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John 2:17

His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for thy house shall eat me up.

KJV

And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

Commentary

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Hebraic traditional view

Why there were money-changers in the Temple

It was Passover, one of the three feasts when the Law brought all Israel to Jerusalem, and the courts were a marketplace by design: pilgrims needed animals guaranteed fit for sacrifice, and the Temple tax could not be paid in Roman coins bearing the emperor's image, so approved silver had to be exchanged. The Mishnah records the system plainly: from the 25th of the month Adar, the money-changers' tables were set up IN THE TEMPLE itself (Shekalim 1:3).

So Jesus is not objecting to a black market that snuck in; He is overturning licensed furniture, in the outer court, the one court open to the nations, and calling the whole arrangement what it had made His Father's house.

Sources: Mishnah Shekalim 1:3 (the tables in the Temple) · Exodus 30:13 (the half-shekel the changers served)

Original language & word study

14 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
ἐμνήσθησανemnēsthēsanRememberedG3403
οἱhoitheG3588
μαθηταὶmathētaidisciplesG3101
αὐτοῦautouof HimG846
ὅτιhotithatG3754
γεγραμμένονgegrammenonwrittenG1125
ἐστίν·estinit is:G1510
hoTheG3588
ζῆλοςzēloszealG2205
τοῦtouof theG3588
οἴκουoikouhouseG3624
σουsouof YouG4771
καταφάγεταίkataphagetaiwill consumeG2719
με.meMe.G3165

The walk

About John

The Marriage at Cana — Gustave Doré (engraving), public domain
The Marriage at Cana — Gustave Doré (engraving), public domain