Matthew 21:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He said to them, "It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers."

NIV: "It is written," he said to them, " ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’ "

NASB: And He *said to them, 'It is written: ‘MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a DEN OF ROBBERS.'

CSB: He said to them, "It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves!"

NLT: 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!'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: 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.’ ”

Jesus has entered the temple in Jerusalem and taken great offense at the buying and selling and money-changing going on inside. He has overthrown tables and benches and sent those doing business out into the streets. Why was Jesus so angry? Most commentators suggest it is either because this otherwise-legitimate business was being done inside the temple courtyard, or more likely because the money-changers and sellers were charging too much for their services and using the worship of God for disproportionate profit.

Now Jesus quotes, again, from Old Testament Scripture. First, He references Isaiah 56:7 to say that "My house shall be called a house of prayer." Jesus may be applying Isaiah's quote of the Lord to Himself, describing the temple as His house. One of the purposes of the house of God was to be a place for people to pray to the Lord, including people from "all the nations" (Mark 11:17).

Jesus then references Jeremiah 7:11, saying the Jewish religious leaders have made God's temple a "den of robbers." The context of Jeremiah's statement takes the meaning of Jesus' phrase beyond a mere accusation of dishonesty. It also implies that the existence of the temple would not protect Israel from the wrath of God in judgment.

Matthew 21:12–17 describes Jesus' entrance into the massive Jewish temple in Jerusalem during what we now call Holy Week. He immediately drives a marketplace out of the temple and overturns the money-changers' tables. He also heals some blind and lame people and refuses to silence some children who are praising Him as the Son of David. He quotes part of a psalm to chief priests and scribes who find this inappropriate.

Jesus fulfills a prophecy from Zechariah about the coming of the king to Jerusalem by riding in on a donkey. The people celebrate and praise Him as the Messiah. Jesus drives the marketers and moneychangers out of the temple and heals some people. He curses a fig tree and tells the disciples nothing will be impossible for them with faith. Jesus forces cowardly and hypocritical religious leaders to back down with a question about John the Baptist. He then exposes their fraudulent spirituality with two parables about vineyards. Jesus applies to Himself a psalm about a rejected stone being made the cornerstone by the Lord.

Matthew 21 finds Jesus arriving near Jerusalem after leaving Jericho in the previous chapter. His triumphal entry is accomplished riding a donkey, and to raucous praise, fulfilling a prophecy about the Messiah. Jesus cleanses the marketplace from the temple, heals, and presents lessons about faith and Israel's failed leadership. This leads into further conversations which Matthew compiles from Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.