NT Text: Matthew 21:13b
OT Source(s):
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): Promise-Fulfillment + Typology (Direct Type, Backward-Looking)
Significance: The second half of Jesus's temple-clearing declaration — "but you are making it a den of robbers" (spēlaion lēstōn) — is a direct quotation of Jeremiah 7:11, where Jeremiah condemns the people who come to the temple for ritual observance while practicing injustice: "Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?" Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (Jeremiah 7) threatened the destruction of the Jerusalem temple because Israel treated it as a magical guarantor of security while continuing in covenant violations. Jesus's invocation of this text in the context of the temple-clearing signals that the same prophetic judgment is again operative — the temple establishment has repeated Israel's pattern of using the sacred space as cover for exploitation. Jesus, the greater prophet, stands where Jeremiah stood and pronounces the same verdict, implying the same judgment: the temple that fails its vocation will be torn down (Matthew 24:2).
NT Use Pattern: Assimilated — The Jeremiah 7:11 half of the composite Isa 56:7 + Jer 7:11 quotation in Matthew 21:13 — fused for Jesus's temple-cleansing rebuke.
Anchor Text: Jer 7:11 — Den of Robbers