Anything wrong with this exegesis?

Shrewd Manager said:

Yes. We could still posit that the money-changers were the scourge of the temple?

Yes, but is that enough to explain the accusations of thievery? I'd say not, there's active corruption going on here.

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No doubt they were imposing colossal up-charge for convenience like we find with food and drink at ballparks and theaters. But the real scourge was the religious leaders who had established this sacrilege. God had entrusted them with the authority over the temple. But God was about to strip it from them. Jesus said, "destroy this temple" (which they were doing by this commerce) "and in three days I will raise it up." That is, He will raise a glorious and spiritual temple not made by the hands of men, but by the Spirit of God, through the redemption of His sacrifice.

I don't understand the attack on commerce as an evil, in and of itself.
God hates "dishonest measures", but that is in the context of commerce, not in deference to it. Since God wants us to use honest measures, it would be in the context of commerce. Am I missing something here?

Shrewd Manager said:

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Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. (Ps 69:9)

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This context can only be abstractly applied but it probably would better fit a type of mega church than it would a bank, otherwise since there is no temple there are no peddlers in the temple courts and so there is no one to flog. But if we are going to apply it abstractly we must be consistent in our approach and can't forget the flogging turns abstract too. So if we are to identify bankers (or billionaire preachers) as the target we metaphorically flog them not literally. What that is... I don't know but maybe it reveals to us that it's best to leave the flogging with Christ.

Shrewd Manager said:

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Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. (Ps 69:9)

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My banker, JP Morgan Chase, allowed me a 90 day forbearance during this time. I would not want to see them flogged for making my life a bit easier during this trying season.
Be blessed.

All I can come up with is, doing so is not legal. Fortunately, God put in place a set of rules to keep the peace so, though it would be mighty tempting to do what the OP suggests, it might get you jail.

Just don't get caught.

Some megachurch authorities, and some mega denomination authorities, "rely" on the bloc that people smaller than themselves can inadvertently form, for their power trip and status, instead of service as good shepherds. "We've got 'em in the bag". Hence, they impress on the small people that it's only by falling into the trap they set for their own convenience that the small people can please God.

Unnecessarily steep mark-ups in worldly commerce are a thing God will address in His time; what we need to be especially wary of is when this attitude is combined with the sham spiritual, inside God's people. We have to sidestep it in constructive assertiveness.

It would have been more acceptable if the changers had relied on a peppercorn or pin-money rate.

Far more than this is the prophetic demonstration that the inner, trusting sacrifice of heart, like the widow giving her mite, is what's really acceptable to God and not the trappings that the bumptious claim to demand of us, hence driving away the livestock together with the livestock-minded.

solid_core said:

If you actually read the text, there is nothing about ripping people off.


The story is not about bankers, at all. Its about making business with holy things, in the temple of God.

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I think that part of the story is based partially off what we know from other sources on the culture at that time, but there are also Jesus' words "a den of thieves" which would support it. That wouldn't make sense in light of people simply doing business in a holy place.

Shrewd Manager said:

I can't claim the credit.



John 2:14 and Matt 21:12, yes there's some controversy over whether 2 separate occasions also because of the timing - in John it's at the start of his ministry, Matt the start of Holy Week. The money changers get a double helping!



Indeed. See the money-changers would offer exchange rates to pilgrims to change their denarius or drachma or whatever into temple shekels. So they were at least gouging on the exchange rate. There's more to it, and that's what the banksters also do today, which is to obfuscate the currency.



The 'cleansing of the temple' is a rite the value of whch cannot be underestimated, just as it's axiomatic that the love of money is the root of all evil and the worst kind of idolatry.



The picture does not show him flogging them aboard a prison hulk. I don't doubt that some of the more stubborn ones would have caught a taste of his ire.



Because Biblical idiom isn't saturated with hyperbole?

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Hyperbole in the right context has a purpose. But when it's used to make fun of Jesus or the church or confuse people into thinking the Bible is self-contradictory, it's harmful instead. Many people won't ever open a Bible (or app) for themselves, but these images can be shared at lightning speed.

Shrewd Manager said:

Sure, there were 2 sparrows sold for a shekel for instance, and no doubt some opportunism/ price gouging going on.

Also, they were 'money-changers' meaning they'd do currency conversions. Keep in mind that there was a weight of gold or silver in the major currencies then (like the denarius and the drachma). So the gifts and donations were required to be in shekels. There was invariably a 'weigh and measure' process for conversion. The OT is full of criticisms of uneven measures and corrupted weights.

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It seems to me that these folks were street vendors, not bankers.

Shrewd Manager said:

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Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. (Ps 69:9)

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It wasn't the selling of sacrifices and money changing that Jesus objected.

It was where they were doing it, in the temple.

Of course I'm sure there was some overcharging taking place also.

Shrewd Manager said:

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Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. (Ps 69:9)

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In Deuteronomy 14:24-27, someone who was too far away could exchange their tithe for money it order to use to purchase whatever they desired once they got to the place where God would put His name in celebration of God's feasts. All of this tithe was supposed to be used in celebration, so one of the things that they did to keep this money separate from their regular money was to exchange it for temple currency. So someone who was taking advantage of this practice by using unfair exchange rates was stealing from a tithe that belonged to God, hence Jesus criticizing them for turning his house into a den of thieves.

Charlie24 said:

It wasn't the selling of sacrifices and money changing that Jesus objected.

It was where they were doing it, in the temple.

Of course I'm sure there was some overcharging taking place also.

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My understanding was that they were outside the Temple, not inside.

Saint Steven said:

My understanding was that they were outside the Temple, not inside.

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John 2:14-15

Shrewd Manager said:

Are you sure that corrupt money-changing practices using unequal weights and measures wasn't the reason for the accusation of thievery?

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Exactly. Extortion supposed for religious purposes

Charlie24 said:

John 2:14-15

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I think there was a large courtyard area surrounding the Temple.
Still considered the Temple but outside in a public area. ???
Some think this is where the outpouring at Pentecost took place. (not in the upper room)
Which makes sense when you look into it.

John 2:14
In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves,
and others sitting at tables exchanging money.

Matthew 21:12
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

Saint Steven said:

I think there was a large courtyard area surrounding the Temple.
Still considered the Temple but outside in a public area. ???
Some think this is where the outpouring at Pentecost took place. (not in the upper room)
Which makes sense when you look into it.

John 2:14
In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves,
and others sitting at tables exchanging money.

Matthew 21:12
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

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It was probably the Court of the Gentiles, which was part of the temple with a wall dividing where the Jews gathered.

Charlie24 said:

It was probably the Court of the Gentiles, which was part of the temple with a wall dividing where the Jews gathered.

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Right. A public gathering area where such activity (in general) was appropriate. I think Jesus was objecting to what it became. (a den of thieves)

Shrewd Manager said:

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Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. (Ps 69:9)

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Joh 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15 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;
Joh 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
Joh 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.