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Deuteronomy 8:3

The New Testament’s use of Deuteronomy

7 places · 4 kinds of echo

The source

He humbled you, and allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know; that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh’s mouth.

⛓ Read Deuteronomy 8 forward — the whole chapter and its afterlife →

Where this passage surfaces again, sorted by the strength of the link. Each kind of reuse — formal quotation, deliberate allusion, faint echo, figural pattern — carries its own mark. Follow any reference to read it in place.

Quotation1

A formal citation — high verbal volume, often introduced by a saying-formula.

Matt 4:1-11

Jesus' first reply (v.4) quotes verbatim 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.' High Volume (explicit 'It is written' + near-exact wording) and Thematic Coherence: Deut 8:3 interprets the wilderness manna as God's pedagogy to teach Israel dependence on his word; Jesus, fasting in the wilderness, recapitulates and passes the test Israel failed.

High confidence

Allusion1

A deliberate verbal borrowing without a citation formula.

2 Tim 3:14-17

'Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD' stands behind the conviction that the God-breathed word sustains and equips life. Scripture as the word from God's mouth animating the believer reflects this manna lesson.

Medium confidence

Echo4

A fainter, low-volume reuse, carried by recurrence or thematic coherence.

1 Cor 10:1-5 ?

'Man does not live by bread alone... but by every word' interprets the manna as more than physical sustenance, supporting Paul's 'spiritual' qualifier. Moderate volume; the Deuteronomic theology of manna as God-given instruction coheres with Paul's sacramental reading.

Medium confidence
1 Tim 4:6-10 ?

Being 'nourished in the words of the faith' figurally recalls the lesson of the wilderness, that 'man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.' Spiritual nourishment by the word stands behind the metaphor.

Low confidence
Luke 12:22-31 ?

'Man does not live by bread alone' coheres with 'life is more than food.' The principle that life exceeds material sustenance is a plausible Torah echo underlying the anti-anxiety teaching.

Low confidence
Matt 6:25-34 ?

God let Israel hunger then fed with manna 'that he might teach you that man does not live by bread alone' — provision as a lesson in dependence, behind seeking the Kingdom first over food.

Low confidence

Figural1

A typological pattern re-read in a later text — no verbal quotation, high figural coherence.

John 4:31-38

Man lives not by bread alone but by what proceeds from God's mouth; Jesus' 'I have food you don't know about... to do the will of him who sent me' (v32-34) reuses this contrast of bodily food with God's word/will. Strong Coherence; moderate Volume.

Medium confidence
Elsewhere in Deuteronomy 8
Deuteronomy 8:2 5Deuteronomy 8:5 4Deuteronomy 8:10 3Deuteronomy 8:15 2Deuteronomy 8:17-18 2