Matthew 4:3

New King James Version

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

King James Version (1611)
And when the tempter came to him, hee said, If thou be the sonne of God, command that these stones bee made bread.

King James Version
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

English Standard Version
And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."

New American Standard Bible
And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

New Century Version
The devil came to Jesus to tempt him, saying, "If you are the Son of God, tell these rocks to become bread."

Amplified Bible
And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then came to him the tempter, and said, If thou be the Sonne of God, commande that these stones be made bread.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

Legacy Standard Bible
And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

Berean Standard Bible
The tempter came to Him and said, "If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

Contemporary English Version
Then the devil came to him and said, "If you are God's Son, tell these stones to turn into bread."

Complete Jewish Bible
The Tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, order these stones to become bread."

Darby Translation
And the tempter coming up to him said, If thou be Son of God, speak, that these stones may become loaves of bread.

Easy-to-Read Version
The devil came to tempt him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these rocks to become bread."

George Lamsa Translation
And the tempter drew near and said to him, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.

Good News Translation
Then the Devil came to him and said, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn into bread."

Lexham English Bible
And the tempter approached and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, order that these stones become bread."

Literal Translation
And coming near to Him, the Tempter said, If You are the Son of God, speak that these stones may become loaves.

American Standard Version
And the tempter came and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.

Bible in Basic English
And the Evil One came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, give the word for these stones to become bread.

Hebrew Names Version
The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

International Standard Version
The tempter came and said to him, "IfSince">[fn] you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread."

Etheridge Translation
And he who tempteth approached and said, If the Son thou art of Aloha, say that these stones shall become bread.

Murdock Translation
And the Tempter came, and said to him: If thou art the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And when the tempter came to hym, he sayde: If thou be the sonne of God, commaunde that these stones be made breade.

English Revised Version
And the tempter came and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.

World English Bible
The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And the tempter coming to him said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Weymouth's New Testament
So the Tempter came and said, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn into loaves."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the tempter cam nyy, and seide to hym, If thou art Goddis sone, seie that thes stoones be maad looues.

Update Bible Version
And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, say that these stones may become bread.

Webster's Bible Translation
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou art the son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

New English Translation
The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread."

New Living Translation
During that time the devil came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread."

New Life Bible
The devil came tempting Him and said, "If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to be made into bread."

New Revised Standard
The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, coming near, the tempter said to him, - If thou art God's, Son, speak! that, these stones, may become, loaves.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the tempter coming said to him: If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Revised Standard Version
And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Then came to hym the tempter and sayde: yf thou be the sonne of God commaunde that these stones be made breed.

Young's Literal Translation
And the Tempter having come to him said, `If Son thou art of God -- speak that these stones may become loaves.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the tepter came to him and sayde: yf thou be the sonne of God, commaunde, that these stones be made breed.

Mace New Testament (1729)
whereupon the tempter came to him, and said, "If thou be the Son of God, command these stones to become bread."

Simplified Cowboy Version
That old devil rode up and said, "If you're God's Boy, you can easily turn these rocks into bread. What're you waitin' on?"

Contextual Overview

¹ Mark 1:12,13; Luke 4:1-13">[xr] Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." ⁴ But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' " Deuteronomy 8:3">[fn] ⁵ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,'
and,'In their hands they shall bear you up,Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' " Psalms 91:11, 12 ">[fn] ⁷ Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' " Deuteronomy 6:16">[fn] ⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, [fn] Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.' " Deuteronomy 6:13">[fn]

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the tempter: Job 1:9-12, Job 2:4-7, Luke 22:31, Luke 22:32, 1 Thessalonians 3:5, Revelation 2:10, Revelation 12:9-11

if: Matthew 3:17, Luke 4:3, Luke 4:9

command: Genesis 3:1-5, Genesis 25:29-34, Exodus 16:3, Numbers 11:4-6, Psalms 78:17-20, Hebrews 12:16

Reciprocal: 1 Chronicles 21:1 - Satan Zechariah 10:5 - tread Matthew 8:29 - thou Son Matthew 27:40 - If Mark 3:11 - the Son John 1:34 - this Acts 5:3 - why James 4:7 - Resist Revelation 2:18 - the Son

Cross-References

Genesis 4:1
Luke 11:51; Hebrews 11:4; 12:24">[xr] Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD."

Genesis 4:11
So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

Numbers 18:12
"All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and the grain, their firstfruits which they offer to the LORD, I have given them to you.

1 Kings 17:7
And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

Nehemiah 13:6
But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when the tempter came to him..... By "the tempter", is meant the devil, see 1 Thessalonians 3:5 so called, because it is his principal work and business, in which he employs himself, to solicit men to sin; and tempt them either to deny, or call in question the being of God, arraign his perfections, murmur at his providences, and disbelieve his promises. When he is here said to come to Christ at the end of forty days and nights, we are not to suppose, that he now first began to tempt him; for the other Evangelists expressly say, that he was tempted of him forty days, Mark 1:13 but he now appeared openly, and in a visible shape: all the forty days and nights before, he had been tempting him secretly and inwardly; suggesting things suitable to, and taking the advantage of the solitary and desolate condition he was in. But finding these suggestions and temptations unsuccessful, and observing him to be an hungered, he puts on a visible form, and with an articulate, audible voice, he said,

if thou be the Son of God; either doubting of his divine sonship, calling it in question, and putting him upon doing so too; wherefore it is no wonder that the children of God should be assaulted with the like temptation: or else arguing from it, "if", or "seeing thou art the Son of God"; for he must know that he was, by the voice which came from heaven, and declared it: and certain it is, that the devils both knew, and were obliged to confess that Jesus was the Son of God, Luke 4:41 by which is meant, not a good, or righteous man, or one dear to God, and in an office; but a divine person, one possessed of almighty power; and therefore, as a proof and demonstration of it, be urges him to

command that these stones be made bread, pointing to some which lay hard by; ειπε, "say" but the word, and it will be done. He did not doubt but he was able to do it, by a word speaking; but he would have had him to have done it at his motion, which would have been enough for his purpose; who wanted to have him obedient to him: and he might hope the rather to succeed in this temptation, because Christ was now an hungry; and because he had carried his point with our first parents, by tempting them to eat of the forbidden fruit.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The tempter - The devil, or Satan. See Matthew 4:1.

If thou be the Son of God - If thou art God’s own Son, then thou hast power to work a miracle, and here is a suitable opportunity to try thy power, and show that thou art sent from God.

Command that these stones ... - The stones that were lying around him in the wilderness. No temptation could have been more plausible, or more likely to succeed, than this. He had just been declared to be the Son of God Matthew 3:17, and here was an opportunity to show that he was really so. The circumstances were such as to make it appear plausible and proper to work this miracle. “Here you are,” was the language of Satan, “hungry, cast out, alone, needy, poor, and yet the Son of God! If you have this power, how easy could you satisfy your wants! How foolish is it, then, for the Son of God, having all power, to be starving in this manner, when by a word he could show his power and relieve his wants, and when in the thing itself there could be nothing wrong!”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 4:3. And when the tempter — This onset of Satan was made (speaking after the manner of men) judiciously: he came when Jesus, after having fasted forty days and forty nights, was hungry: now, as hunger naturally diminishes the strength of the body, the mind gets enfeebled, and becomes easily irritated; and if much watching and prayer be not employed, the uneasiness which is occasioned by a lack of food may soon produce impatience, and in this state of mind the tempter has great advantages. The following advice of an Arabian philosopher to his son is worthy of attention. "My son, never go out of the house in the morning, till thou hast eaten something: by so doing, thy mind will be more firm; and, shouldest thou be insulted by any person, thou wilt find thyself more disposed to suffer patiently: for hunger dries up and disorders the brain." Bibliot. Orient. Suppl. p. 449. The state of our bodily health and worldly circumstances may afford our adversary many opportunities of doing us immense mischief. In such cases, the sin to which we are tempted may be justly termed, as in Hebrews 12:1, την ευπεριστατον αμαρτιαν, the well circumstanced sin, because all the circumstances of time, place, and state of body and mind, are favourable to it.

If thou be the Son of God — Or, a son of God, υιος του Θεου. υιος is here, and in Luke 4:3, written without the article; and therefore should not be translated THE Son, as if it were ουιος, which is a phrase that is applicable to Christ as the Messiah: but it is certain, whatever Satan might suspect, he did not fully know that the person he tempted was the true Messiah. Perhaps one grand object of his temptation was to find this out.

Command that these stones — The meaning of this temptation is: "Distrust the Divine providence and support, and make use of illicit means to supply thy necessities."