St Matthew Chapter XXI : Verses 12-17
Contents
- Matt. xxi. 12-17. Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
- Notes on the text.
- Additional Notes: One of our Lord’s greatest miracles. On Reverence for the Temple precincts.
Matt. xxi. 12-17
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| My house shall be called the house of prayer. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Et intravit Jesus in templum Dei, et ejiciebat omnes vendentes et ementes in templo, et mensas numulariorum, et cathedras vendentium columbas evertit :
13 And he saith to them: It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.
et dicit eis : Scriptum est : Domus mea domus orationis vocabitur : vos autem fecistis illam speluncam latronum.
14 And there came to him the blind and the lame in the temple; and he healed them.
Et accesserunt ad eum cæci, et claudi in templo : et sanavit eos.
15 And the chief priests and scribes, seeing the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying: Hosanna to the son of David; were moved with indignation.
Videntes autem principes sacerdotum et scribæ mirabilia quae fecit, et pueros clamantes in templo, et dicentes : Hosanna filio David : indignati sunt,
16 And said to him: Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus said to them: Yea, have you never read: Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
et dixerunt ei : Audis quid isti dicunt? Jesus autem dixit eis : Utique. Numquam legistis : Quia ex ore infantium et lactentium perfecisti laudem?
17 And leaving them, he went out of the city into Bethania, and remained there.
Et relictis illis, abiit foras extra civitatem in Bethaniam : ibique mansit.
Notes
Note. — From St Mark’s account we infer that the cleansing of the Temple must be placed on the Monday in Holy Week, since, on the day of our Lord’s Triumphal Entry, the Evangelist tells us that Jesus entered into Jerusalem, into the temple, and having viewed all things round about, when now the eventide was come, he went out to Bethania with the twelve (xi. 11).
12. into the temple. Into the Court of the Gentiles. For the convenience of the worshippers, especially for those who came from a distance, a kind of market was set up in this court. Booths were erected, where sacrificiali victims, oil, incense, flour, wine, etc., for the sacrifices and religious rites, could be purchased.
cast out. With His irresistible authority, as He had done on a previous occasion in the first year of His ministry.
them that sold and bought. Both buyers and sellers were desecrating the Temple. This is an example of being a partaker in the sin of another, which is one of the nine ways of giving scandal,
overthrew. The word denotes our Lord’s extreme indignation. the tables of the money-changers. The pilgrims required money —
(а) To purchase what was required for the sacrifices.
(b) To make voluntary offerings to the Temple, as we learn from St Mark : And Jesus sitting over against the treasury, beheld how the people cast 'money into the treasury, and many that were rich cast in much (xii. 41).
(c) For the half-shekel which every Jew was bound to pay for the Temple expenses (as we are commanded by the Church to contribute to the support of our religion).
As the Roman, Greek, and other foreign coins were frequently stamped with idolatrous images and emblems, and thus rendered “ unclean ” and unfit for use in God’s service, payments had to be made in a Hebrew coin called the “ Temple shekel,” which was not in general currency. Pilgrims therefore had to exchange their foreign money for native “shekels.” The money-changers charged “ a kolbon,” a small coin, as their fee for exchanging foreign money. This fee was unlawful, and gave ample opportunities for defrauding the buyers. This market was much frequented, even by the inhabitants of the city, since the priests guaranteed that the animals sold there were of the right age and without blemish, as the law exacted ; moreover, the priests profited by these transactions, since they received rents from the booth-owners, and they themselves furnished the lambs and doves, which were a profitable source of revenue. Our Lord did not overthrow the chests which contained the offerings for the Temple, but those containing the “ kolbons ” which were so unlawfully obtained.
the chairs of them, etc. The doves were generally sold by women, who sat beside the dove cages.
doves. These were required by the poor women who came for the ceremony of purification. The rich offered a lamb. At one time as much as a gold coin was asked as the price of a dove, but a zealous rabbi insisted on the prices being lowered, and “ doves were sold that very day for two farthings.”
Note. — St Mark adds here : He suffered not that any man should carry a vessel through the temple. Christ would not suffer porters to carry burdens through the courts of the Temple, which they were in the habit of doing in order to avoid a long circuit.
Josephus writes, “ It is not .... lawful to carry any vessel into the holy house,” i.e. the Temple (Against Apion, ii. 8). This law had evidently become a dead letter. Necessarily, if the Gentiles’ court had become a place of traffic, the private devotions of the worshippers would be greatly disturbed. The Jews only tolerated this abuse in the Court of the Gentiles ; the other courts were not thus desecrated.
13. the house of prayer. He explained to them how they were infringing the law of God by referring them to a text in Isaias, My house shall he called the house of prayer for all nations (lvi. 7). Since the Temple was the house of prayer, all commerce was illegal ; and as it was for the use of all nations, the Court of the Gentiles was to be as much respected as the courts where the Israelites worshipped.
a den of thieves. Rather, “bandits” or “robbers.” The caves of Palestine were infested with these brigands : there they made their evil plans and carried their booty ; there, too, they quarrelled and fought over their respective shares. In much the same spirit the avaricious vendors were chaffering and quarrelling over the price of their wares. This quotation is from Jer. vii. 11 : Is this house then, in which my name hath been called upon, in your eyes become a den of robbers ? Jesus did not reproach the Jews with this crime at the first cleansing, but only of having made His Father’s house a house of traffic (St John ii. 16).
14. there came to him the blind, etc. “ For acts which profaned the Temple precincts. He substituted acts which hallowed them.”
Doubtless many of these afflicted people were beggars who usually thronged the approaches to the Temple and exploited their infirmities, in order to obtain alms from the worshippers. By working these miracles, Jesus proved himself to be the Messias.
15. the chief priests and scribes, etc. Notice the different effects of Christ’s teaching. The rulers are more and more exasperated, while the people are in admiration at his doctrine (St Mark). One result of our Lord’s Triumphal Entry was to increase the opposition of His foes. Which when the chief priests and the scribes had heard, they sought how they might destroy him. For they feared him, because the whole multitude was in admiration at his doctrine (St Mark xi. 18).
16. Hearest thou what these say ? These chief priests and Scribes had evidently not witnessed the Triumphal Entry. This is the second protest against the “ Hosannas ” of the multitude, and on this occasion the children were acclaiming Christ.
have you never read ? Jesus often asked this question of those who blamed His actions. (See xii. 3, 5, xix. 4, xxi. 42, xxii. 31.) He tried to bring home to these students of the Law, how little they understood its true meaning.
Out of the mouth, etc. A quotation from Ps. viii. 3, where the passage appears to convey the truth that the child’s admiration on contemplating God’s works, is an act of homage to the Creator. Jesus applies the words in the same sense — the praise of the simple and lowly is agreeable to God. St Matthew quotes from the Septuagint ; the Hebrew version runs, “ thou hast ordained strength.’’
17. he went out of the city. In the royal city of David, Christ the King had no shelter, therefore, when evening was come, he went forth out of the city. At sunset the gates of the city were closed, and all who did not dwell in Jerusalem had to seek shelter elsewhere. Various reasons have been given why Jesus left Jerusalem, since He had many disciples there who would gladly have received Him. It has been suggested that —
(а) He wished to pass the night in the house of Lazarus.
(b) He desired to pray in Gethsemani, as He was wont.
(c) lie wished to avoid dwelling in the city, lest He should be suspected of plotting with His disciples in order to secure a rising of the people on His behalf.
(d) He willed to get away from the multitude that thronged Him in Jerusalem.
and remained there, (καὶ ηὐλίσθη ἐκεῖ.) If taken in the strictly classical sense, these words would mean that Jesus passed the night in the open air, hut as they are also employed in the sense of lodging or passing the night anywhere, this passage may simply mean that Jesus passed the night in a house, and this agrees with the context, since He was always a welcome guest in the house of Lazarus.
Lesson. — From the cleansing of the Temple we may learn with what reverence Christ would have us treat His house, where in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist He abides with us. Our souls, too, are His temples, and they must be pure and free from stain, that He may dwell within us by His grace, and that we may be well prepared to receive Him in Holy Communion.
Additional Notes
Note. — St Jerome regarded the cleansing of the Temple as one of our Lord’s greatest miracles, and he based his opinion on the following reasons : —
(a) Jesus was considered by many only as the despised “ Prophet of Galilee.”
(b) The Sanhedrin was bitterly opposed to Him, and would have supported the traders in their opposition, had they offered any.
(c) In working other miracles, Jesus had dealt with disease and inanimate objects. Here He triumphs over the will of so vast a multitude. St Jerome attributes their obedience as being due to a supernatural light in our Lord’s eyes, and to an irresistible splendour that overawed them. On the other hand, there may have been no miracle, for our Lord’s demeanour was majestic at all times, and when intensified by His zeal and indignation, it must have been irresistible. In addition. He was accompanied by a vast multitude of enthusiastic followers, and “ the mighty deeds” that all had witnessed would have given Christ such a prestige that none could resist His commands. Even the Sanhedrin “ feared him.” Lastly, there must have been a consciousness of wrongdoing in the souls of those whom He cast out, and a sense of guilt generally makes men timid and docile.
On Reverence for the Temple precincts. “ What is the reverence of the Temple ? That none go into the Mountain of the Temple (or the Court of the Gentiles) with his staff and his shoes, with his purse, and dust upon his feet : and that none make it a common thoroughfare, nor make it a place of spitting” (Talmud). Even in the case of the site of a ruined synagogue, the same law held good. Hence Jesus in cleansing the Temple was merely insisting on the observance of a law with which all the Israelites were acquainted. On both occasions when He drove out the vendors He was devoured by zeal for God’s House.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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