Tag Archives: Matthew 4:11

Τότε ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀνήχθη εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος, πειρασθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου

Matthew 4:1 opens the temptation narrative not with confrontation, but with movement—Jesus is led up into the wilderness. The grammar slows the moment down, lets it breathe. Every verb carries tension: divine agency, passive obedience, and looming opposition. It’s a theological tightrope, and the Greek balances it carefully.

Grammatical Foundations

The main verb ἀνήχθη is an aorist passive—Jesus “was led up.” The passive voice matters: he doesn’t initiate the action. It’s the Spirit’s doing. This verb, from ἀναφέρω or ἀνάγω, often implies elevation—both literally (upward) and spiritually.… Learn Koine Greek

Verse in Greek

Τότε ἀφίησιν αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελοι προσῆλθον καὶ διηκόνουν αὐτῷ.

Focus Topic: Dramatic Present and Historical Narrative Tense Shifts

This verse contains a stylistic mixture of verb tenses — the historical present and the aorist — that heightens the drama and underscores the transition from temptation to divine comfort. We also observe the imperfect tense describing continued action.

Historical Present: ἀφίησιν

ἀφίησιν is present active indicative, 3rd person singular, from ἀφίημι (“he leaves, releases”). Though the action is past, the present tense is used here to create vividness, a common technique in narrative Greek known as the historical present.… Learn Koine Greek