Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 4:6

"and saith unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and, On their hands they shall bear thee up, Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone." — Matthew 4:6 (ASV)

If you are the Son of God — In this case, as before, the temptation starts from the attestation of Jesus's character as the Son of God. This is now combined with an appeal to familiar and sacred words, and the Tempter's subtlety lay in his perversion of their true meaning. Here, too, the words throw light on the previous spiritual life of the Son of Man.

As in all similar temptations—and the history would have little significance or interest for us if it were not analogous to many human experiences—the words presented to the soul, with their true meaning obscured and perverted, must have been the very ones that had previously been most precious. We can imagine Him having fed on those words, finding in them the support and comfort of His life, without ever dreaming (if one may venture to say so) of putting them to the test with devices of His own imagining.

In their hands — A better translation is on. The angelic hands are thought of as sustaining and upholding.