Luke 19:46 ...It is written, My house is the house of prayer:

KJV: 

Luke 19:46 ...It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

It has been written by itself: also it is going to be, this house of mine, a house of prayer. You yourselves, however, the same has produced a cave of pirates.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

It is interesting how different all the three versions of this verse are in Matthew, Mark, Luke. Here, he is quoting the prophets (not "the law," Moses) Isa 56:7 ("house of prayer") and Jer 7:11 ("Den of robbers"). As is usual, Christ's Greek follows the Greek Septuagint somewhat but not precisely.

"It is written" is a common phrase used by Jesus to refer to what was written in the Jewish holy books. It is in a from where the subject acts on itself, "It has written itself."

There is an "and" here that is untranslated.

"My" is the regular first-person pronoun in Greek in the possessive form, so "my" or "of me".

The Greek word translated as "house," is any dwelling place but not exclusively a separate house. It means the household or clan that lives in the building as well.

The verb "is" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. It is the future tense, not present.

There is no "the" here.

The Greek word translated as "house," is any dwelling place but not exclusively a separate house. It means the household or clan that lives in the building as well.

The word translated as "prayer" means both the act of talking to the divine and the place for it as well.

The Greek word translated as "but" means "but", "however", and "on the other hand". Since it always falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better. 

The pronoun "ye" is used explicitly as the subject of the sentence. Since it is already part of the verb, its use here creates emphasis on the "you" as we might say "you yourselves." It is plural.

The Greek word translated as "have made" has the primary meaning of "making" or producing" something or "causing" or "performing" as service. It describes a productive action.  It is not as broad a word as the English "do", which covers all actions, productive or not. 

The word translated as "it" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English.  The word means "the same" when used as an adjective.

The term translated as "den" means "cave" or "grotto."

The term translated as "of thieves" means "robber" or "pirate."

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

Γέγραπται ( verb 3rd sg perf ind mp) "It is written" is grapho which means "to mark", "to express by written characters", "to write a letter", "to write down [a law]", "to proscribe", "to ordain", "to write for oneself", "to enroll oneself", "to draw signs", "to describe a figure" "to brand," and "to indict." --

Καὶ (conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "but." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even", "also," and "just."

ἔσται ( verb 3rd sg fut ind mid) "Is" is eimi, which means "to be", "to exist", "to be the case," of circumstance and events "to happen",  and "is possible." (The future form is esomai. The 3rd person present indicative is "esti.") --

οἶκός ( noun sg masc nom ) "House" is oikos, which means "house", "dwelling place", "room", "home", "meeting hall", "household goods", "substance," and "ruling family." It is any dwelling place but not exclusively a separate house.

μου (noun sg masc gen) "My" is emou, which means "me", and "mine".

οἶκος ( noun sg masc nom ) "House" is oikos, which means "house", "dwelling place", "room", "home", "meeting hall", "household goods", "substance," and "ruling family." It is any dwelling place but not exclusively a separate house.

προσευχῆς, (noun sg fem gen) "Prayer" is from proseuche, which means "prayer" and also "place of prayer," "sanctuary," and "chapel." Christ more commonly uses the verb form of the word, proseuchomai.

ὑμεῖς (pron 2nd pl nom) "Ye" is hymeis (humeis), which are the singular nominative form of the second person, "you."

δὲ (conj/adv) "But" is de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be a weak connective ("and") and explanation of cause ("so").

αὐτὸν ( adj sg masc acc ) "It" is autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself", "yourself", "himself", "herself", "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him", "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord." In the adverbial form, it  means "just here" or "exactly there."

ἐποιήσατε ( verb 2nd pl aor ind act) "Have made" is poieo, which means "to make", "to produce", "to create", "to bring into existence", "to bring about", "to cause", "to perform", "to render", "to consider", "to prepare", "to make ready," and "to do."

σπήλαιον (noun sg neut acc) "Den" is from spêlaion (spelaion), which means "grotto", "cavern," and "cave." It is the source for our term for exploring caves, "spelunking." It also means "behind the scenes" in a theater and was slang for one's "private parts."

λῃστῶν.” ( noun pl masc gen) "Of thieves" is from lestes, which means "robber" or "pirate." -- The term translated as "thieves" means "robber" or "pirate."

Related Verses: 

Unimportant Opinions and Imaginings: 

Why was money a bad thing in the temple.. The main currency of the time was the Tiberius denarius. The Tiberius silver denarius reads: "Ti[berivs] Caesar Divi Avg[vsti] F[ilivs] Avgvstvs" ("Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus"). So the very title on the coin was blasphemous to the Judeans at the time. A point Jesus means later in the Gospel.

Front Page Date: 

Nov 27 2018