13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
13 "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,'
13 He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers."
13 He quoted this text: My house was designated a house of prayer; You have made it a hangout for thieves.
13 And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' "
13 He said to them, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be called a house of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves!"
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
16 To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a market!"
16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade."
16 He told the dove merchants, "Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a shopping mall!"
16 And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"
16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, "Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!"
(Read John 2:12-22)
The first public work in which we find Christ engaged, was driving from the temple the traders whom the covetous priests and rulers encouraged to make a market-place of its courts. Those now make God's house a house of merchandise, whose minds are filled with cares about worldly business when attending religious exercises, or who perform Divine offices for love of gain. Christ, having thus cleansed the temple, gave a sign to those who demanded it, to prove his authority for so doing. He foretells his death by the Jews' malice, Destroy ye this temple; I will permit you to destroy it. He foretells his resurrection by his own power; In three days I will raise it up. Christ took again his own life. Men mistake by understanding that according to the letter, which the Scripture speaks by way of figure. When Jesus was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered he has said this. It helps much in understanding the Divine word, to observe the fulfilling of the Scriptures.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Matthew 21:13
Commentary on Matthew 21:12-17
(Read Matthew 21:12-17)
Christ found some of the courts of the temple turned into a market for cattle and things used in the sacrifices, and partly occupied by the money-changers. Our Lord drove them from the place, as he had done at his entering upon his ministry, John 2:13-17. His works testified of him more than the hosannas; and his healing in the temple was the fulfilling the promise, that the glory of the latter house should be greater than the glory of the former. If Christ came now into many parts of his visible church, how many secret evils he would discover and cleanse! And how many things daily practised under the cloak of religion, would he show to be more suitable to a den of thieves than to a house of prayer!