Bible Strands
Matthew 21:12
Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus has just completed the triumphal entry; the crowds have named him the prophet from Nazareth (21:11). He moves directly into the temple courts.
The words — εἰσῆλθεν (entered), aorist indicative: a single, completed act of entry, not a gradual approach. The verse records one decisive movement into the space.
The thread — Mark 11:15 and Luke 19:45 give the same Passion-week event; John 2:14–15 places a parallel cleansing at the start of the ministry. The action is consistent across all four Gospels.
Why it lands — Jesus does not preach against the commerce; he physically dismantles it. The reader is asked to name what has been set up for profit in a space meant for something else.
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
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
Cross-references
- John 2:14 In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables.
- Luke 19:45 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling there.
- Mark 11:15 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
- Leviticus 1:14 If, instead, one’s offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, he is to present a turtledove or a young pigeon.
- Leviticus 5:7 If, however, he cannot afford a lamb, he may bring to the LORD as restitution for his sin two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
- Luke 2:24 and to offer the sacrifice specified in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
- Deuteronomy 14:24 But if the distance is too great for you to carry that with which the LORD your God has blessed you, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to put His Name is too far away,
- Exodus 30:13 Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.
- Leviticus 12:8 But if she cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”
- Leviticus 14:22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.