³那试探人的 进前来 ，对他 说 ：你若 是 神 的儿子 ，可以吩咐 这些 石头 变成 食物 。

³ And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

³ Verse 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 Heb 12:1,

τηνευπεριστατοναμαρτιαν, 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, υιοςτουθεου.

υιος is here, and in Lu 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."