NT Text: Luke 4:8
OT Source(s):
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): Typology (Direct Type, Backward-Looking) + Redemptive-Historical Progression
Significance: Jesus' refusal of Satan's offer of the world's kingdoms — "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only'" — is a direct quotation from Deuteronomy 6:13, from the heart of the Shema context. The original command (ʾet-YHWH ʾĕlōhêkā tîrāʾ wĕ-ʾōtô taʿăbōd) was given to Israel on the threshold of Canaan, where they would encounter the temptation to worship the gods of the nations in exchange for land and prosperity. Satan's temptation to Jesus precisely recapitulates this scenario: worship in exchange for territory. Jesus, as the true Israel embodying the nation's story, responds with the identical Shema-derived commitment. The addition of "only" (monō) in Luke's version sharpens the exclusivity, ruling out any shared allegiance. This quotation reveals that Jesus' wilderness temptation is a deliberate typological re-enactment of Israel's Mosaic trials.