Matthew 4:10

Mat_4:10

Worship the Lord thy God.

Divine worship

I. Divine worship is human instinct. Among all the living occupants of the earth, man is the only worshipper. Man feels after the Divine. Hence, in different ages, different evidences of mans worshipfulness-sacred grove, mosque, synagogue, temple, church. Mans natural tendency has never been not to worship; but to worship too many objects. Paganism divided and weakened worship. Christianity concentrates and gives life, force, and unity to the worship.

II. Christian worship ennobles the worshipper. The Lord thy God! In the worship of such a God, mans own intellect is ennobled, and his heart purified. His whole humanity is raised.

III. The worship and service of the Christian religion are unending. Thou shalt worship, etc. There are no limitations to that command in the Book; none in the human heart. The moral aspirations of the soul are enduring as itself. (Nevison Loraine.)

The object of worship

I. The qualifications necessary to constitute a being a proper object for Divine adoration.

II. What is the worship God requires?

III. Why we should worship God. He commands. Is our Creator, etc. In it consists our happiness. (Anon.)

Worship and service

I. We must worship.

1. A man can never be too reverent to God.

2. Our religion must be uncovered.

3. The wandering eye must learn to be fastened on Him.

4. Jacob, though he were not able to stand or kneel, yet leaned upon his staff, and worshipped God.

5. This must be done as duty due to God, and in regard of those that be strangers.

II. We must serve.

1. Bow the soul when we bow the body.

2. We must serve God with our sacrifices.

3. Not with our sins.

4. Not with our iniquities.

5. God must be above all: and of whomsoever a man is overcome, to him he is in bondage. (Bishop Lancelot Andrewes.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 4:10. Then saith Jesus, Get thee hence, Satan — The expression, Υπαγε, Σατανα, plainly expresses Christ’s authority over Satan, as well as his detestation of so vile a suggestion: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, &c. — It would therefore be unlawful to worship thee, who art no other than a mere creature, even though thou wast indeed his deputy on earth; and how much more then must it be so, as thou art, in reality, the great avowed enemy of God and man! for such, under all thy disguise, I well know thee to be. It appears from these words, that religious worship, or service, is due to God alone, and cannot be lawfully given to a creature. From whence we must infer, that Christ is not a mere creature: for all men are to honour him, even as they honour the Father, Joh 5:23. And all the angels of God are commanded to worship him, Heb 1:6 : and it is given as the character of all Christians, 1Co 1:2, that they call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord: and Col 3:24, That they serve the Lord Christ. As to the answer made by some to this irrefragable argument in favour of our Lord’s divinity, it appears from this very passage to have no weight in it. God alone say they, is to be worshipped as the first and principal cause of all things, and the chief author of our salvation; but yet, religious worship and service may be paid to Christ, as the intermediate cause of that salvation which God, by him, hath revealed and brought to us. For as there are no footsteps of this distinction in the holy Scriptures, so it is plain that our Lord’s reply to Satan here entirely condemns it. The devil, it is manifest, did not require to be worshipped by Jesus as the original cause and supreme governor of the world. He frankly owns that all the power he had over the kingdoms of the earth was given to him. He claims, therefore, only a subordinate worship; and yet our Lord rejects his claim, not on the ground of his being a liar and usurper, who had no such power, and therefore had no right to any such worship; but on the ground of God only having a right to any kind of religious worship, saying, in the words of Moses, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him ONLY shalt thou serve. Christ, therefore, cannot be worshipped lawfully, if he be not God as well as man.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 4:10. Ὕπαγε, depart) “Get thee behind Me, Satan” said the Lord to Peter, when he took Him and endeavoured to dissuade Him from undergoing His passion; thus commanding Peter to retire into the proper place of a disciple, i.e., behind Him. But to Satan He said, Depart, Satan: go, not behind Me, but plainly from Me.—Σατανᾶ, Satan) q.d. “Thou hast tried to discover who I am, and I tell thee who thou art.” He calls the tempter, when he wished to appear specially gracious to Him, Satan.[143]—Κύριον—προσκυνήσεις, κ.τ.λ., Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve) In Deu 6:13, the LXX. have Κύριον—φοβηθήσῃ, κ.τ.λ., Thou shalt fear the Lord, etc. Jesus substitutes worship aptly for fear.—Cf. Mat 4:9.—μόνῳ, only, alone) Thus the LXX. have it, who have inserted μόνος also in Gen 3:11; Gen 3:17, without doing violence to the meaning.

[143] For he had plainly showed, by his pride, that he was Satan.—Vers. Germ.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_4:10. Ὕπαγε] The spurious words ὀπίσω μου would have to be explained: go behind methat is, go back that I may see thee no longer! ἀφανίσθητι, Euth. Zigabenus. ὀπίσω with the genitive belongs to the LXX. and the Apocrypha, after the Hebrew, אַחֲרֵי פ׳; in this way the Greeks construe ὄπισθεν.

σατανᾶ] to infer from this that Jesus now for the first time (too late) recognises Satan (de Wette), is arbitrary, and opposed to the representation of the matter in Mat_4:1, according to which Jesus cannot have been unaware of the intention of the Holy Spirit, who impelled Him to go into the wilderness. That He now calls Satan by name, is in keeping with the growing intensity of the emotion in general, as well as with the personal address of the tempter in Mat_4:9. Tentatorem, quuni is maxime favere videri vult, Satanam appellat, Bengel.

κύριον, κ.τ.λ.] Jehovah alone shalt thou worship, do homage to Him only as thy master. Deu_6:13, according to the LXX., freely applied to the proposal of Satan. According to this arrangement, it is by the way of obedience to God that Jesus is aware that He will attain to the government of the world. Joh_18:36; Php_2:6 ff.; Mat_28:18; Act_10:36 ff.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 4:10 . ὕπαγε σατανᾶ . Jesus passionately repels the Satanic suggestion. The ὕπαγε σ . is true to His character. The suggestions of worldly wisdom always roused in Him passionate aversion. The ὀπίσω μου of some MSS. does not suit this place; it is imported from Mat 16:23 , where it does suit, the agent of Satan in a temptation of the same sort being a disciple. Christ’s final word to the tempter is an absolute, peremptory Begone. Yet He condescends to support His authoritative negative by a Scripture text, again from Deut. (Mat 6:13 ), slightly adapted, προσκυνήσεις being substituted for φοβηθήσῃ (the μόνῳ in second clause is omitted in Swete’s Sept [15] ). It takes the accusative here instead of dative, as in Mat 4:9 , because it denotes worship proper (Weiss-Meyer). The quotation states a principle in theory acknowledged by all, but how hard to work it out faithfully in life!

[15] Septuagint.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan--Since the tempter has now thrown off the mask, and stands forth in his true character, our Lord no longer deals with him as a pretended friend and pious counsellor, but calls him by his right name--His knowledge of which from the outset He had carefully concealed till now--and orders him off. This is the final and conclusive evidence, as we think, that Matthew's must be the right order of the temptations. For who can well conceive of the tempter's returning to the assault after this, in the pious character again, and hoping still to dislodge the consciousness of His Sonship, while our Lord must in that case be supposed to quote Scripture to one He had called the devil to his face--thus throwing His pearls before worse than swine?

for it is written-- (Deu 6:13). Thus does our Lord part with Satan on the rock of Scripture.

Thou shalt worship--In the Hebrew and the Septuagint it is, "Thou shalt fear"; but as the sense is the same, so "worship" is here used to show emphatically that what the tempter claimed was precisely what God had forbidden.

the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve--The word "serve" in the second clause, is one never used by the Septuagint of any but religious service; and in this sense exclusively is it used in the New Testament, as we find it here. Once more the word "only," in the second clause--not expressed in the Hebrew and the Septuagint--is here added to bring out emphatically the negative and prohibitory feature of the command. (See Gal 3:10 for a similar supplement of the word "all" in a quotation from Deu 27:26).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. Get thee hence] Or, behind me, οπισω μου. This is added by a multitude of the best MSS., VERSIONS, and FATHERS. This temptation savouring of nothing but diabolical impudence, Jesus did not treat it as the others; but, with Divine authority, commanded the tempter to return to his own place.

In the course of this trial, it appears that our blessed Lord was tempted,

1st. To DISTRUST. Command these stones to become bread.

2dly. To PRESUMPTION. Cast thyself down.

3dly. To worldly AMBITION. All these will I give.

4thly. To IDOLATRY. Fall down and worship me, or do me homage. There is probably not a temptation of Satan, but is reducible to one or other of these four articles.

From the whole we may learn:

First. No man, howsoever holy, is exempted from temptation: for God manifested to the flesh was tempted by the devil.

Secondly. That the best way to foil the adversary, is by the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Eph 6:17.

Thirdly. That to be tempted even to the greatest abominations (while a person resists) is not sin: for Christ was tempted to worship the DEVIL.

Fourthly. That there is no temptation which is from its own nature, or favouring circumstances, irresistible. God has promised to bruise even Satan under our feet.

As I wish to speak what I think most necessary on every subject, when I first meet it, and once for all, I would observe,

First, That the fear of being tempted may become a most dangerous snare.

Secondly, That when God permits a temptation or trial to come he will give grace to bear or overcome it.

Thirdly, That our spiritual interests shall be always advanced, in proportion to our trials and faithful resistance.

Fourthly, That a more than ordinary measure of Divine consolation shall be the consequence of every victory.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) Get thee hence, Satan.—Once more the answer to the Tempter was found in the words of the Tephillim and the lessons of childhood. No evidence of power could change the eternal laws of duty. There came to the Son of Man the old command, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,” as an oracle from heaven, and this, rather than an attempt to refute the claim of sovereignty, was that on which He took His stand. Others, dealing with the same temptation, as the writers of the Book of Job and of Psalms 73, have discussed the question of the apparent triumph of evil in the world’s history, and have pointed to its ultimate downfall, to the sure though slow retribution which even that history records, to the redress of the anomalies of this life in a life beyond the grave. Here we have a truer and simpler answer. Even though they cannot solve the problem, the true wisdom of men who follow in the footsteps of Christ is to recognise that their allegiance is due to God and to Him only. Here, once more, the truth thus affirmed reappears later on. When the chief of the Apostles sought to turn his Master from the appointed path of suffering, he was met, as renewing the same form of temptation which had been thus resisted, with the self-same words. Even Peter had to hear himself rebuked with “Get thee behind me, Satan” (Mat_16:23). The use of the formula here, for the first time in the conflict, is significant as implying that in the previous temptations Evil had presented itself in disguise, making sins of distrust appear as acts of faith, while now it showed itself in its naked and absolute antagonism to the divine will.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. Get thee hence, Satan] It is instructive to find these words addressed to Peter (ch. Mat_16:23) when he put himself as it were in the place of the tempter. See note ad loc.

him only shalt thou serve] Deu_6:10-13. Idolatry, multiplicity of aims, and forgetfulness of God are the dangers of prosperity and ambition. See context of passage in Deut.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then the devil leaveth him,.... In Luk 4:13 it says,

when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season, or until a season. That is, having tempted him with all sorts of temptations, and tried him every way to no purpose; having gone through, and finished the whole scheme and course of temptations he had devised, without success; and having orders from Christ to depart, which he was obliged to obey, leaves him for a while, till another opportunity of tempting him in some other way should offer; or till the time came, when he should be so far able to get the advantage of him, as to bruise his heel, or bring him to the dust of death; see Joh 14:30 and when he was gone, better company came in his room;

behold, angels came and ministered to him. They came to him in a visible, human form, as they were used to do under the Old Testament dispensation, and that after the temptation was over; after Satan was foiled, and was gone; that it might appear that Christ alone had got the victory over him, without any help or assistance from them. When they were come, they "ministered to him"; that is, they brought him food of their own preparing and dressing, as they formerly did to Elijah, Kg1 19:5 to satisfy his hunger, and refresh his animal spirits; which had underwent a very great fatigue during this length of time, in which he fasted, and was tempted by Satan. Thus, as the angels are ministring spirits to the heirs of salvation, both in a temporal and in a spiritual sense, Heb 1:14 so they were to Christ. Nothing is more frequent with the Jews than to call the angels "ministring angels": it would be needless and endless to refer to particular places.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Ver. 10. Get thee hence, Satan] Avaunt, avoid, be packing! This was an indignity not to be endured, as great, every way, as if the basest scoundrel upon earth should assault the chastity of the greatest empress. Our Saviour therefore will endure him no longer, but commands him out of his presence, with utmost indignation. And surely madness, in case of God’s dishonour, is far better than meekness. Here, if "we be beside ourselves, it is to God," as Paul said, 2Co 5:13; and as he did, when he dealt with Elymas, the firstborn of the devil, when he saw him perverting the deputy; "he set his eyes upon him," saith the text, as if he would have run through him. After which lightning follows that terrible thunder crack, "O full of all subtilty and of all mischief," &c. Agnosce te primogeniturn diaboli. Sic Cerintho Ioannes Apostolus. Act 13:9-10. So the angel of Ephesus could not abide those counterfeits, Rev 2:2. Nor could David brook the workers of iniquity: he casteth down the gauntlet of defiance against them, as his utter enemies, he "hateth them with a perfect hatred," Psa 139:21-22. Hezekiah pulled down the brazen serpent (when the people idolized it), and called it a piece of brass. And Josiah would not let stand the horses of the sun and other monuments of idolatry, upon any entreaty. King Edward VI, being laboured by some of his best friends to permit the Lady Mary his sister to have mass in her house, answered, He would rather spend his life, and all he had, than agree and grant to that he knew certainly to be against the truth. (Acts and Mon.) And another time, in his message to the rebels of Devonshire: "Assure you most surely," said he, "that we of no earthly thing under heaven make such reputation as of this one, to have our law obeyed, and this cause of God which we have taken in hand to be thoroughly maintained; from the which we will never remove a hair’s breadth, or give place to any creature living, much less to any subject; wherein we will spend our own royal person, our crown, treasure, realm, and all our state, whereof we assure you of our high honour." (Acts and Mon.) Now, God’s blessing be on that blessed heart that hath such a stomach against God’s dishonour; and can entertain all wicked attempts and assaults with this Apage of our Saviour. And woe to them that cry Euge to such. Whether we say to the tempter, as our Saviour did, "Get thee hence," and not rather, as the angel, "The Lord rebuke thee," Jdg 1:9, is questioned by some; because it is only to command the devil. But that we may and must say to him, no man doubts, as our Saviour did to the Pharisees, "Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?" Mat 22:18; as Naboth did to Ahab, "God forbid me any such wickedness," 1Ki 21:3; as Solomon to his mother, "Ask the kingdom also;" as the witch of Endor to Saul, "Why seekest thou to take me in a snare, to cause me to die?" 1Sa 28:9. Thus, "Resist," saith Peter 1Pe 5:9; "Stand fast," saith Paul, Eph 6:14, νικαν παρα το νε εικειν. Resist, and Satan will flee, he is but a coward. Stand, and then Satan will fall. Not to yield is to conquer: if he cast us not down, we are then accepted, as if we did cast him down. We do "over overcome," saith that great apostle, υπερνικωμεν, Rom 8:37, because in our head, Christ, we overcome before we fight, and are sure of victory, Rev 12:1. Quare apage sis, diabole, et tela tua in hoc semen mulieris converte: hunc si viceris, me quoque viceris, said one; Devil, do thy worst to Christ: conquer him, and take all (Solomon Gonerus apud Melch. Adam.)

For it is written] This two-edged sword our Saviour had found to be metal of proof, and therefore holds him to it. Only the Scriptures scare the devil, as only faithful prayer can charm him. Isa 26:16, prayer is called לחש, a charm. Athanasius writeth that evil spirits may be put to flight by that Psalm: {Psa 68:1} "Let the Lord arise, and his enemies be confounded." But this is true of the whole word of God, which is armour of proof against the devil.

Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God] "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God," saith Moses. So Mat 15:9; cf. Isa 29:13. See Psa 2:11; Jos 24:14; Heb 12:28. Solomon sets the fear of God as the basis and beginning of God’s work and worship, in the beginning of his works, Pro 1:7. And again, in the end of them, makes it the end and upshot of all. For they "that fear the Lord will keep his covenant," Psa 103:13-18. Yea, they will work hard at it, as afraid to be taken with their tasks undone, Act 10:35. Deum si quis parum metuit, valde contemnit; huius qui non memorat beneficentiam, auget iniuriam. (Fulgent.) They will give him both the shell of outward adoration and the kernel of inward devotion; truly, without halting; and totally, without halving: truly, both for matter and manner; totally, both for subject and object; as David, who did all the wills of God, θεληματα, and with all his heart, all the days of his life, Act 13:36. The Gentiles could say, that God must be worshipped η ολως υη ολως, either to our utmost, or not at all. And Plutarch compares our duty to a certain fish, which eaten sparingly hurteth; but being eaten up all, is medicinal.

And him only shalt thou serve] With inward worship, as before with outward. And so God only is to be served; for it supposeth Omniscience, Omnipresence, and Omnipotence, which are in none else but God. Sunt qui colendi verbum, απο του κολακευειν dictum volunt, eo quod plerunque Dei hominumque cultus cum adulatione et hypocrisi est coniunctus. Sic a λατρευειν, Gallicum et nostrate flatter. Sic adorare quidam dictum volunt ab ore, tametsi menta magis quam ore vera fiat adoratio. Quinetiam adorare antiquis idem fuit quod agere.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Get thee hence - These temptations, and this one especially, the Saviour met with a decided rebuke. This was a bolder attack than any which had been made before. The other temptations had been founded on an appeal to his necessities, and an offer of the protection of God in great danger; in both cases plausible, and in neither a direct violation of the law of God. Here was a higher attempt, a more decided and deadly thrust at the piety of the Saviour. It was a proposition that the Son of God should worship the devil, instead of honoring and adoring Him who made heaven and earth; that he should bow down before the Prince of wickedness and give him homage.

It is written - In Deu 6:13. Satan asked him to worship him. This was expressly forbidden, and Jesus therefore drove him from his presence.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Jesus Christ does not here cite the words, but the substance of the text. (Deuteronomy v. 7. and 9; vi. 13; x. 20.) --- It is remarkable that our Lord bore with the pride and insolence of the devil, till he assumed to himself the honour due to God alone. (St. John Chrysostom)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

As this was of all the three the most impudent temptation, so our Lord receiveth it with the highest detestation, saying,

Get thee hence, Satan by which words he doth not only show his detestation of this temptation, but also chides him off from any further tempting him. The sense is, Satan, I know better things, viz. that a religious adoration is not to be given unto any but unto God alone. Thou art a creature; no worship is due unto thee: to worship before thee (so Luke phrases it, Luk 4:7) is to worship thee. This is expressly contrary to the command of God, Deu 6:13; 10:20. It is also observable, that our Saviour opposeth this to the devil’s words, εαν προσκυνήσῃς ἐνώπιόν μου, if thou falling down wilt worship me; and that Christ answers, Tον Yεος σου προσκυνησεις και αυτω λατρευσεις; which shows the idleness of the papists’ distinction of doulia and latreia; the first of which they say may be given to the creature, the second only unto God; by which they justify their veneration of images. The using a posture of adoration before the creature in an act of worship, Christ here interprets a worshipping the creature, if the creature either exacts it of us, or we purposely set it before us, or choose it as an object exciting or moving us to such an act of adoration, which the papists do. Not that all prostration before the creature is an act of Divine adoration; there is a civil as well as a Divine worship; and in Divine worship the position of the creature before us may be merely for convenience, or accidental. But all prostration in an act of Divine worship is a posture of adoration, and where a creature is chosen and set before us in that act or posture, to excite or move us, it partakes of the homage. There is some little difference between the words, Deu 6:13; Deu 10:20, and those of St. Matthew; but that is said to be written, which is written as to the substance and sense, though not in those terms. Moses saith, Thou shalt fear; as Matthew quotes it it is,

Thou shalt worship. The term fear applied unto God, signifieth any act of religion, whether external or internal, and though the last words in Deuteronomy, thou shalt swear by his name, be not mentioned in Matthew, yet enough are quoted for our Saviour’s purpose. Falling down and worshipping belongeth only to God, (saith our Saviour), not to thee; let me therefore hear of thee no more.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Get thee hence, Satan — For now Satan has, so to speak, showed his cloven foot. This soft-spoken man, this most interesting angel, turns out to be none else than God’s foe. He demands to be worshipped! and that ends the matter. The devil is a coward; he only needs resistance, and he runs.

Jas_4:7. Jesus had but to give him a Get thee hence and he is gone, and makes room for the better company of angels, whose benevolence and whose form, perhaps, he had been counterfeiting.

As the first temptation appealed to the animal appetites, and the second to the mental tastes, so the third appealed to the ambition. This is the very triple division referred to by St. John: “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.” Joh_2:16. It is the very triple temptation by which Eve fell. The fruit was good for food, and so appealed to the appetite; it was pleasant to the eyes, and so pleased the sense of beauty; it would make her as the gods, and so it awakened her ambition.

By this last temptation the great men of this world have fallen in myriads. Not that true greatness is incompatible with goodness. Many a ruler of the people has been the servant of God; but often their ruin has been this temptation — serve the devil and rule the world. They have believed the devil to be the true dispenser of this world’s endowments, and they have sought his patronage.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Get thee hence, Satan. "Avaunt, Satan" (Rheims). Christ does not address him directly till this climax. The two previous temptations were, comparatively speaking, ordinary and limited. This temptation calls out a passionate utterance of a personality stirred, because touched, in its depths. Only once again do we find our Lord so moved, in Mat_16:23 (the "Western" and "Syrian" addition here of opisw mou from that passage emphasizes the feeling common to the two cases), when a similar representation is made to him that he ought to escape the troubles which his Messianic position, in fact, brought upon him. For it is written; (Deu_6:13) from the LXX, which differs from the Hebrew by

(1) translating aryt, "fear," by proskunhseiv (but B has fobhyhsh); and

(2) the paraphrastic insertion of "only." Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Worship; proskunew), as in ver. 9. Serve; latreuw , "in perfect subjection to a sovereign power" (Bishop Westcott on Heb_8:2, Add. Note). Our Lord"s reply cuts up the devil"s solicitation by the root. "I do not enter," he means, "into the question of thy authority over these things, and of thy power concerning them. I acknowledge thee not. The command which I willingly obey excludes all homage and service to any other over-lord than God alone. I accept not thy orders and thy methods. I take my commands direct from God." Observe that our Lord does not say how he is to gain the kingdoms for his own; this would be the care of him whose command he follows. But before ascending, the Lord proclaimed (Mat_28:18) that he had received (i.e. gained through suffering, Heb_2:10 Php_2:9) more than (note "in heaven") what the devil would have given him as a reward of obedience to false principles.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Get thee hence, Satan - Not, get thee behind me, that is, into thy proper place; as he said on a quite different occasion to Peter, speaking what was not expedient. Deut. vi, 13.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Jesus meets the insult with proper dignity:

v. 10. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written. Thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.

Here Jesus rises in the power of His supreme authority, and passionately repels the Satanic suggestion. In the Greek we have here a single word: Begone! Out of My sight! It is a peremptory command. It terminates the disagreeable companionship which the devil had thrust upon the Lord. He applies the epithet "Satan" to the tempter, that is, adversary, enemy, 1Ki 11:14; Psa 109:6, since he not only interferes with Christ’s Messianic work, but is, from the beginning, the arch-enemy of all mankind. Yet He condescends to support His majestic dismissal with a Scripture text, Deu 6:13, adapting it to the present circumstances. Jehovah alone is worthy of honor and glory and adoration; to Him only shall the ministering of divine service, of religious veneration, be made.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. With what zeal and indignation of spirit our blessed Saviour repels and beats back this temptation of Satan: Get thee hence.

Note thence, That the greater the sins are which the devil tempts us to, the greater our zeal and indignation ought to be in opposing and resisting the temptation to them. A great temptation must be withstood with great resolution.

Observe, 2. The weapon with which he repels and beats back the fiery dart of Satan’s temptation, and that is, with the shield of scripture: It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God.

Learn thence, That God is the sole object of religious worship: it is so peculiarly the Creator’s due, that to give it to any creature is gross idolatry, and repugnant to the scriptures. No creature is to pay divine adoration to any but his Creator; hence it appears that Christ is not a creature, divine worship being given to him.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. Get thee hence, Satan. As the tempter was revealed Jesus rebukes him. The word, “Get thee hence,” “begone,” expresses abhorrence. The adversary is called by name and bidden to depart. Then his reason is added, in the words of Scripture, found in Deut. 6:13. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. This passage forbids every kind of religious adoration to any other object than Jehovah, whether it be idols, false gods, popes, Virgin Mary, saints, or angels. The three temptations had been met, three times the tempter had been baffled, three times the victory had been won. The first assault had been made through the door of appetite, “the lust of the flesh;” the second through vain glory, “the lust of the eyes;” the third through ambition, “the pride of life.” All had appealed to Jesus to turn away from the pathway of self-denial and suffering marked out for him. All had been met by the shield of faith, and the tempter beaten back by the word of the Spirit.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

This is the end of the part of the story about how Satan tempted Jesus.

General Information:

In verse 10, Jesus rebukes Satan with another quotation from Deuteronomy.

For it is written

This can be stated in active form. AT: "For Moses also wrote in the scriptures" (See: Active or Passive)

You will worship ... you will serve

Both instances of "you" are singular, a command to everyone who hears it. (See: Forms of You)

behold

The word "behold" here alerts us to pay attention to the important new information that follows.

translationWords

Satan

written

worship

lord

servant

angel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

10. ὕπαγε σατανᾶ. It is instructive to find these words addressed to Peter (ch. Mat 16:23) when he put himself as it were in the place of the tempter. See note ad loc.

In Homer ὑπάγειν is used of bringing cattle under the yoke, ὕπαγε ζύγον ὤκεας ἵππους, a force which some have given to the word in this passage ‘bow thyself to the yoke of God;’ against this is the early gloss ὁπίσω μου found in some MSS., and the entirely prevalent use of the verb in other passages.

καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις. Deu 6:10-13. Idolatry, multiplicity of aims, and forgetfulness of God are the dangers of prosperity and ambition. See context of passage in Deut.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10.] Our Lord at once repels him openly; not that He did not know him before,—but because he had thus openly tempted Him; but not even this of His own power or will; He adds, for it is written,—again, as Man, appealing to the Word of God. There does not appear to be sufficient ground for the distinction sometimes set up between the meanings of προσκυνεῖν with the dative and the same verb with the accusative. See, besides reff., Gen 49:8: Exo 11:8.

From this time, our Lord is known by the devils, and casts them out by a word. Mar 1:24, Mar 1:34; Mar 3:11; Mar 5:7.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. Then saith Jesus to him, Away, Satan: for it is written, The Lord thy God shah thou worship, and Him alone shah thou serve.] Lk. has: “And Jesus answered and said to him, It is written,” etc. The quotation comes from Deu 6:13. B has there φοβηθήσῃ, and omits μόνῳ. But A has προσκυνήσεις and μόνῳ1 a favourite word with Mt., generally takes a dative; cf. 2:2, 8, 11, 4:9, 8:2, 9:18, 14:33, 15:25, 18:26, 28:9.

(X)

10. ὂπαγε] So א B C * al 1 f k. Add όπίσω μου C2 D al S2. S1has “behind.”

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.