And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God. As this temptation starts with the same point as the first-our Lord's determination not to be disputed out of His Sonship-it seems to us clear that the one came directly after the other; and as the remaining temptation shows that the hope of carrying that point was abandoned, and all was staked upon a desperate venture, we think that remaining temptation is thus shown to be the last; as will appear still more when we come to it.
Cast thyself down ("from hence," Luke 4:9 ): for it is written (Psalms 91:11-12). 'But what is this I see?' exclaims stately Dr. Hall, 'Satan himself with a Bible under his arm and a text in his mouth!' Doubtless the tempter, having felt the power of God's word in the former temptation, was eager to try the effect of it from his own mouth (2 Corinthians 11:14).
He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in, [rather, 'on' epi (G1909 )] - their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. The quotation is precisely as it stands in the Hebrew and Septuagint, except that after the first clause the words, "to keep thee in all thy ways," is here omitted. Not a few good expositors have thought that this omission was intentional, to conceal the fact that this would not have been one of "His ways," that is, of duty. But as our Lord's reply makes no allusion to this, but seizes on the great principle involved in the promise quoted; so when we look at the promise itself, it is plain that the sense of it is precisely the same whether the clause in question be inserted or not.