Mark 11:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

NIV: On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves,

NASB: Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves;

CSB: They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves,

NLT: When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves,

KJV: And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

NKJV: So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.

The temple itself makes up a small part of the Temple Mount, sitting on the west side, slightly towards the north. From west to east is the Holy of Holies, the altar, and then the Women's Courtyard. A wall surrounds this area. Around the temple building is the Court of the Gentiles, specifically set aside so Gentiles can worship the Jewish God. Porticoes edge the mount, the largest on the south side, where religious teachers talk and debate (Luke 2:41–52). When the text says that something happens in "the temple," it's most likely including any of these areas on the Temple Mount.

When Israel enacts a census, men aged twenty and older are required to bring half a shekel to God as an atonement for their lives (Exodus 30:11–16). As Jews live all over the Roman Empire, they don't always carry Jewish coins, so money-changers set up shop in the Court of the Gentiles to exchange money—for a small fee. Some sacrifices require a pair of turtledoves or pigeons (Leviticus 1:14; 5:7; 12:8; 14:22; Luke 2:22–24). A lamb (Leviticus 4:32), ram (Leviticus 5:18), or goat (Leviticus 3:12) might make the trip from a far-off city undamaged, but probably not birds, so enterprising locals also sell birds for sacrifice.

These stalls, prophesied in Zechariah 14:21, were Sanhedrin-sanctioned rivals to the larger markets on the Mount of Olives. Scholars posit that they were very recent, started by Caiaphas around AD 30. Scholars do not know what grudge Caiaphas had against the Mount of Olive merchants to warrant such a sacrilegious response. These businesses filled a need, but did so by turning the Temple Mount into a profit-motivated marketplace. Worst, these stalls and their traffic clogged up space specifically set aside for Gentile God-followers who have come to pray (Mark 11:17).

About two hundred years earlier, the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes defiled the temple by using it to sacrifice pigs to Zeus. Judas Maccabeus led the Jews in a successful revolt and purified the temple. About a decade before Jesus was born, Herod the Great renovated the building, making it more extravagant than any but Solomon's original. The temple had become a symbol of Jewish nationalism, as well as a way for residents of Jerusalem to make money, as they supplied visiting Jews from throughout the Roman Empire with whatever they needed to make sacrifices.

This puts the hatred of local leaders for Jesus into clearer focus. When Jesus condemns temple-based capitalism, rebels against aristocracy that benefits from temple rituals (Mark 11:27–33), and prophesies the destruction of the temple itself (Mark 13:1–2), He shows Himself to be a threat not just to the corrupted Judaism of the Pharisees but to the entire way of life of Jerusalem and the temple.

The religious and civil leaders find this a compelling reason to have Jesus killed—even more so that His claims to be the Son of God

Mark 11:15–19 is one account of Jesus driving corrupt merchants out of the temple grounds. Matthew, Mark, and Luke's accounts of Jesus' ministry are in harmony, but they vary on which details are mentioned, and in what order. John's Gospel was written much later and follows a separate structure. John mentions Jesus cleansing the temple three years earlier (John 2:13–17). Matthew and Luke infer Jesus cleansed the temple right after the triumphal entry, while Mark might be implying it was the next day. Scholars think John's story is an entirely separate event. Matthew's seeming discrepancy is likely because he grouped both halves of the fig tree story together. Luke doesn't mention the fig tree incident at all. Parallel passages are Matthew 21:12–17 and Luke 19:45–48.

Jesus and the disciples arrive in Jerusalem a week before the crucifixion, and Jesus begins the last days of His public ministry. They spend their nights on the Mount of Olives and their days in Jerusalem (Luke 21:37). Jesus accepts the accolades designed for a king (Mark 11:1–11), attacks materialistic tradition that keeps people from worshiping God (Mark 11:15–19), gives an object lesson about the fate of fruitless Jerusalem (Mark 11:12–14, 20–25), and reveals the Jewish religious leaders' hypocrisy (Mark 11:27–33). Despite the support of the crowd, Jesus is pushing the leaders toward the crucifixion.