The Devil Twists Scripture

Theology
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Here’s one of the problems of too many Bible translations today from different New Testament Greek manuscripts, and even by non-Christian scholars on Bible translation committees.

The devil knows Bible Scripture, and can quote it accurately. But in his Luke 4 temptation against Lord Jesus, the devil added one little phrase that changed the original meaning of the Scripture.

That additional phrase is in the Traditional Greek New Testament manuscripts. But the majority of later English Bible translations removed… that phrase.

Luke 4:9-11
9 And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, “If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down from hence:
10 For it is written, ‘He shall give His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee:
11 And in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.’”
KJV

Here is the original Scripture, quoted from Psalms 91:11-12…

Ps 91:11-12
11 For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
KJV

The original has no phrase “at any time”. Satan added that as a temptation. It would mean that Lord Jesus could tempt The Father with casting Himself down at any time He wanted, just to prove that The Father had angels protecting Him. Did that happen with the cross? No, of course not. So Satan was creating a lie against Jesus choosing to take on human trials like us, and die upon the cross for us.

Most modern English Bible translations don’t have that “at any time” phrase. It’s because modern Bible translations use different Greek manuscripts, or the translators thought that phrase was an error some scribe added by mistake. No, it was there to teach us how Satan twists Bible Scripture to make it say something else by adding just a little phrase. That’s why Lord Jesus gave that example.

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Thank you for that insight! I had heard this before but had forgotten about it. It does show the “craftiness” of the Devil. He hasn’t changed. He always uses the same deceit. He either adds or subtracts from what happened on the cross also. Thank you for sharing that my friend!

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Psa 91:11 R18For he will command his R19angels concerning you to R20guard you in all your ways.
Psa 91:12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you R21strike your foot against a stone.
ESV.

Love this Bible.

J.

4

Johann—

I think what Davy was pointing out was that the devil says “lest AT ANY TIME you dash your foot against a stone”. The KJV has those words—while most modern translations do not. And Davy is right—what the devil was implying is that “RIGHT NOW (“lest at any time”) the Lord will bear you up”–attempting to tempt Jesus to “do it if scripture backs it up”. But as Davy pointed out, Scripture did not REALLY back up what the devil was saying at all. The Devil attempted to ADD to the Scripture to strenghten his temptation of Jesus. The ESV is a good translation though. But it really does appear at times that the KJV is the most reliable of all.

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Yes, the actual addition Satan added to Psalms 91 is “at any time”. That changes the meaning of the Psalms 91:11-12 Scripture that he quoted to Lord Jesus as a temptation. I will edit that to say so in my OP.

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He was there when it was written. This is how He operates. No through screams, but subtle whispers. Not forcing one to comply, but rather nudging. He can and does twist scripture to deceive.

One of the greatest accomplishments of the Devil is convincing the world that he doesn’t exist. No devil, then no hell. No devil, no hell, no sin. No sin, no reason for a Savior. No Savior, no God. No evil means no good. No hell, then no heaven. No judgment for sin, if there is no sin. Simply, live as you will.

You see, the devil is not some red-faced, horned head, tail wagging, pitchfork-wielding, demon straight out of a Hollywood horror movie. He is not a creature so hideous that you would run in terror if you saw him. He is “son of the morning.” He is as beautiful as “every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold.” Truth is, if he were to walk into a Church, many would fall and worship him, thinking he was Jesus Himself. He is what he is.

Second, he is not all-powerful. This is an important fact for you to understand. The devil IS the Lord of the Air. He is in control of this natural realm. As long as you are of this world, you are of him. You are in his hand. However, the Word tells us he needs permission to tempt the children of God. We see this in Job 1 and 2. We see this when Jesus said to Peter,

**“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” **
Luke 22:31

We see this in The Word when The Word declares this in James 4:7

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

It does not say, Resist the devil and he MAY. It says, “Resist the devil, and he WILL flee from you.” We see this when Jesus tells us we should not fear the Devil. Or anything, but God Himself.

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28

But do not be misled. He is very real. He is capable of many destructive things. He can ruin your life if you let him. He works in the ways he knows, and the sin that brought him down in the first place is very much alive and well in this world. Pride. Think about this for a second. What was Satan’s sin? Pride, greed, envy, and desire for power. The desire to be God.

He can and does twist Scripture to sound right and good. Before introducing Scripture, Satan prefaces his temptations with the phrase: “If you are the Son of God…”

This is a direct psychological callback to Genesis. Just as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden (“Did God really say…?”), the Devil uses God’s own previous declarations to seed doubt.

Right before Jesus went into the wilderness, God the Father had spoken audibly at His baptism, saying, “This is my beloved Son.” Satan takes that established truth and reframes it as a proposition that needs to be physically proven through miraculous performance (turning stones to bread) or spectacular validation (surviving a public plunge from the temple). He attempts to use the privileges of divine sonship described in the Psalms to undermine Christ’s obedience to the Father’s timing.

Jesus defeats this specific misuse of Scripture not by arguing or using philosophy, but by citing the true intent of the Law. He responds in Matthew 4:7 by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16:

" Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’" (and) “‘It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

By bringing in the broader counsel of Scripture, Jesus demonstrates the core flaw in the Devil’s hermeneutic (method of interpretation): You cannot use one promise of Scripture to violate a direct command of Scripture.

Historically and textually, the biblical portrait of the devil’s strategy is rarely an open, frontal assault on the Bible. Instead, it relies on isolating verses from their surrounding chapters, deleting qualifying phrases, and applying a highly literal mechanical promise to a situation that contradicts God’s moral character. He can even and does use false love and compassion. This is why it is so very necessary to read the Word for yourself, digest the Truth. If you know the Truth, you will not fall for the lie.
Peter

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