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John 2:16

To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

and to them that sold the doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise.

KJV

And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

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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

18 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
καὶkaiAndG2532 →
τοῖςtoisto thoseG3588 →
τὰςtas<the>G3588 →
περιστερὰςperisterasdovesG4058 →
πωλοῦσινpōlousinsellingG4453 →
εἶπεν·eipenHe said;G2036 →
ἄρατεaratedo takeG142 →
ταῦταtautathese thingsG3778 →
ἐντεῦθεν,enteuthenfrom here,G1782 →
μὴmēnotG3361 →
ποιεῖτεpoieitedo makeG4160 →
τὸνtontheG3588 →
οἶκονoikonhouseG3624 →
τοῦtouof theG3588 →
πατρόςpatrosFatherG3962 →
μουmouof MineG3165 →
οἶκονoikona houseG3624 →
ἐμπορίου.emporiouof trade.G1712 →

The walk

Related verses

18 strongest cross-references

The gold bar shows how strongly the cross-reference sources tie the two verses together: a long bar means many compiled references make the connection, a short one means few.

Matthew 21:13And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”Jeremiah 7:11Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.Mark 11:17Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”Isaiah 56:5–11I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.Luke 2:49“Why were you looking for Me?” He asked. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”2 Peter 2:14–15Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.Hosea 12:7–8A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.Ezekiel 28:16By the vastness of your trade, you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mountain of God, and I banished you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.John 5:17But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”2 Peter 2:3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.John 20:17“Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”Hosea 12:7A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.Acts 19:24–27It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.1 Timothy 6:5and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.Zephaniah 1:11Wail, O dwellers of the Hollow, for all your merchants will be silenced; all who weigh out silver will be cut off.Isaiah 23:11The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea; He has made kingdoms tremble. He has given a command that the strongholds of Canaan be destroyed.John 10:29My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.Revelation 18:11And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo—

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