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John 2:15
ESV And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.
NIV So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
NASB And He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;
CSB After making a whip out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables.
NLT Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.
KJV And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
NKJV When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.

What does John 2:15 mean?

Popular culture often depicts Jesus Christ as soft, quiet, and gentle. While He exhibited those demeanors when appropriate, Jesus was neither timid, nor weak, nor frail. Incidents such as this show that Jesus was capable of action and righteous anger. That even included a level of physical confrontation when it became necessary. A critical point to note is that Jesus makes the whip which He used to drive these men from the temple. He didn't see the problem, lose His temper, and then pick something up to swing in a rage. His actions were deliberate, leaving no mistake about His intent or His justified anger.

The sad situation in the temple reflected Israel's spiritual state during Jesus' earthly ministry: stuck in a rut, wealth-obsessed, and uninterested in heavenly things. Jesus' disruption of the business there was certainly against local civil laws. It's to be expected that the local guards and priests would be upset with His actions. And yet, nothing in the Bible suggests that He harmed anyone, or any animals, or damaged any property. Jesus doesn't just cause a commotion; He stays to explain His reasons (John 2:16).

A common question the Bible leaves unanswered is whether any of the scribes, priests, or merchants recognized Jesus. As a young boy He had amazed crowds—at this very temple—with His spiritual knowledge (Luke 2:46-47). It's likely that Jesus performed this "cleansing" more than once, with the second being during the days just before His crucifixion (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; Luke 19:45). If so, He would have been easily remembered and even more hated after the second incident.
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