Charles Ellicott 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)

It is written—The words our Lord quotes are a free combination of two prophetic utterances: one from Isaiah’s vision of the future glory of the Temple, as visited by both Jew and Gentile (Isaiah 56:7), and one from Jeremiah’s condemnation of evils similar in nature, if not in form, to those our Lord protested against (Jeremiah 7:11).

A den of thieves—The pictorial vividness of the words must not be overlooked. Palestine was then swarming with bands of outlaw brigands who, like David of old in Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1), haunted the limestone caverns of Judea. The wranglings of such a company over their booty were reproduced in the Temple, mingling with the Hallelujahs of the Levites and the Hosannas of the crowds.

As we read the narrative, we ask how the expulsion was accomplished so effectively and with so little resistance. The answer is found in the following points:

1. The personal greatness and intensity of will that was evident in our Lord’s look, word, and tone.
2. The presence of the crowd that had followed Him from the Mount of Olives and had probably filled the courts of the Temple.
3. The secret consciousness of the offenders that they were desecrating the Temple, and that the Prophet of Nazareth, in His zeal for His Father’s house, was a witness to a divine truth.