What Does “Tempt” Mean in the Bible?
To push someone to do evil. The devil tempted Jesus in the desert.
A detail
- “Tempting God”: putting him to the test, demanding signs to see if he really cares for us.
Where it appears in the Bible
Matthew 4:1-7
What the Bible says
Matthew 4:1-7
1Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. 2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry. 3And the tempter coming said to him: If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4Who answered and said: It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. 5Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple, 6And said to him: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written: That he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7Jesus said to him: It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catechism 538 and 2119