PARADISE REGAINED 2

Fitzwilliam Museum  
Illustrations to Milton's Paradise Regained
Christ tempted by Satan to turn the stones into bread

Paradise Regained
Book 1
"pronounc'd me his,
Me his beloved Son, in whom alone [ 285 ]
He was well pleas'd; by which I knew the time
Now full, that I no more should live obscure,
But openly begin, as best becomes
The Authority which I deriv'd from Heaven.
And now by some strong motion I am led [ 290 ]
Into this Wilderness, to what intent
I learn not yet, perhaps I need not know;
For what concerns my knowledge God reveals.
... 
Full forty days he pass'd, whether on hill
Sometimes, anon in shady vale, each night
Under the covert of some ancient Oak, [ 305 ]
Or Cedar, to defend him from the dew,
Or harbour'd in one Cave, is not reveal'd;
Nor tasted humane food, nor hunger felt
Till those days ended, hunger'd then at last
Among wild Beasts: they at his sight grew mild, [ 310 ]
Nor sleeping him nor waking harm'd, his walk
The fiery Serpent fled and noxious Worm,
The Lion and fierce Tiger glar'd aloof.
But now an aged man in Rural weeds,
Following, as seem'd, the quest of some stray Ewe, [ 315 ]
Or wither'd sticks to gather; which might serve
Against a Winters day when winds blow keen,
To warm him wet return'd from field at Eve,
He saw approach; who first with curious eye
Perus'd him, then with words thus utt'red spake. [ 320 ]
Sir, what ill chance hath brought thee to this place
So far from path or road of men, who pass
In Troop or Caravan, for single none
Durst ever, who return'd, and dropt not here
His Carcass, pin'd with hunger and with droughth? [ 325 ]
I ask the rather, and the more admire,
For that to me thou seem'st the man, whom late
Our new baptizing Prophet at the Ford
Of Jordan honour'd so, and call'd thee Son
Of God; I saw and heard, for we sometimes [ 330 ]
Who dwell this wild, constrain'd by want, come forth
To Town or Village nigh (nighest is far)
Where ought we hear, and curious are to hear,
What happ'ns new; Fame also finds us out.
To whom the Son of God. Who brought me hither [ 335 ]
Will bring me hence, no other Guide I seek.
By Miracle he may, reply'd the Swain,
What other way I see not, for we here
Live on tough roots and stubs, to thirst inur'd
More then the Camel, and to drink go far, [ 340 ]
Men to much misery and hardship born;
But if thou be the Son of God, Command
That out of these hard stones be made thee bread;
So shalt thou save thyself and us relieve
With Food, whereof we wretched seldom taste. [ 345 ]
He ended, and the Son of God reply'd.
Think'st thou such force in Bread? is it not written
(For I discern thee other then thou seem'st)
Man lives not by Bread only, but each Word
Proceeding from the mouth of God; who fed [ 350 ]
Our Fathers here with Manna; in the Mount
Moses was forty days, nor eat nor drank,
And forty days Eliah without food
Wandred this barren waste; the same I now:
Why dost thou then suggest to me distrust, [ 355 ]
Knowing who I am, as I know who thou art?
Whom thus answer'd th' Arch Fiend now undisguis'd.
'Tis true, I am that Spirit unfortunate,
Who leagu'd with millions more in rash revolt
Kept not my happy Station, but was driv'n [ 360 ]
With them from bliss to the bottomless deep,
Yet to that hideous place not so confin'd
By rigour unconniving, but that oft
Leaving my dolorous Prison I enjoy
Large liberty to round this Globe of Earth, [ 365 ]
...
To see thee and approach thee, whom I know
Declar'd the Son of God, to hear attent [ 385 ]
Thy wisdom, and behold thy God-like deeds?
Men generally think me much a foe
To all mankind: why should I? they to me
Never did wrong or violence, by them
I lost not what I lost, rather by them [ 390 ]
I gain'd what I have gain'd, and with them dwell
Copartner in these Regions of the World,
If not disposer; lend them oft my aid,
Oft my advice by presages and signs,
And answers, oracles, portents and dreams, [ 395 ]
Whereby they may direct their future life.
Envy they say excites me, thus to gain
Companions of my misery and wo.
At first it may be; but long since with wo
Nearer acquainted, now I feel by proof, [ 400 ]
That fellowship in pain divides not smart,
Nor lightens aught each mans peculiar load.
Small consolation then, were Man adjoyn'd:
This wounds me most (what can it less) that Man,
Man fall'n, shall be restor'd, I never more." [ 405 ]

After the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan he was led into the wilderness where he was tested. In his illustrations to Paradise Regained, Blake followed the biblical account where Milton followed it, and followed Milton's account where he supplemented what is found in the Bible.

Matthew's account is perhaps closest to what Blake portrayed in the second Illustration to Paradise Regained:

Matthew 4
[1] Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
[2] And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
[3] And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
[4] But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

The reply that Jesus make to the tempter was a quote from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy in which the commandments of God were relayed to Israel:

Deuteronomy 8
[1] All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
[2] And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
[3] And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

It is from Milton's account that we see the tempter disguised as 'an aged man in Rural weeds.' The Gospel of Luke tells us that it was after fasting for 40 days that Jesus felt hunger. At that point the tempter attempted to undermine the confidence of Jesus that he was called the Son of God at his baptism. The tempter wanted Jesus to test God by commanding stones to be made bread :

Matthew 4
[3] And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Milton and Blake were aware that in our world temptation is usually not easy to recognize because it hides itself in ordinary situations in which the possibility for harm is well concealed. The harm would not come from making bread from stone but from Jesus needing to prove that God had called him to be His Son. In Paradise Regained Satan twisted the account presented in Paradise Lost. Satan distorted his role from that of an enemy of man to that of a 'Copartner':

Paradise Regained
Book 1
"Men generally think me much a foe
To all mankind: why should I? they to me
Never did wrong or violence, by them
I lost not what I lost, rather by them [ 390 ]
I gain'd what I have gain'd, and with them dwell
Copartner in these Regions of the World,"

In Blake's illustration Satan in his first appearance to Jesus did not seem to be a threat, but a kindly old man trying to help. Jesus was not deceived.
.