Temple
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
G2411 names the temple precinct or temple courts, the wider sacred complex where teaching, commerce, healing aftermath, and public controversy unfold in John. It differs from the sanctuary term used when Jesus speaks of raising the temple of His body.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἱερόν (G2411) · Open the biblical lexicon
G2411 names the temple precinct or temple courts, the wider sacred complex where teaching, commerce, healing aftermath, and public controversy unfold in John. It differs from the sanctuary term used when Jesus speaks of raising the temple of His body.
The BSB source-word alignment has 71 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include temple (31), temple [courts] (31), . . . (3), - (1), [its] (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (25), Luke (14), John (11), Matthew (11).
G2411 names the temple precinct or temple courts, the wider sacred complex where teaching, commerce, healing aftermath, and public controversy unfold in John. It differs from the sanctuary term used when Jesus speaks of raising the temple of His body. John places Jesus in the temple precinct cleansing commerce, finding the healed man, teaching during the feast, crying out amid public debate, and speaking near the treasury.
The word helps readers hold together sacred space and Jesus' authority over it. The precinct is not treated as worthless, but neither is it immune from judgment, correction, and fulfillment. Jesus teaches there as the Son sent by the Father, not as a mere participant in religious routine.
G2411 locates Jesus in the temple precinct of John, where He cleanses, teaches, warns, and publicly reveals His relation to the Father amid feast conflict.
In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables.
Jesus finds sellers and money changers in the temple courts. The precinct becomes the setting for His zeal and correction.
So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
Jesus drives the animals and money changers out of the temple courts. His action is public and authoritative.
Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
Jesus finds the healed man in the temple courts and warns him to stop sinning. Mercy and warning meet in sacred space.
About halfway through the feast, Jesus went up to the temple courts and began to teach.
Jesus goes into the temple courts and begins to teach during the feast. The precinct becomes a teaching platform for His sent authority.
Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “You know Me, and you know where I am from. I have not come of My own accord, but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him,
Jesus cries out in the temple courts while teaching, exposing the crowd's partial knowledge of Him and His sender.
He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts, near the treasury. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
Jesus speaks these words near the treasury while teaching in the temple courts, and no one seizes Him because His hour has not yet come.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. The entire temple complex and courtyards, distinct from naós (the inner sanctuary proper)
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 71 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read versea temple
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
ἱερόν is built from this root:
Represents covenant worship center.Luke 21:5–6
Represents the visible center of Jewish worship soon to be judged.Mark 11:15–19
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G2411 matters because John does not present Jesus' temple presence as background scenery. The temple courts are where Jesus confronts commercialized worship, where His zeal is remembered, where a healed man hears a serious warning, and where Jesus teaches during the feast as the One sent by the Father. The word keeps readers from separating public worship from Jesus' authority.
The temple precinct has weight, but Jesus is not contained by it. His body will be named as the temple in the deeper sanctuary saying, and His hour governs even attempts to seize Him in the courts. Teachers can use G2411 to show sacred setting, public accountability, and fulfillment converging in Christ.
John.2.14
G2411 refers to the temple precinct or courts. It should not be collapsed into G3485, the sanctuary term used in John 2:19-21 for Jesus' body. That distinction matters for teaching the passage.
The Old Testament temple was the center of sacrifice, priesthood, and divine presence. John shows Jesus entering that public space with authority and then revealing Himself as the One who fulfills what temple worship anticipated.