do not produce those effects, but good by truths, and good is from the Lord. Inasmuch as truth derived from good, which is from the Lord, is the first thing of the church, therefore Peter was first called, and was the first of the apostles; he was also named by the Lord, Kephas, which is Petra [a rock], but that it might be the name of a person, it is expressed Peter : by Petra [a rock], in the supreme sense, is signified the Lord as to Divine Truth, or the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord; hence in the respective sense, by Petra is signified truth derived from good, which is from the Lord; the like by Peter. The reason why the three apostles, Peter, James, and John, were fishers, and why it was said to them "Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men'' was, because to fish signifies to instruct natural men; for at that time, both within the church and out of it, there were natural men, who, as they received the Lord and truths from him, became spiritual. AE 820.

By Andrew is signified the obedience of faith. AE 821.

Verse 23. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. - In the Word, mention is frequently made of evangelizing, and of the gospel [evangelium], and thereby is signified the advent of the Lord, as may appear from Isa 40:9, 10, 11; 52:7, 8; and Matt 4:23: by the kingdom of God, is understood a new heaven and a new church from the Lord. Inasmuch as to evangelize signifies to announce the advent of the Lord; hence by the gospel, in the supreme sense, is signified the Lord Himself as to His advent, as to judgement, and as to the salvation of the faithful. AE 612.

By synagogue is denoted doctrine. The reason why by synagogue is signified doctrine is, because doctrine was taught in the synagogue, and also differences in doctrinals were there decided; that doctrine was taught in the synagogues is evident from Matt 4:23; 9:35; 13:54: Mark 1:21, 22, 29, 30: John 18:20. That differences in doctrinals were decided in the synagogues may be concluded from what is said in Matt 10:17; Mark 13:9; Luke 12:11; 21:12; John 9:22; 12:42; 16:2. AE 120.

Healing every disease, &c.-Inasmuch as diseases represented the iniquities and evils of spiritual life, therefore, by the diseases which the Lord healed is signified liberation from the various kinds of evil and the false which infested the church and the human race, and which would have induced spiritual death; for Divine miracles are distinguished from other miracles by this, that they involve and have respect to states of the church and the heavenly kingdom; on this account the Lord's miracles consisted principally in the healing of diseases. AC 8364.

Verse 24. By demons and demoniacs, in the abstract sense, are signified cupidities and falsities, as may appear from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned. Matt 4:24, and elsewhere. AE 1001.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.

Chapter IV.

verse 10. Get you hence, satan.-It is remarkable that in this chapter the tempter is called by two distinct names, the devil and satan,for in verses 1, 5, 8, 11, he is called the devil, and in this verse satan,of which distinction no satisfactory account can be given but from the internal sense, which requires that the two distinct principles of evil and the false should be discriminated, since they are the opposites of good and truth, and form, what Swedenborg properly terms, the infernal marriage, in like manner as the conjunction of good and truth forms the heavenly marriage. This, therefore, is one amongst the numerous proofs that the Word is written throughout with a view to such marriage.

Verse 16. The people which sat in darkness, &c. - In this verse another proof occurs of reference to the above marriage, which abounds in the word throughout; for mention is made first of the people which sat in darkness, or of those who were destitute of truth,and next of those who sat in the region and shadow of death, or of those who were destitute of good; and it is said of the former, that they saw great light, and of the latter, that light is sprung up to them. In like manner, the same infernal marriage is described by the region and shadow of death; region having respect to evil in the will, and shadow to the false in the understanding.

Verse 17. Repent you.-The term here used to express the act of repentance is meTavoeia?-See note at chap. 3:2.

Verse 18. Casting a net into the sea.-It is remarkable that in the original Greek there are three distinct terms to express a net; 1st, amhi/JA^spov, which is the term here used; 2dly, SiKTvov, which occurs at verse 20 below; and 3dly, a-ay^vrj, which occurs chap. 13:47. What the distinction is in their signification, as it respects the internal sense, we are not expressly informed; but probably, since a net in general signifies the doctrine by which men are raised out of a natural state into a spiritual, and thus are gathered together into the church, the three kinds of nets may refer to the three kinds of doctrine, celestial, spiritual, and natural.

Verse 23. Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and malady, &c. - This passage affords another striking proof that the Sacred Scriptures are written with reference to the heavenly marriage of good and truth, as above noted, and were intended to express it; for the term teaching has reference more to the doctrine of truth, as the term preaching has to the doctrine of good; and in like manner the terms malady and disease have a distinct reference to the disorders of life occasioned by the opposites to truth and good, namely, by falses and evils; and if each term had not this distinct reference, the mention of both would be needless tautology. The whole passage, at the same time, supplies a remarkable instance of the connection of the sense of several seemingly unconnected expressions into one sense, by which mode of speaking and writing, the word of god is evidently distinguished from every other book: for when mention is made of the three distinct acts of teaching, of preaching,and of healing, they appear in the letter, or literal sense, as three separate acts unconnected with each other; whereas in the spirit, or spiritual sense, though distinct they unite in one, teaching having respect to the illumination of the understanding by truth, preaching to the reformation and purification of the will by good, and healing to the joint effect of both in removing the falses and evils of the natural man or mind.

Verse 25. There followed Him many multitudes. - In our common version of the New Testament, what is here rendered many, is called great; but the original term is polloi, which literally has reference to number, and denotes many, whereas great is expressed in the original Greek by megar. But there is yet another reason why the expression many ought to be here adopted in preference to great,and that is, because of the internal sense of each expression; many being constantly applied in reference to truth, because truth is more a subject of number, and great being applied in reference to good, because good is not so much a subject of number as of quality.