Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 21:13

"and he saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers." — Matthew 21:13 (ASV)

And He said, "It is written" (and so on). This refers to Isaiah 56:7. Only the first part of this verse from Isaiah is quoted. The rest of Jesus's declaration, "but ye have made it a den of thieves," was added by Him, denoting their abuse of the temple.

Thieves and robbers live in dens and caves, and Judea was then much infested with them. In their dens, thieves devise and practice iniquity. These buyers and sellers imitated them. They made the temple a place of gain; they cheated and defrauded. They took advantage of the poor and, because the poor were under the necessity of purchasing these items for sacrifice, robbed them by selling what they had at an exorbitant price.

The following reasons may be given why this company of buyers and sellers obeyed Christ:

1. They were overawed by His authority and struck with the awareness that He had a right to command.
2. Their own consciences reproved them; they knew they were guilty and dared make no resistance.
3. The people generally were then on the side of Jesus, believing Him to be the Messiah.
4. It had always been the belief of the Jews that a prophet had a right to change, regulate, and order the various affairs relating to external worship. They supposed Jesus to be such, and they dared not resist Him.

Mark and Luke add that, as a consequence of this, the scribes and chief priests attempted to put Him to death (Mark 11:18–19; Luke 19:47–48). They did this from envy (Matthew 27:18).

He drew the people away from them, and they envied and hated Him. They were restrained at that time for fear of the people. This was the reason they plotted secretly to put Him to death and why they afterwards so gladly heard the proposals of the traitor (Matthew 26:14–15).