What Does John 2:14 Mean in the King James?

And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

John 2:14 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

John names the setting as the sacred precinct, so the trade happens inside a place still marked by its sacred character.

THE MEANING

The verse places commerce inside the sacred precinct and leaves the place named as sacred. What fills a space and what the space is called remain visible together; its activity does not erase its identity.

THE ROOT

ἱερῷ

hierō

GROWS FROM

ἱερ-

hier-

Sacred; belonging to a sacred place or practice.

John uses ⁨ἱερόν⁩ (hieron), meaning the temple precinct or sacred grounds. The Greek keeps the place’s sacred character in view as sellers and money changers occupy it.

ALSO GROWS

hiereus: A priest; one who serves in sacred rites.

ἱερεύς

The shared stem links the precinct with the people serving within its sacred order.

hierōsynē: Priesthood or priestly service.

ἱερωσύνη

This branch carries the sacred stem into an ongoing role of service, showing how the place and its service belong to the same word-family.

THE PATTERN

A place called God’s dwelling is seen alongside the activity taking place within it.

Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 7:11 · KJVThe house keeps its name while the verse brings the activity within it into view.

And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Mark 11:17 · KJVThe verse places the house’s stated purpose beside what is happening within it.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16 · KJVTemple language reaches the reader, naming a people as God’s dwelling.

THE THREAD

And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

John 2:16 · KJV

The next verse names the precinct “my Father’s house” and calls the market “an house of merchandise.” That shift from temple grounds to household makes the tension in the space personal and relational.

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