Bible Strands
John 2:14
In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus arrives in Jerusalem near the Jewish Passover and enters the temple courts. He encounters merchants and money changers conducting business within the sacred precincts.
The words — The Greek verb εὗρεν (heuren) literally means "He found," indicating a deliberate discovery. The noun ἱερῷ (hi'erō) denotes the specific temple complex where the commercial activity occurs.
The thread — This observation runs parallel to the temple cleansing accounts recorded in Mark 11:15, Mark 11:17, and Luke 19:45. Each gospel documents Jesus confronting the same commercial practices within the temple courts.
Why it lands — The text states that sacred space was actively being used for cattle, sheep, dove sales and currency exchange. It requires the reader to acknowledge Jesus' direct assessment of this corruption before any corrective action follows.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Cross-references
- Mark 11:15 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
- Luke 19:45 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling there.
- Mark 11:17 Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
- Deuteronomy 14:23 And you are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the LORD your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
- Matthew 21:12 Then 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 seats of those selling doves.
- Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.