John 2:14

And he found in the temple.

The Jewish worship centered in the temple. There the nation gathered at the great religious festivals; there all sacrifices were offered and the priesthood were consecrated. First there was the Tabernacle, the movable temple of the wilderness; then the temple of Solomon, destroyed at the time of the Captivity; then the second temple built by Zerubbabel; lastly, the temple of Herod,. great enlargement of the second temple, one of the most costly and beautiful buildings on the earth. It was of white marble, with roofs of cedar, and was rather. collection of buildings, courts and porches than. single building, all within the temple enclosure covering nineteen acres. The plan on the following page will give. better idea of it than any description.

In the center was the Holy of Holies, only entered by the High Priest once. year, at the feast of the atonement; next without was the Holy Place, entered only by the priests; without the entrance of this was the Court of Israel; then the Court of Women; then still without, the Court of the Gentiles. It was in this last named court that the traffic was conducted that aroused the indignation of the Savior.

Those that sold oxen and sheep and doves.

These were for the sacrifices. It is stated that at the Passover 200,000 paschal lambs were required, and as the vast throngs who came from distant parts could not bring them it was needful to buy them in Jerusalem. The traffic in these and the victims required for sacrifices, oxen, sheep, kids and doves, became an enormous one. Instead of being conducted at stock-yards it was installed in the temple itself, under the eye and patronage of. venal priesthood. The Court of Gentiles, designed as. "house of prayer for all nations" (Mark 11:15-19), was converted into cattle stalls, filled with their ordure, and noisy with their lowing and the din of traffic.

And the changers of money sitting.

The Jew was required to pay for the support of the temple service. half shekel annually (Exodus 30:13; Matthew 17:24). No heathen coin could be put into the temple treasury because they usually had images upon them which the priests regarded idolatrous; the Jewish shekels were not in general circulation, and hence it was needful that the current coin be changed before the temple tax could be paid. This money brokerage had also installed itself in the temple and much gain was made by the commissions charged.