John 2:14

14 In the temple courtyard he found people who were selling cattle, sheep and doves. Others were sitting at tables exchanging money.

John 2:14 Meaning and Commentary

John 2:14

And found in the temple
Not in the holy place itself, nor in the court of the priests, where the sacrifices were offered, nor in the court of the women, nor in the court of the Israelites, where the people worshipped; but in the court of the Gentiles, or the outward court, even all that space of ground which was between the wall which divided the whole from common ground, and the buildings of the temple, and which was open to the air; for the whole sacred enclosure, or all within the wall, went by the name of the temple. Into this all strangers might come; and the passover now being at hand, here were

those that sold oxen, and sheep, and doves:
the oxen, or bullocks, were for the Chagigah, or feast kept on the second day of the passover; (See Gill on John 18:28); and the sheep, or lambs, as the Persic version reads, for the passover supper; and the doves were for the offerings of the poorer sort of new mothers: with these they were supplied from the Mount of Olives. It is said ^F3,

``there were two cedar trees on the Mount of Olives, and under one of them were four shops of them that sold things for purification; and out of one of them they brought forty bushels of young doves every month: and out of them the Israelites had enough for the nests, or the offerings of turtle doves;''

(See Gill on Matthew 21:12);

and the changers of money sitting:
who changed foreign money into the current coin of the Jews, strangers coming, at this feast, from several parts of the world; and sometimes there was need of changing shekels into half shekels, which, at certain times, were paid for the ransom of Israelites; see the note on the place above mentioned.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F3 Echa Rabbati, fol. 52. 4.

John 2:14 In-Context

12 After this, Jesus went down to Capernaum. His mother and brothers and disciples went with him. They all stayed there for a few days.

13 It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. So Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

14 In the temple courtyard he found people who were selling cattle, sheep and doves. Others were sitting at tables exchanging money.

15 So Jesus made a whip out of ropes. He chased all the sheep and cattle from the temple area. He scattered the coins of the people exchanging money. And he turned over their tables.

16 He told those who were selling doves, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"