Luke 4:8

“And answering, Jesus said to him, “It is written: Before the Lord your God you will bow down, and him alone you will serve.””
Luke 4:8 · direct translation from the Greek

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With the Greek beneath

Andκαὶanswering,ἀποκριθεὶςJesusὁ Ἰησοῦςsaidεἶπενto him,αὐτῷ“It is written:ΓέγραπταιBeforethe LordΚύριονyour Godτὸν θεόν σουyou will bow down,προσκυνήσειςandκαὶhimαὐτῷaloneμόνῳyou will serve.”λατρεύσεις

Quotation · Deuteronomy 6:13

Go to Deuteronomy 6:13

Where Deuteronomy says “you will fear,” Luke says “you will bow down,” and adds “alone.”

Formula: Γέγραπται “it is written” (Luke 4:8)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ Γέγραπται Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις

Hebrew (Masoretic text): אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ תִּירָא וְאֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹד וּבִשְׁמוֹ תִּשָּׁבֵעַ

Septuagint (Deuteronomy 6:13 in the Septuagint numbering): Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου φοβηθήσῃ καὶ αὐτῷ λατρεύσεις, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν κολληθήσῃ, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ὀμῇ.

In the Septuagint verse that most resembles it, at most 4 consecutive words match the Greek of the NT. The transcription has reading errors, so a match may not show.

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Luke 4:8, word by word

answeringἀποκριθεὶςapokritheis

answer

To say something back to the one who spoke or asked.

Where else “apokritheis” appears

JesusἸησοῦςIēsous

Jesus

Jesus, the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehoshua (Joshua), which means "YHWH saves". It is the name the angel told Joseph to give him (Matthew 1:21).

Where else “Iēsous” appears

saidεἶπενeipen

say

To express something in words to others.

Where else “eipen” appears

“It is writtenΓέγραπταιGegraptai

it is written

So the Bible says; a passage is quoted.

Where else “Gegraptai” appears

the LordΚύριονKyrion

Lord

The Lord: God, whose name is YHWH; also Jesus.

Where else “Kyrion” appears

your Godθεόνtheon

God

The Creator and Lord of all, the one God of Israel.

Where else “theon” appears

you will bow downπροσκυνήσειςproskynēseis

bow down

To bow to the ground before someone.

Where else “proskynēseis” appears

aloneμόνῳmonōi

alone

With no one else.

Where else “monōi” appears

you will serveλατρεύσειςlatreuseis

worship, serve

Serve, worship: serve God in worship.

Where else “latreuseis” appears

Translation note

A quotation from Deuteronomy 6:13. Where the Hebrew says “you will fear” (and so does the ancient Greek translation in the text we use), Jesus says “you will bow down,” and adds “alone.”

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

The temptations of Jesus

Matthew 4:1-11 Mark 1:12-13

See them side by side

Luke 4:1-13

¹And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and he was led by the Spirit in the wilderness ²for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he did not eat anything in those days, and when they were completed, he was hungry. ³And the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” ⁴And Jesus answered him, “It is written: A human being will not live on bread alone.” ⁵And leading him up, he showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited world in a moment of time. ⁶And the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been handed over to me, and to whomever I wish I give it. ⁷So if you bow down before me, it will be all yours.” ⁸And answering, Jesus said to him, “It is written: Before the Lord your God you will bow down, and him alone you will serve.” ⁹And he brought him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; ¹⁰for it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you, ¹¹and: On their hands they will carry you, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.” ¹²And answering, Jesus said to him, “It is said: You will not put the Lord your God to the test.” ¹³And when the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Matthew 4:1-11

¹Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tested by the devil. ²And after fasting forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry. ³And the one testing him came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴But he answered and said, “It is written, ‘A person will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out through the mouth of God.’” ⁵Then the devil takes him into the holy city and stood him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶and says to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will lift you up, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.’” ⁷Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’” ⁸Again the devil takes him to a very high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, ⁹and he said to him, “All these things I will give you, if you fall down and bow down before me.” ¹⁰Then Jesus says to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall bow down before the Lord your God, and him alone you shall serve.’” ¹¹Then the devil leaves him, and look, angels came and were serving him.

Mark 1:12-13

¹²And at once the Spirit drives him out into the wilderness. ¹³And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tested by Satan; and he was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him.

Quotation · Deuteronomy 6:13

Where Deuteronomy says “you will fear,” Luke says “you will bow down,” and adds “alone.”

See them side by side

Luke 4:8

⁸And answering, Jesus said to him, “It is written: Before the Lord your God you will bow down, and him alone you will serve.”

Deuteronomy 6:13

¹³YHWH your Elohim you shall fear, and him you shall serve, and by his name you shall swear.

The context

7So if you bow down before me, it will be all yours.”

8 · This verse (above)

9And he brought him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here;

Read all of Luke 4

To study Luke 4 in a group

1. What it says
How does Jesus answer the devil each time he is tempted in the wilderness? (vv. 3-13)
2. What it means
In Nazareth Jesus reads from Isaiah and says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled.” Why do his neighbors become angry afterward? (vv. 18-29)
3. How I live it
Jesus came to bring good news to the poor and freedom to the oppressed. Who near you could you bring some of that to?

How to use it