He ordered represents “he said,” but the Greek word “to say” covers a large semantic domain, and the present context indicates that something stronger than merely “said” is intended.

Stop making translates a present imperative in Greek, referring to action already in progress. In order to emphasize this particular aspect of the present tense in Greek, one may say “Do not any longer cause my Father’s house to be a marketplace” or “You must stop causing my Father’s house to be a marketplace.”

The second part of this verse has a play on the word “house” (literally something like “Do not make my Father’s house a house of commerce”), which cannot be seen from Good News Translation. Most modern English translators render the phrase “house of commerce” either by “market” or “marketplace.” But Revised Standard Version has “house of trade” and in this way reflects the play on words. It is possible in some languages to reflect the play on words by using a rather general term for “house,” for example, “Do not make this place that belongs to my Father into a place where you do business” or “Do not take my Father’s place and make it into a marketplace.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .