NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible | Page 148
Matthew 21:15 | 1741
21:9 c ver 15; Mt 9:27
d Ps 118:26; Mt 23:39
e Lk 2:14
21:11 f Lk 7:16, 39;
24:19; Jn 1:21, 25;
6:14; 7:40
21:12 g Dt 14:26
h Ex 30:13 i Lev 1:14
21:13 j Isa 56:7
k Jer 7:11
21:14 l Mt 4:23
“Hosanna a to the Son of David!” c
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” b d
“Hosanna a in the highest heaven!” e
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet f from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus at the Temple
21:12-16pp — Mk 11:15-18; Lk 19:45-47
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying g and selling there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers h and the benches of t hose selling doves. i
13 “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ c j but you are
making it ‘a den of robbers.’ d ” k
14 The b
lind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he h
ealed them. l 15 But
when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful t hings he did and
a 9
A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15 b 9 Psalm 118:25,26
c 13 Isaiah 56:7 d 13 Jer. 7:11
hoping for a liberator from the Romans miss
the significance of the humble beast of bur-
den. Residents of Jerusalem unfamiliar with
this Galilean “prophet” (v. 11) would naturally
wonder about his identity.
21:12 – 17 The temple area occupied by the
money changers was probably a fairly small
corner of the court of the Gentiles. Jewish
tradition suggests this enterprise had only
recently been moved there from the Kidron
Valley, which was just below and to the east
of the temple. Temple taxes had to be paid
and sacrificial animals had to be purchased
with Jewish currency, so monies had to be
exchanged. But Jesus opposes the practice in
the only portion of the temple in which Gen-
tiles could come to pray to the God of Israel
(cf. Isa 56:6 – 7).
The cleansing of the temple by Jesus is
reminiscent of how Davidic kings like Heze-
kiah (2 Chr 29 – 31) and Josiah (2 Chr 34 – 35) re-
paired the temple prior to the celebration of
Passover. The unusual reference to the blind
and the lame (Matt 21:14) recalls Lev 21:18 and
the prohibition there against such entering
the sanctuary. By healing them, Jesus removes
any barrier to them being within the temple.
In the Synoptic Gospels the clearing of the
temple occurs during the last week of Jesus’
ministry; in John it takes place during the first
few months of Jesus’ ministry (John 2:13 – 17).
Two explanations are possible: (1) There were
two clearings, one at the beginning and the
other at the end of Jesus’ public ministry. (2)
There was only one clearing, which took p lace
during Passion Week but which John placed
at the beginning of his account for theologi-
cal reasons — to show that God’s judgment
was operative through the Messiah from the
outset of Jesus’ ministry. However, different
details are present in the two accounts (the
selling of cattle and sheep in John 2:14, the
whip in John 2:15, and the statements of Jesus
in Matt 21:13; John 2:16). From Matthew’s and
Luke’s accounts we might assume that the
clearing of the temple took place on Sunday,
following the so-called Triumphal Entry (Matt
21:1 – 11). But Mark 11:12,15 – 19 clearly indicates
that it was on Monday. Matthew often com-
pressed narratives.
21:13 den of robbers. Cf. Jer 7:11. Could mean a
place for Jewish freedom fighters to hide out.
robbers. Translates the same word (lēstēs)
that is rendered one “leading a rebellion” in
26:55.
21:14 Jesus wants all people — the sick, in-
jured, and even little children — to be able to
praise God freely, as in Ps 8:2 (see the Sep-
tuagint, the pre-Christian Greek translation of
the OT), and be healed.
The temple area occupied by the money changers was probably a fairly small corner of the Court of the Gentiles.
Fernando G. Baptista/National Geographic Creative