19:46a

He declared to them: The Berean Standard Bible has put the clause He declared to them before Jesus’ statement, where it also occurs in the Greek text. The New International Version places it in the middle of the statement. Place it where it is natural in your language.

Jesus quoted the scripture in 19:46b to the sellers as he was driving them out of the temple. He was explaining why he was making them leave the temple. He did not speak to them first and then drive them out. Another way to translate this is:

saying to them (Good News Translation)

Use an appropriate verb form in your language.

It is written: Jesus often used the expression It is written to introduce a quotation from the OT Scriptures. Here are some things to consider as you decide how to introduce it in your language:

• Some languages have a specific phrase to introduce a quotation from sacred writings. Consider if you could use that phrase here or adapt it for this context.

• In some languages you will need to make explicit that the quotation comes from Scripture, God’s writings. For example:

It is written in the Scriptures (New Century Version)
-or-

As we/people read in the Scriptures

• In some languages it may be helpful to specify God as the source. For example:

God said in the Scriptures that
-or-
God said in his writings/Bible

See how you translated this expression in 4:4 and 4:8.

19:46b

The statement here in 19:46b was quoted from Isaiah 56:7. It may be helpful to include this information as a cross-reference or footnote.

My house will be a house of prayer: The word house refers here to the temple in Jerusalem. In the Old Testament, “the house of God” was a common way to refer to the temple. In some languages it may be necessary to use an expression which is more explicit than house. For example:

My temple
-or-
The place where people come to worship me.

My: The pronoun My refers to God. Make sure in your translation that it does not refer to Jesus. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

God said, “My Temple…” (Good News Translation)

a house of prayer: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a house of prayer means a place where people pray. It may be helpful to include a reference to God. For example:

a place/house where people pray ⌊to me/God⌋

Use a term here that people will not confuse with the terms for synagogue and church.

19:46c

The clause in 19:46c is not part of the quotation from Isaiah. It is similar to words in Jeremiah 7:11 “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?” Jesus used these words to severely condemn what the sellers were doing in the temple.

But you have made it ‘a den of robbers’: This clause is an emphatic contrast to the clause in 19:46b. God wanted his house to be a place for prayer. In contrast, they had made it like a den for robbers. The phrase a den of robbers is a metaphor. In some languages it may be necessary to use a simile. For example:

But you have made it like a den of robbers
-or-
But you are treating it as if it were a den for robbers

Here Jesus compared the sellers in the temple to robbers. These merchants were robbing people by charging them very high prices for animals that they needed for sacrificing to God. They were also robbing God and his people by using the temple to sell things. God wanted the temple to be a place for people to pray.

It may be helpful to include a footnote to explain some of this information. For example:

Jesus rebuked the sellers because they were destroying the purpose of God’s temple. God wanted people to pray in his temple, but the sellers were using it like a market. They were also cheating people by charging them too much for things they needed to make their sacrifices.

a den of robbers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as den describes a cave or hole large enough for people to enter. There were many caves in the hill country of Judea, and it was common for robbers to use these caves as places to live or hide.

Some ways to translate den of robbers are:

a gathering place for robbers
-or-
a cave/place where robbers hide/meet

Some other English versions punctuate the phrase den of robbers as a quotation, as the Berean Standard Bible does, since it comes from Jeremiah 7:11. For example:

but you have made it a ‘den of thieves’ (New King James Version)

General Comment on 19:46a–c

As Jesus spoke, he quoted from the Old Testament Scriptures where God was speaking. In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech for the Old Testament quotation. For example:

He said to them, “It is written that God’s house will be a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers.”

If your language would naturally use direct speech for both Jesus’ words and the Old Testament quotation, be careful to show this in a natural way. For example:

He said to them, “God said this in the Scriptures/Bible, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of thieves.”

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