Luke 19:46 kjv
Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Luke 19:46 nkjv
saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' "
Luke 19:46 niv
"It is written," he said to them, "?'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"
Luke 19:46 esv
saying to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of robbers."
Luke 19:46 nlt
He said to them, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be a house of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves."
Luke 19 46 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isa 56:7 | "...My house shall be called an house of prayer for all people." | OT prophecy Jesus quotes |
| Jer 7:11 | "Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers...?" | OT prophecy Jesus quotes |
| Matt 21:13 | "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you..." | Parallel Gospel account of cleansing |
| Mark 11:17 | "Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all..." | Parallel Gospel account of cleansing |
| Jn 2:16 | "Take these things away; do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" | Earlier temple cleansing, Father's house |
| 1 Kin 8:29 | "That your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may hear the prayer..." | Solomon's dedication, purpose of prayer |
| 2 Chr 6:20 | "...that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place where You have promised to put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant offers..." | God's name, prayer in temple |
| Neh 13:4-9 | Nehemiah expels Tobiah from temple chambers due to defilement. | Cleansing defiled temple space |
| Mal 3:1 | "Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple..." | Messiah coming to cleanse Temple |
| Ps 27:4 | "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple." | Desire for God's house and presence |
| Isa 1:12-13 | "When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices..." | God despises defiled worship |
| Amos 5:21-24 | God rejects corrupted worship and calls for justice. | Condemnation of empty religion |
| Zech 14:21 | "In that day ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD’ shall be on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar." | Future temple purification, universal holiness |
| 1 Cor 3:16-17 | "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, which you are." | Believers as God's spiritual temple, holiness |
| Eph 2:20-22 | Believers are built into a holy temple for God. | Church as new spiritual temple |
| 1 Pet 2:5 | "You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." | Believers as living stones, spiritual house |
| Rom 12:1 | "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." | Presenting ourselves as holy sacrifice |
| Heb 10:19-22 | Bold access to God through Christ's blood. | New access to God, not through physical temple |
| Mt 6:7 | "And when you pray, do not use useless repetition as the Gentiles do..." | Guidance on genuine prayer |
| Lk 20:45-47 | Jesus warns against religious leaders who exploit others. | Context of corrupt religious leaders |
| 2 Pet 2:3 | False teachers exploit people with fabricated stories. | Warning against exploitation within religion |
Luke 19 verses
Luke 19 46 Meaning
The Lord Jesus declares the intended divine purpose for God's Temple as a sacred place for prayer and communion with God. He sharply contrasts this divine design with the corrupt practices of those who had transformed it into a place of exploitation and profanation, likening their actions to a hideout for robbers. His statement highlights the deep perversion of sacred space by human greed and irreverence.
Luke 19 46 Context
Luke 19:46 occurs immediately after Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and follows His weeping over the city (Lk 19:41-44). Upon entering the Temple precincts, He finds it bustling with commercial activity: money changers exchanging currency and merchants selling sacrificial animals. These activities, though seemingly practical for pilgrims, had become centers of unjust profit and distraction from genuine worship. Jesus' cleansing of the Temple, specifically by casting out the sellers and buyers (Lk 19:45), is a public, symbolic act. His words in verse 46 provide the divine rationale and prophetic judgment for His action. This event is a powerful demonstration of Jesus' authority as the Messiah and His zeal for God's honor. It sets the stage for intensified conflict with the Jewish religious authorities who profit from these arrangements and resent His challenge to their authority.
Luke 19 46 Word analysis
- Saying unto them: Jesus directly addresses those involved in the commercial exploitation, primarily the money-changers and sellers (Lk 19:45), and by extension, the religious leadership sanctioning it.
- It is written: (Greek: gégraptai - γέγραπται) A perfect passive indicative verb, signifying a completed action with continuing results. It conveys absolute authority; something written by God endures. Jesus appeals directly to Scripture as the supreme rule of life and worship, grounding His action not in personal opinion but divine decree.
- My house: (Greek: ho oíkos mou - ὁ οἶκός μου) Refers to the Temple in Jerusalem. It underscores divine ownership. This is God's house, not merely a building for human use or enterprise. Jesus speaks here with the authority of God's Son, implicitly claiming the Temple as belonging to His Father, and thus, to Himself.
- is the house of prayer: (Greek: oíkos proseuchēs - οἶκος προσευχῆς) This is the core purpose revealed in Isa 56:7. The Temple was intended to be a global beacon, a place for communion with God, accessible to all, including Gentiles, where spiritual devotion took precedence over ritual.
- but ye have made it: (Greek: hymeîs dè autòn epoiḗsate - ὑμεῖς δὲ αὐτὸν ἐποιήσατε) "But ye" highlights a sharp contrast and strong indictment. This emphasizes human agency and responsibility for perverting the divine intention. The Temple’s defilement was not incidental but a direct result of their actions and choices.
- a den of thieves: (Greek: spḗlaion lēstōn - σπήλαιον λῃστῶν) This phrase, from Jer 7:11, uses powerful imagery.
- Den (spḗlaion): A cave, a hideout for outlaws. It implies secrecy, illicit activity, and a place where plunder is kept and divided.
- Thieves (lēstōn): More accurately, "robbers" or "brigands." These were often violent opportunists who exploited travelers. The implication is not merely petty theft but systemic exploitation, unjust gain through extortionate rates, and defrauding the vulnerable who came to worship. It suggests that the Temple had become a haven for those who committed spiritual and financial violence against God's people and profaned His name.
- My house is the house of prayer vs. ye have made it a den of thieves: This powerful antithesis encapsulates Jesus' primary condemnation. It highlights the vast disparity between divine intention and human perversion. The sacred space intended for spiritual communion and pure worship had been corrupted into a place of exploitation and selfish gain, obscuring God's glory with the noise of commerce and injustice.
Luke 19 46 Bonus section
The cleansing of the Temple occurs once in John's Gospel (John 2) much earlier in Jesus' ministry, and once in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) at the end, immediately after the Triumphal Entry. This latter event in Luke 19 is particularly poignant as it signifies Jesus' final authoritative act concerning the physical Temple before His crucifixion. His strong declaration signals the coming obsolescence of a temple defiled and the establishment of a new covenant where worship is not confined to a single physical location (Jn 4:21-24). Jesus' passion for God's house (referencing Ps 69:9 in Jn 2:17) underscores that true reverence demands an undefiled space for communion, both externally in communal worship and internally within the believer's heart, which is called to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. This event further confirms Jesus' prophetic identity as the one who brings judgment and restoration.
Luke 19 46 Commentary
Luke 19:46 reveals Jesus' profound indignation at the spiritual bankruptcy of the Temple practices during His time. His actions are not merely a display of temper but a prophetic indictment and a Messianic claim. By quoting Isa 56:7 and Jer 7:11, Jesus establishes His authority, linking His action directly to long-awaited Old Testament prophecies regarding the purification of God's house by the Messiah. The Temple, intended to be a conduit for all people to seek God through prayer and worship, had become a marketplace, dominated by corrupt practices that financially burdened pilgrims and obscured the spiritual purpose. The phrase "den of thieves" points to the exploitative nature of the business—usury in money exchange, exorbitant prices for sacrifices—which preyed upon the devotion of the people and transformed a sacred space into a source of personal profit. Jesus' cleansing symbolizes His ultimate desire for the purity of worship and the centrality of prayer, foreshadowing the shift from a physical temple to a spiritual temple (His Body and the Church) where God is truly worshiped in spirit and truth. It serves as a timeless warning against prioritizing personal gain or ritualistic emptiness over genuine devotion and righteous living.