Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 4:8

"Again, the devil taketh him unto an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;" — Matthew 4:8 (ASV)

An exceedingly high mountain. It is not known what mountain this was. It was probably some elevated place in the vicinity of Jerusalem, from the top of which a considerable part of the land of Palestine could be seen. The Abbé Mariti speaks of a mountain on which he was, which answers to the description here. "This part of the mountain," he says, "overlooks the mountains of Arabia, the country of Gilead, the country of the Amorites, the plains of Moab, the plains of Jericho, the river Jordan, and the whole extent of the Dead Sea."

So Moses, before he died, went up into Mount Nebo, and from it God showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar (Deuteronomy 34:1–3). This shows that there were mountains from which a considerable part of the land of Canaan could be seen; and we must not suppose that there was any miracle when these kingdoms were shown to the Savior.

All the kingdoms of the world. It is not probable that anything more is intended here than the kingdoms of Palestine, or the land of Canaan, and those in the immediate vicinity. Judea was divided into three parts, and those parts were called kingdoms; and the sons of Herod, who presided over them, were called kings. The term world is often used in this limited sense to denote a part, or a large part of the world, particularly the land of Canaan. See Romans 4:13, where it means the land of Judah; also Luke 2:1.

The glory of them. The riches, splendor, towns, cities, mountains, etc., of this beautiful land.