Mark 11:17

17 He taught, saying to them, "Isn't it 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 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 11:17

And he taught, saying unto them, is it not written
In ( Isaiah 56:7 ) .

My house shall be called of all nations, the house of prayer?
For not only the Jews went up to the temple to pray, see ( Luke 18:10 ) , but the Gentiles also, who became of the Jewish religion, and had a court built for that purpose; and so the whole temple, from hence, was called an house of prayer: and the meaning is, not only that it should be called so by the Gentiles, but that it should be so to them, and made use of by them as such. Jarchi's note on the clause in ( Isaiah 56:7 ) is, "not for Israel only, but also for the proselytes."

But ye have made it a den of thieves;
for no other, in our Lord's esteem, were the buyers and sellers of sheep, oxen, and doves, and the money changers, and the priests that encouraged them, and had a profit out of them: now these had their seats, shops, and tables, within the mountain of the house; and even in that part of it, which was assigned to the Gentiles, the nations of the world, who became proselytes, and came up to Jerusalem to worship there at certain times; (See Gill on Matthew 21:13).

Mark 11:17 In-Context

15 They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus entered into the temple, and began to throw out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of those who sold the doves.

16 He would not allow anyone to carry a container through the temple.

17 He taught, saying to them, "Isn't it written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?' But you have made it a den of robbers!"

18 The chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how they might destroy him. For they feared him, for all the multitude was astonished at his teaching.

19 When evening came, he went forth out of the city.