Mat 21:13 It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.

Since I research new Greek as they appear in the Gospels, it surprised me that this is the first mention of the word "prayer" by Christ in the Gospels. He earlier talks about praying, but doesn't use the word. We have see the term for "house" (oikos) many times, and we have pointed out that it means more than the building. It means the household or clan that lives in the building as well. The term for "prayer" is similar. It means both the act of talking to the divine and the place for it as well. And here Christ is specifically talking about the connection between a place and the connections that take place within it.

The original Greek is more colorful, contrasting the "house of prayer" not just with a "den of theives" but with "a pirate cave." Though those who hate free enterprise use verses like this against the whole philosophy of commerce, Christ is not attacking commerce as such. He is attacking the idea of that our relationship with God is defined by a trade, an exchange.

In other words, Christ is condemning the whole tradition of "sacrifice" as opposed to prayer in our relationship with God. Offering sacrifices to God is too often a form of trade rather than a form of worship. It is form of bargaining with God: if I give God this sacrifice, then I want God to give me what I want in return. Since we cannot bargain with God (a point Christ makes clear in the previous chapter), sacrifice as a form of bargaining is worthless, (poneros) which, of course, is the word that always gets translated as "evil" in the New Testament.

But while bargaining with God is worthless, there is something even worse going on here. The real crime here is coercion. When a priesthood tells believers that they must pay to have the right relationship with God, they are using their position to coerce others. This is the piracy that Christ is attacking here.

For Christ, the relationship between people must be voluntary, arising from a free agreement. Bargaining and trade are both seen as good things among people. What is bad is coercion, that is, threatening people unless they comply to our wishes.

However, between God and humans, bargains are not possible. Trade is not possible. God needs nothing we can offer. The tradition of religious sacrifice always mixed elements of worship and bargaining. Here Christ makes it clear that prayer, that is, seeking guidance and favors from God is not a form of trade, but simply an acceptance of God's control over our world.

"Called" is from kaleô, which means "to call," "to summon," "to be called by a name," and "to name."

"Prayer" is from proseuchê, which means both a prayer made in a place of worship and the place of worship itself.

"Den" is from spêlaion, which means "grotto," "cavern," and "cave." It is the source for our term for exloring caves, "spelunking." It also means "behind the scenes" in a theater.

"Thieves" is from lêistês (lestes), which means "robber" or "pirate."