Matthew 4:2

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
fasted	νηστεύσας nēsteusas	G3522	to abstain from food (religiously) · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
forty	τεσσεράκοντα tesserakonta	G5062	forty · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
days	ἡμέρας hēmeras	G2250	day · noun — accusative plural feminine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
forty	τεσσεράκοντα tesserakonta	G5062	forty · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
nights	νύκτας nuktas	G3571	"night" (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative plural feminine
was	ἐπείνασεν. epeinasen	G3983	"pine") · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
afterward	ὕστερον hýsteron	G5305	more lately
hungred	πεινάω peináō	G3983	"pine")

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 9:18 And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your…
Exodus 34:28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the word…
1 Kings 19:8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
Luke 4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Deuteronomy 9:9 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode…
Exodus 24:18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Deuteronomy 9:25 Thus I fell down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the LORD had said he would destroy you.
Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them a…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 4:1-11

We have here the story of a famous duel, fought hand to hand, between Michael and the dragon, the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, nay, the serpent himself; in which the seed of the woman suffers, being tempted, and so has his heel bruised; but the serpent is quite baffled in his temptations, and so has his head broken; and our Lord Jesus comes off a Conqueror, and so secures not only comfort, but conquest at last, to all his faithful followers. Concerning Christ's temptation, observe, I. The time when it happened: Then; there is an emphasis laid upon that. Immediately after the heavens were opened to him, and the Spirit descended on him, and he was declared to be the Son of Go…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 4:2

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights--Luke says "When they were quite ended" (Luk 4:2). he was afterward an hungered--evidently implying that the sensation of hunger was unfelt during all the forty days; coming on only at their close. So it was apparently with Moses (Exo 34:28) and Elijah (Kg1 19:8) for the same period. A supernatural power of endurance was of course imparted to the body, but this probably operated through a natural law--the absorption of the Redeemer's Spirit in the dread conflict with the tempter. (See on Act 9:9). Had we only this Gospel, we should suppose the temptation did not begin till after this. But it is clear, from Mark's statement, that "He was in…

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John Gill on Matthew 4:2

And when he had fasted forty days..... As Moses did, when he was about to deliver the law to the Israelites, Exodus 34:28 and as Elijah did, when he bore his testimony for the Lord of hosts, 1 Kings 19:8 so did Christ, when he was about to publish the Gospel of his grace, and bear witness to the truth. "Forty nights" as well as days, are mentioned; partly to show that these were whole entire days, consisting of twenty four hours; and partly to distinguish this fast of Christ from the common fastings of the Jews, who used to eat in the night, though they fasted in the day: for according to their canons (z), they might eat and drink as soon as it was dark, and that till cock crowing; and other…

The Church Fathers

When Christ "hungered," as it is written, then the devil made his move to tempt him; for he was not wholly amazed at the fact of his fasting for forty days, since he knew that Elijah had fasted for the same length of time. For this reason he took courage to attack him, thinking him to be a person of this kind, and not God.
— Theodore of Mopsuestia, FRAGMENT 18

So you see, my friends, the fact that we fast during Lent is not of human invention. The authority is divine and mystical and not taken for granted. Nor is it based on an earthly custom but on heavenly secrets. Lent [Quadragesima] contains the four-sided teaching of four decades of faith, because perfection is always four-sided. The number forty [quadragesimus] and the number ten [denarius], which hold sacraments both in heaven and on earth because a square is not free to open, are used to explain the undertaking of the Lord's fast.
— Peter Chrysologus, SERMONS 11.4

For the number "forty days" is composed of four groups of ten. This may be akin to the four aspects of physical reality, because the sensible world is formed out of four elements. Or it may be because a human being is formed in forty days in the womb. And so that he might not, by fasting any longer than this, give anyone the notion that he had not taken on flesh in truth, he afterward was hungry, sharing all that we have "except for sin" and participating in our condition through his own suffering.
— Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENT 61.12

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Fast — The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), Lev. 23:26-32. It is called “the fast” (Acts 27:9). The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old…
Humiliation of Christ — (Phil. 2:8), seen in (1) his birth (Gal. 4:4; Luke 2:7; John 1:46; Heb. 2:9), (2) his circumstances, (3) his reputation (Isa. 53; Matt. 26:59, 67; Ps. 22:6; Matt. 26:68), (4) his soul (Ps. 22:1;…
John — (1.) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John (Acts 4:6). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown. (2.) The Hebrew name of Mark (q.v.). He…
Satan — Adversary; accuser. When used as a proper name, the Hebrew word so rendered has the article “the adversary” (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7). In the New Testament it is used as interchangeable with Diabolos, or…
Temptation — (1.) Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God “tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., ‘did prove’] Abraham;” and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James 1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their…
Christ, Character Of · Resisting temptation — Resisting temptation
Fasting · .Jesus — .Jesus
Forty · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Human Nature Of Christ, The · Is proved by his: Hungering — Is proved by his: Hungering
Hunger · Of Jesus — Of Jesus
Temptation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Matthew 4:2

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 4:1-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 4:2

John Gill on Matthew 4:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Matthew 4:2

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 4:1-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 4:2

John Gill on Matthew 4:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Matthew 4:1-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 4:2