Bible Strands
John 2:19
Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus answers the Jews who, after he overturned the money changers' tables, demanded a sign proving his authority to act in the temple courts (John 2:18).
The words — λύσατε (lusate) is an aorist imperative plural, a direct command: "tear down." Jesus frames the destruction as something they are to do, not a statement about his own action.
The thread — The same words resurface as an accusation at the crucifixion: Mark 14:58, Mark 15:29, Matthew 27:40. The crowd recalls it as a charge, not a prophecy.
Why it lands — The verse withholds clarification; the Jews in the next verse (2:20) heard "the building," and the text does not correct them on the spot. The reader is left holding two possible referents and a three-day timeline that the narrative will later resolve.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Cross-references
- Mark 14:58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple, and in three days I will build another that is made without hands.’”
- Mark 15:29 And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
- Matthew 27:40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
- Matthew 26:60 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward
- Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
- Romans 8:11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
- John 10:17 The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again.
- Acts 2:32 God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.
- Acts 2:24 But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep Him in its grip.
- Acts 3:15 You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of this fact.