Mark 11:17

“And he was teaching and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.””

Mark 11:17 · direct translation from the Greek
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With the Greek beneath

17

Quotation · Isaiah 56:7

Go to Isaiah 56:7

Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7 with “for all the nations,” which Matthew and Luke do not have, and adds “den of robbers,” from Jeremiah 7:11.

Formula: Οὐ γέγραπται ὅτι “is it not written…?” (Mark 11:17)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: καὶ ἐδίδασκεν καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς Οὐ γέγραπται ὅτι Ὁ οἶκός μου οἶκος προσευχῆς κληθήσεται πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὑμεῖς δὲ πεποιήκατε αὐτὸν σπήλαιον λῃστῶν

Hebrew (Masoretic text): וַהֲבִיאוֹתִים אֶל הַר קָדְשִׁי וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים בְּבֵית תְּפִלָּתִי עוֹלֹתֵיהֶם וְזִבְחֵיהֶם לְרָצוֹן עַל מִזְבְּחִי כִּי בֵיתִי בֵּית תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכָל הָעַמִּים

Septuagint (Isaiah 56:7 in the Septuagint numbering): εἰσάξω αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὅρος τὸ ἅγιόν μου, καὶ εὐφρανῶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τῆς προσευχῆς μου· τὰ ὁλοκαυτώματα αὐτῶν καὶ αἱ θυσίαι αὐτῶν ἔσονται δεκταὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου μου. ὁ γὰρ οἶκός μου οἶκος προσευχῆς κληθήσεται πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν,

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 8 consecutive words: “οἶκός μου οἶκος προσευχῆς κληθήσεται πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν.”

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Allusion · Jeremiah 7:11

Go to Jeremiah 7:11

“Den of robbers” is the expression of Jeremiah 7:11, said of the temple.

They share words that are rare in the original, without a quotation.

  • σπήλαιονspēlaionG4693מְעָרַתmearatH4631“cave”
  • οἶκόςoikosG3624בַּיִתbayitH1004“house”

Mark 11:17, word by word

he was teachingἐδίδασκενedidasken

teach

Teach.

Where else “edidasken” appears
sayingἔλεγενelegen

say

To express something in words to others.

Where else “elegen” appears
writtenγέγραπταιgegraptai

it is written

So the Bible says; a passage is quoted.

Where else “gegraptai” appears
houseοἶκόςoikos

house

The place where one lives; also the temple, God's dwelling.

Where else “oikos” appears
will be calledκληθήσεταιklēthēsetai

call

To give someone a name.

Where else “klēthēsetai” appears
of prayerπροσευχῆςproseuchēs

prayer

Talking with God, asking him.

Where else “proseuchēs” appears
the nations’ἔθνεσινethnesin

Gentile

The peoples who are not Israel.

Where else “ethnesin” appears
have madeπεποιήκατεpepoiēkate

make

To bring something into being: to make or create it.

Where else “pepoiēkate” appears
a denσπήλαιονspēlaion

cave

Cave.

Where else “spēlaion” appears
of robbersλῃστῶνlēistōn

bandit

Bandit, robber; also armed rebel.

Where else “lēistōn” appears

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

The cleansing of the temple

Matthew 21:12-17Luke 19:45-48John 2:13-22

John 2 places the cleansing at the start; it is discussed whether it is the same event as in the other three.

See them side by side

Mark 11:15-19

15And they come to Jerusalem. And entering into the temple, he began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16And he would not allow anyone to carry a vessel through the temple. 17And he was teaching and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18And the high priests and the scribes heard it, and they were seeking how they might destroy him; for they feared him, for all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19And when evening came, they went out of the city.

Matthew 21:12-17

12And Jesus entered into the temple and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13And he says to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.” 14And the blind and lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15But when the high priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the children who were crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant 16and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus says to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” 17And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

Luke 19:45-48

45And entering into the temple, he began to drive out those who were selling, 46saying to them, “It is written, ‘And my house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” 47And he was teaching daily in the temple; but the high priests and the scribes were seeking to destroy him, and so were the leading men of the people; 48and they were not finding what they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

John 2:13-22

13And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14And in the temple he found those who were selling cattle and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting there. 15And making a whip out of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle; and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16And to those who were selling the doves he said, “Take these things out of here! Do not make the house of my Father a house of trade!” 17His disciples remembered that it is written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18So the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign do you show us, since you do these things?” 19Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20So the Jews said, “This sanctuary was built in forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking about the sanctuary of his body. 22So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Quotation · Isaiah 56:7

Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7 with “for all the nations,” which Matthew and Luke do not have, and adds “den of robbers,” from Jeremiah 7:11.

See them side by side

Mark 11:17

17And he was teaching and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

Isaiah 56:7

7I will bring them to my holy mountain, and make them rejoice in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be for favor on my altar; for my house a house of prayer will be called for all the peoples.”

The context

16And he would not allow anyone to carry a vessel through the temple.

17 · This verse (above)

18And the high priests and the scribes heard it, and they were seeking how they might destroy him; for they feared him, for all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.

Read all of Mark 11

To study Mark 11 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    What did those going before and following Jesus shout as he entered Jerusalem (vv. 8–10)?

  2. 2. What it means

    Why did Jesus say his house will be called “a house of prayer for all the nations” (vv. 15–17)?

  3. 3. How I live it

    Jesus speaks of forgiving while praying (v. 25). Whom could you forgive today, even if only as a first step?

How to use it