Jesus at the Temple(A)

12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying(B) and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers(C) and the benches of those selling doves.(D) 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[a](E) but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’[b](F)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:13 Isaiah 56:7
  2. Matthew 21:13 Jer. 7:11

Cleansing the Temple

12 Then[a] Jesus entered the temple area[b] and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts,[c] and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 13 And he said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,[d] but you are turning it into a den[e] of robbers!”[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  2. Matthew 21:12 tn Grk “the temple.”sn The merchants (those who were selling) would have been located in the Court of the Gentiles.
  3. Matthew 21:12 tn Grk “the temple.”sn Matthew (here, 21:12-27), Mark (11:15-19) and Luke (19:45-46) record this incident of the temple cleansing at the end of Jesus’ ministry. John (2:13-16) records a cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. See the note on the word temple courts in John 2:14 for a discussion of the relationship of these accounts to one another.
  4. Matthew 21:13 sn A quotation from Isa 56:7.
  5. Matthew 21:13 tn Or “a hideout” (see L&N 1.57).
  6. Matthew 21:13 sn A quotation from Jer 7:11. The meaning of Jesus’ statement about making the temple courts a den of robbers probably operates here at two levels. Not only were the religious leaders robbing the people financially, but because of this they had also robbed them spiritually by stealing from them the opportunity to come to know God genuinely. It is possible that these merchants had recently been moved to this location for convenience.

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree(A)

18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.(B)

20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt,(C) not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.

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The Withered Fig Tree

18 Now early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. 19 After noticing a fig tree[a] by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “Never again will there be fruit from you!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20 When the disciples saw it they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” 21 Jesus[b] answered them, “I tell you the truth,[c] if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:19 tn Grk “one fig tree.”sn The fig tree is a variation on the picture of a vine as representing the nation; see Isa 5:1-7.
  2. Matthew 21:21 tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
  3. Matthew 21:21 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”