Bible Strands
Matthew 21:18
In the morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, He was hungry.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus returns to the city the morning after spending the night in Bethany. The narrative places Him at the start of His day’s journey back toward Jerusalem.
The words — πρωῒ (prōi) marks the early morning hours, while ἐπείνασεν (epeinasen) literally means He became hungry. These terms anchor the event in a specific time and physical state.
The thread — Jesus’ hunger reappears in Matthew 4:2 after a forty-day fast and is echoed in Matthew 12:1 when His disciples are hungry in the grainfields. Hebrews 4:15 later notes His capacity to sympathize with human weakness.
Why it lands — The text records Jesus’ physical need before the fig tree incident, requiring the reader to observe how divine incarnation operates within ordinary human rhythms. It demands attention to the sequence of events rather than abstract theology.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
Cross-references
- Matthew 4:2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
- Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
- Matthew 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
- Mark 11:12 The next day, when they had left Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
- Mark 11:20 As they were walking back in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots.
- Luke 4:2 where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.