The Gospel of John tells the story of Jesus cleansing the temple of merchants and money changers. These people were doing business with the large crowds who were coming to the temple in preparation for Passover and Jesus drove them out using a whip made of cords. Interestingly this is the only recorded act of violence by Jesus toward a person.
"When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 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. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” - John 2:13-17
The crowds were coming to the temple
from all over Israel and the surrounding regions. In fact, people of the Jewish
faith would travel from all over the world to worship at the temple. The law
required these people to offer a sacrifice as a part of their worship. Rather
than bring animals on the trip with them, many of these visitors would purchase
the sacrificial animals once they reached Jerusalem. They would also need to
exchange their local money for a more common coinage, much like today’s currency
exchanges. Of course the money changers would extract a small fee for this
service.
Can anything from this Biblical
account be confirmed by science or archaeology? While the actions and words of
Jesus are not recorded outside of the Bible, the location and setting of the
events are a far different story. The events are said to have taken place on or
very near to the Temple Mount, but can we confirm from sources outside of the
Bible the events recorded in John were common day practices. For the location and
atmosphere to be confirmed we should set several criteria to be met in order to
answer yes to this question.
- The location must be within or very close to the
temple. — It is considered doubtful by many that the Jewish leaders would
have allowed commerce on the Temple Mount itself, so we are looking for a
location very close by, probably near one of the entrances or access
points to the Temple Mount.
- There must be evidence of commerce in the form of money
exchange and the selling of animals. — There were many types of coins in
use at the time and if there were money exchangers there should be some
evidence of this.
- There should also be some evidence these animals were
intended for use as sacrificial offerings. — Livestock would be common
both for personal transportation as well as the hauling of goods and for
consumption as food. For this site to be confirmed just the presence of
animals or livestock is not enough, they must be intended for sacrifice,
presumably at the Temple.
During excavations along the Western Wall of the Temple Mount archaeologists discovered a well paved avenue. This avenue ran the full length of the wall and would have been a busy thoroughfare in first century Jerusalem. Near one corner of the Temple Mount they also found evidence of a massive stairway which at one time allowed access to the Temple area above. The stairway is known as Robinson’s Arch and was a major feature of the Temple complex. Anyone wanting to ascend to the Temple Mount from this corner would have used the stairway or been forced to travel some distance to another point of access. This would have been a very busy area and a prime location for merchants wising to sell to or do business with visitors to the Temple.
Beneath the ruins of the stairway
the excavators discovered a series of rectangular rooms which they believed
were once a series of small shops. It is obvious from their construction and
location these were not personal residences, so scholars believe they were
places of business, but what type of business were they doing? Within the shops
the archaeologist discovered a number of items which directly relate to the
Biblical narrative of John’s Gospel.
In the ruins the researchers found
coins, weights, pottery and animal bones. The weights would have been used to
measure commodities such as meat, fruit, or perhaps to measure out gold or
silver. Clearly signs of commerce. The coins could have been from any type of
business, or from individuals visiting the shop. It is impossible to prove
these shops were money changers, but the evidence certainly suggests it as a
possibility. The animal bones show there was indeed livestock here, but as
mentioned, the presents of livestock in itself is not enough. Fortunately, the
archaeologist found something very specific to our criteria. Among the pottery
were jars with crude birds drawn on the exterior. In addition to the birds the
jars were also labeled with the word Korban, which is Hebrew for sacrifice. It
is clear these birds were intended as sacrifices.
Birds were one of the most common
sacrificial animals for a number of reasons. They were inexpensive so even the
poorest of visitors could afford them. The birds were also easy to raise , inexpensive to
maintain and storage was compact. A large number of birds could be kept in a
small shop space, just like the ones uncovered along the avenue, thus allowing
for a constant inventory and maximum profit.
“What is the price of two sparrows — one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” — Matthew 10:28
[Copper coin likely referred to one assarion — a Roman coin worth 1/16 of a denarius.]
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