Malachi 3:1

3:1 “I am about to send my messenger, ¹  who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord ²  you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger ³  of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Matthew 21:10-16

21:10 As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar, ⁴  saying, “Who is this?” 21:11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth ⁵  in Galilee.”

Cleansing the Temple

21:12 Then ⁶  Jesus entered the temple area ⁷  and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts, ⁸  and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 21:13 And he said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ ⁹  but you are turning it into a den ¹⁰  of robbers!” ¹¹ 

21:14 The blind and lame came to him in the temple courts, and he healed them. 21:15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the law ¹²  saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, ¹³  “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant 21:16 and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself’?” ¹⁴ 

Luke 19:41-45

Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment

19:41 Now ¹⁵  when Jesus ¹⁶  approached ¹⁷  and saw the city, he wept over it, 19:42 saying, “If you had only known on this day, ¹⁸  even you, the things that make for peace! ¹⁹  But now they are hidden ²⁰  from your eyes. 19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build ²¹  an embankment ²²  against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. 19:44 They will demolish you ²³  – you and your children within your walls ²⁴  – and they will not leave within you one stone ²⁵  on top of another, ²⁶  because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” ²⁷ 

Cleansing the Temple

19:45 Then ²⁸  Jesus ²⁹  entered the temple courts ³⁰  and began to drive out those who were selling things there, ³¹ 

[3:1]  ¹ tn In Hebrew the phrase “my messenger” is מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi), the same form as the prophet’s name (see note on the name “Malachi” in 1:1). However, here the messenger appears to be an eschatological figure who is about to appear, as the following context suggests. According to 4:5, this messenger is “Elijah the prophet,” whom the NT identifies as John the Baptist (Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2) because he came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:11-12; Lk 1:17).

[3:1]  ² tn Here the Hebrew term הָאָדוֹן (ha’adon) is used, not יְהוָה (yÿhvah, typically rendered Lord). Thus the focus is not on the Lord as the covenant God, but on his role as master.

[3:1]  ³ sn This messenger of the covenant may be equated with my messenger (that is, Elijah) mentioned earlier in the verse, or with the Lord himself. In either case the messenger functions as an enforcer of the covenant. Note the following verses, which depict purifying judgment on a people that has violated the Lord’s covenant.

[21:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “was shaken.” The translation “thrown into an uproar” is given by L&N 25.233.

[21:11]  ⁵ map For location see Map1 D3; Map2 C2; Map3 D5; Map4 C1; Map5 G3.

[21:12]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[21:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “the temple.”

[21:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “the temple.”

[21:13]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 56:7.

[21:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “a hideout” (see L&N 1.57).

[21:13]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Jer 7:11. The meaning of Jesus’ statement about making the temple courts a den of robbers probably operates here at two levels. Not only were the religious leaders robbing the people financially, but because of this they had also robbed them spiritually by stealing from them the opportunity to come to know God genuinely. It is possible that these merchants had recently been moved to this location for convenience.

[21:15]  ¹² tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[21:15]  ¹³ tn Grk “crying out in the temple [courts] and saying.” The participle λέγοντας (legontas) is somewhat redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[21:16]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 8:2.

[19:41]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[19:41]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he.”

[19:41]  ¹⁷ sn When Jesus approached and saw the city. This is the last travel note in Luke’s account (the so-called Jerusalem journey), as Jesus approached and saw the city before entering it.

[19:42]  ¹⁸ sn On this day. They had missed the time of Messiah’s coming; see v. 44.

[19:42]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the things toward peace.” This expression seems to mean “the things that would ‘lead to,’ ‘bring about,’ or ‘make for’ peace.”

[19:42]  ²⁰ sn But now they are hidden from your eyes. This becomes an oracle of doom in the classic OT sense; see Luke 13:31-35; 11:49-51; Jer 9:2; 13:7; 14:7. They are now blind and under judgment (Jer 15:5; Ps 122:6).

[19:43]  ²¹ sn Jesus now predicted the events that would be fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. The details of the siege have led some to see Luke writing this after Jerusalem’s fall, but the language of the verse is like God’s exilic judgment for covenant unfaithfulness (Hab 2:8; Jer 6:6, 14; 8:13-22; 9:1; Ezek 4:2; 26:8; Isa 29:1-4). Specific details are lacking and the procedures described (build an embankment against you) were standard Roman military tactics.

[19:43]  ²² sn An embankment refers to either wooden barricades or earthworks, or a combination of the two.

[19:44]  ²³ tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”

[19:44]  ²⁴ tn Grk “your children within you.” The phrase “[your] walls” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the city of Jerusalem, metaphorically pictured as an individual, is spoken of here.

[19:44]  ²⁵ sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.

[19:44]  ²⁶ tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”

[19:44]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the time of your visitation.” To clarify what this refers to, the words “from God” are supplied at the end of the verse, although they do not occur in the Greek text.

[19:45]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[19:45]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he.”

[19:45]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the temple” (also in v. 47).

[19:45]  ³¹ sn Matthew (21:12-27), Mark (11:15-19) and Luke (here, 19:45-46) record this incident of the temple cleansing at the end of Jesus’ ministry. John (2:13-16) records a cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. See the note on the word temple courts in John 2:14 for a discussion of the relationship of these accounts to one another.