View source for Cleansing of the Temple

{{Short description|Event in the ministry of Jesus}}
[[File:El Greco 13.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''[[Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple (El Greco, Washington)|Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple]]'' ([[El Greco]], Washington D.C.)|alt=''Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple'', Washington version, by El Greco]]
{{Gospel Jesus}}
In all four [[canonical gospels]] of the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[New Testament]], the '''cleansing of the Temple''' narrative tells of [[Jesus]] expelling the merchants and the [[money changer]]s from the [[Second Temple|Temple]] in [[Jerusalem in Christianity|Jerusalem]]. The scene is a common motif in [[Christian art]].

In this [[List of key episodes in the Canonical Gospels|account]] Jesus and [[Disciple (Christianity)|his disciples]] travel to Jerusalem for [[Passover]], where Jesus expels the merchants and consumers from the temple, accusing them of turning it into "a den of thieves" (in the [[synoptic Gospels]]) and "a market" (in the [[Gospel of John]]) through their commercial activities.

The narrative occurs near the end of the Synoptic Gospels (at [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 21:12–17,<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|21:12–17}}</ref> [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 11:15–19,<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|11:15–19}}</ref> and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 19:45–48<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|19:45–48}}</ref>) and near the start of the Gospel of John (at John 2:13–16).<ref>{{bibleverse|John|2:13–16}}</ref> Some scholars believe that these refer to two separate incidents, given that the Gospel of John also includes more than one Passover.<ref name=Evans >{{cite web |url={{GBurl|UzWD61mgp7EC|p=49}} |title=The Temple Cleansing (13–25) |pages=49–51 }} In {{cite book |last1=Burge |first1=Gary M |chapter=Gospel of John |pages=37–163 |editor1-last=Evans |editor1-first=Craig A. |title=The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: John's Gospel, Hebrews-Revelation |date=2005 |publisher=David C Cook |isbn=978-0-7814-4228-2 }}</ref>

== Description ==
[[File:Scarsellino_-_Driving_of_the_merchants_from_the_temple_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|''Driving of the Merchants From the Temple'' by [[Scarsellino]]]]

In the narrative [[Jesus]] is stated to have visited the [[Second Temple]] in Jerusalem, where the courtyard was described as being filled with [[livestock]], merchants and the tables of [[money changer]]s, who changed the standard [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] money for [[Shekel|Jewish]] and [[Tyrian shekel]]s.{{sfn|Sanders|1995|p={{pn|date=October 2024}}}} Jerusalem was packed with Jews who had come for [[Passover]]. According to the 66 CE census by Cestius, as cited by [[Josephus]], the attendees at the Passover Festival were counted as more than 2.5 million [[pilgrims]].{{sfn|Sanders|1995|p=249}}{{sfn|Funk|1998}}

{{blockquote|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; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.|John 2:15–16, [[King James Version]]<ref>{{Bibleverse|John|2:15–16|KJV}}</ref>}}
 
{{blockquote|And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.|Matthew 21:12–13, King James Version<ref>{{Bibleverse|Matthew|21:12–13|KJV}}</ref>}}

[[File:2014-06 Israel - Jerusalem 010 (14941246122).jpg|right|thumb|The [[Royal Stoa (Jerusalem)|Royal Stoa]] in [[Herod's Temple]], where the cleansing of the Temple would have taken place, as imagined in the [[Holyland Model of Jerusalem]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Mazar |first=Eilat |title=The Complete Guide to the Temple Mount Excavations |year=2002 |publisher=Shoham Academic Research and Publication |location=Jerusalem |isbn=965-90299-1-8 |ref=Mazar2002}}</ref>]]

In Mark 12:40<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|12:40}}</ref> and Luke 20:47<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|20:47}}</ref> Jesus accuses the Temple authorities of thieving and, in this instance, names poor widows as their victims, going on to provide evidence of this in Mark 12:42<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|12:42}}</ref> and Luke 21:2.<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|21:2}}</ref> Dove sellers were selling doves to be sacrificed by the poor, specifically by women, who could not afford grander sacrifices. According to Mark 11:16,<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|11:16}}</ref> Jesus then put an embargo on people carrying any merchandise through the Temple, a sanction which would have disrupted all commerce.<ref name=Evans /><ref name=Anderson >''The Fourth Gospel And the Quest for Jesus'' by Paul N. Anderson 2006 {{ISBN|0-567-04394-0}} page 158</ref> This occurred in the outermost court, the [[Court of the Gentiles|Court]] of the [[Gentiles]], which was where the buying and selling of animals took place.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nyland |first=Jan |url=https://lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/57820558/Court_of_the_Gentiles_m_fr.pdf |title=The Lexham Bible Dictionary |publisher=Lexham Press |year=2016}}</ref>

Matthew 21:14–16<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|21:14–16}}</ref> says the Temple leaders questioned Jesus, asking whether he was aware that the children were shouting "[[Hosanna]] to the Son of David". Jesus responded by saying, "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise." This phrase incorporates a phrase from the Psalm 8:2,<ref>{{bibleverse|Psalm|8:2}}</ref> "from the lips of children and infants," believed by followers to be an admission of divinity by Jesus.<ref name=Evans /><ref name=Anderson />

==Chronology==
{{Main article|Chronology of Jesus}}

There are debates about when the cleansing of the Temple occurred and whether there were two separate events. [[Thomas Aquinas]] and [[Augustine of Hippo]] agree that Jesus performed a similar act twice, with the less severe denunciations of the Johannine account (merchants, sellers) occurring early in Jesus's public ministry and the more severe denunciations of the synoptic accounts (thieves, robbers) occurring just before, and indeed expediting, the events of the [[crucifixion of Jesus]].{{cn|date=March 2024}}

Claims about the Temple cleansing episode in the Gospel of John can be combined with non-biblical historical sources to obtain an estimate of when it occurred. [[wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/John#2:13|John 2:13]] states that Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem around the start of his ministry and [[wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/John#2:20|John 2:20]] states that Jesus was told: "Forty and six years was this temple in building, and you want to raise it up in three days?"<ref name=ChronosPaul>[[Paul L. Maier]] "The Date of the Nativity and Chronology of Jesus" in ''Chronos, Kairos, Christos: Nativity and Chronological Studies'' by Jerry Vardaman, Edwin M. Yamauchi 1989 {{ISBN|0-931464-50-1}} pages 113–129</ref><ref name=Eerdmans246 >''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' 2000 Amsterdam University Press {{ISBN|90-5356-503-5}} page 249</ref>

In the ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' the first-century Roman-Jewish historian [[Josephus]] wrote that ([[Antiquities of the Jews|Ant]] 15.380) the temple reconstruction was started by [[Herod the Great]] in the 18th year of his reign 22 BC, two years before [[Augustus]] arrived in Syria in 20 BC to return the son of [[Phraates IV]] and receive in return the spoils and standards of three Roman legions (Ant 15.354).<ref name=Eerdmans246 />{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles|2009|pp=140–141}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=Craig A. |authorlink1=Craig A. Evans |title=Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-97569-8 |page=115 }}</ref><ref>As stated by {{harvnb|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles|2009|p=114}}, there is some uncertainty about how Josephus referred to and computed dates, hence various scholars arrive at slightly different dates for the exact date of the start of the Temple construction, varying by a few years in their final estimation of the date of the Temple visit.</ref> Temple expansion and reconstruction was ongoing, and it was in constant reconstruction until it was destroyed in AD 70 by the Romans.<ref>''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'', page 246 states that Temple construction never completed, and that the Temple was in constant reconstruction until it was destroyed in 70 AD/CE by the Romans, and states that the 46 years should refers to the actual number of year from the start of the construction.</ref> Given that it had taken 46 years of construction to that point, the Temple visit in the Gospel of John has been estimated at any time between AD 24 and 29. It is possible that the complex was only a few years completed when the future [[Titus|Emperor Titus]] [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destroyed the Temple]] in AD 70.<ref name=ChronosPaul /><ref name=Eerdmans246 /><ref name=PAnderson200 >{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Paul N. |title=The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus: Modern Foundations Reconsidered |date=2006 |publisher=T & T Clark |isbn=978-0-567-04394-8 |page=200 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Knoblet |first1=Jerry |title=Herod the Great |date=2005 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-7618-3087-0 |page=184 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url={{GBurl|M4RtkEQ9QEIC|p=77}} |title=Interlocking between John and the Synoptics |pages=77–79 }} In {{cite book |last1=Blomberg |first1=Craig L |chapter=The historical reliability of John: Rushing in where angels fear to tread? |pages=71–82 |editor1-last=Fortna |editor1-first=Robert Tomson |editor2-last=Thatcher |editor2-first=Tom |title=Jesus in Johannine Tradition |date=2001 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=978-0-664-22219-2 }}</ref>

==Analysis==
[[File:Theodoor Rombouts - Christ Driving the Money-changers from the Temple.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''Christ Driving the Money changers from the Temple'' by [[Theodoor Rombouts]]]]

According to [[E.P. Sanders]], it is "overwhelmingly probable that Jesus did something in the temple and said something about its destruction", although he also explains that analysis of the incident brings significant ambiguity rather than certitude. <ref>{{cite book |last= Sanders |first= E.P. |author-link= E.P. Sanders |year= 1985 |title= Jesus and Judaism |publisher= Fortress Press |page= 61 |isbn= 978-0800620615}}</ref>

Professor David Landry of the [[University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)|University of St. Thomas]] suggests that "the importance of the episode is signalled by the fact that within a week of this incident, Jesus is dead. Matthew, Mark, and Luke agree that this is the event that functioned as the 'trigger' for Jesus' death."<ref name=Landry>{{cite journal |last1=Landry |first1=David |title=God in the Details: The Cleansing of the Temple in Four Jesus Films |journal=Journal of Religion & Film |date=October 2009 |volume=13 |issue=2 |doi=10.32873/uno.dc.jrf.13.02.05 }}</ref>

[[Butler University]] professor James F. McGrath explains that the animal sales were related to selling animals for use in the [[animal sacrifice]]s in the Temple. He also explains that the money changers in the temple existed to convert the many currencies in use into the accepted currency for paying the Temple taxes.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McGrath |first1=James F. |title=Jesus and the Money Changers |url=https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/jesus-and-the-money-changers/ |work=Bible Odyssey }}</ref> Sanders and [[Bart D. Ehrman]] say that Greek and Roman currency was converted to [[shekels|Jewish]] and [[Tyrian shekel|Tyrian money]].{{sfn|Sanders|1995|p={{pn|date=October 2024}}}}<ref name="JInt">[[Bart D. Ehrman|Ehrman, Bart D.]] ''[[Jesus, Interrupted|Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them)]]'', HarperCollins, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-06-117393-6}}{{pn|date=October 2024}}</ref>

A common interpretation is that Jesus was reacting to the practice of money changers routinely cheating the people, but Marvin L. Krier Mich observes that a good deal of money was stored at the temple, where it could be loaned by the wealthy to the poor who were in danger of losing their land to debt. The Temple establishment therefore co-operated with the aristocracy in the exploitation of the poor. One of the first acts of the [[First Jewish-Roman War]] was the burning of the debt records in the archives.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=XU8NAQAAQBAJ&dq=cleansing+of+the+temple+catholic&pg=PT142 Mich, Marvin L. Krier. ''The Challenge and Spirituality of Catholic Social Teaching'', Chapter 6, Orbis Books, 2011], {{ISBN|978-1-57075-945-1}}{{pn|date=October 2024}}</ref>

[[Pope Francis]] saw the cleansing of the Temple not as a violent act but more of a prophetic demonstration.<ref>Pope Francis. [https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-jesus-cleanses-the-temple-of-jerusalem/ "Angelus Address: Jesus Cleanses the Temple of Jerusalem"]. ''Zenit'', March 4, 2018. Translated from the Italian by Virginia M. Forrester.</ref> In addition to writing and speaking messages from God, Israelite or Jewish {{transliteration|hbo|nevi'im}} ('spokespersons', 'prophets') often acted out prophetic actions in their life.<ref>Lockyer, Herbert. ''All the Parables of the Bible'', Zondervan, 1988. p. 53. {{ISBN|978-0-310-28111-5}}</ref>

According to [[D. A. Carson]], the fact that Jesus was not arrested by the Temple guards was due to the fact that the crowd supported Jesus's actions.<ref>{{cite report |last=Dansby |first=Jonathan |title=THE NEW TEMPLE: AN EXEGESIS OF JOHN 2:12–22 |url=https://www.academia.edu/8678006 }}{{pn|date=October 2024}}{{rs|date=October 2024}}</ref> [[Maurice Casey]] agrees with this view, stating that the Temple's authorities were probably afraid that sending guards against Jesus and his disciples would cause a revolt and a carnage, while Roman soldiers in the [[Antonia Fortress]] did not feel the need to act for a minor disturbance such as this; however, Jesus's actions probably prompted the authorities' decision to have Jesus arrested [[Arrest of Jesus|some days later]] and later [[Crucifixion of Jesus|had him crucified]] by the Roman prefect [[Pontius Pilate]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Casey |first1=P. M. |title=Culture and Historicity: The Cleansing of the Temple |journal=The Catholic Biblical Quarterly |date=1997 |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=306–332 |jstor=43722943 }}</ref>

Some scholars such as those in the [[Jesus Seminar]] as expressed in the book ''The Acts of Jesus'' (1998) and others question the historicity of the incident as expressed in the Gospels in light of the fact of the vastness of the temple complex. In ''The Acts of Jesus'', the Jesus Seminar scholars assert the area of the temple complex is equivalent to "thirty-four football fields". In that book, those in Jesus Seminar further assert that during the great festivals such as Passover, there would be "thousands of pilgrims" in that area. Those in the Jesus Seminar do feel Jesus "performed some anti-temple act and spoke some word against the temple".{{sfn|Funk|1998|p=121, 231, 338, 373}}

[[John Dominic Crossan]] argues that Jesus was not attempting to cleanse the Temple of any corruption. Instead, it was a radical protest against the institution of [[Korban|animal sacrifice]], which gave people a false sense of transactional forgiveness compared to [[Repentance in Christianity|repentance]]. He believes these views aligned with [[John the Baptist]] and [[Jeremiah]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crossan |first=John Dominic |title=The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant |date=1999 |publisher=HarperCollins Religious US |isbn=978-0-06-061629-8 }}{{pn|date=October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Crossan |first=John Dominic |title=Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography |date=2010 |publisher=HarperCollins Religious US |isbn=978-0-06-180035-1 }}{{pn|date=October 2024}}</ref>

== Interpretation of John 2:15 ==
In 2012 Andy Alexis-Baker, [[clinical professor|clinical associate professor]] of theology at [[Loyola University Chicago]], gave the history of the interpretation of the Johannine passage since Antiquity:<ref name="Alexis-Baker Violence, Nonviolence">{{cite journal |last1=Alexis-Baker |first1=Andy |title=Violence, Nonviolence and the Temple Incident in John 2:13-15 |journal=Biblical Interpretation |date=2012 |volume=20 |issue=1–2 |pages=73–96 |doi=10.1163/156851511X595549 }}</ref>

* [[Origen]] (3rd century) is the first to comment on the passage: he denies historicity and interprets it as metaphorical, where the Temple is the soul of a person freed from earthly things thanks to Jesus. On the contrary, [[John Chrysostom]] (v. 391) defended the historical authenticity of this passage, but if he considered that Jesus had used the whip against the merchants in addition to the other beasts, he specified that it was to show his [[Trinity|divinity]] and that Jesus was not to be imitated.
* [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]] (in 381) – who answered, during the [[First Council of Constantinople]], to the bishop [[Rabbula]], accused of striking his clerics and to justify himself by the purification of the Temple – and [[Cosmas Indicopleustes]] (v. 550) supported that the event is non-violent and historical: Jesus whips sheep and bulls, but speaks only to merchants and only overturns their tables.
* [[Augustine of Hippo]] (in 387) referred to cleansing of the temple to justify rebuking others for their sinful behavior writing, "Stop those whom you can, restrain whom you can, frighten whom you can, allure gently whom you can, do not, however, rest silent."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1701010.htm|title=A Select library of the Nicene and post-Nicene fathers of the Christian church. Vol. 7|chapter=Tractate 10 (John 2:12-21)|first=Augustine|last=of Hippo|author-link=Augustine of Hippo|year=1886|location=New York|publisher=The Christian literature Co.}}</ref>
* [[Pope Gregory VII]] (in 1075), quoting [[Pope Gregory I]], relies on this passage to justify his policy against [[Simony|simoniacal]] clergy, comparing them to merchants. Other medieval Catholic figures will do the same, such as [[Bernard of Clairvaux]], who justified the Crusades by claiming that fighting the "pagans" with the same zeal that Jesus displayed against the merchants was a way to salvation.
* During the [[Protestant Reformation]], [[John Calvin]] (in 1554), in line with Augustine of Hippo and the Gregories, defended himself by using (among other things) the purification of the temple, when he was accused of having helped to burn alive [[Michael Servetus]], a theologian who disputed the idea of the Holy Trinity.
* Andy Alexis-Baker indicates that, while the majority of English-speaking Bibles include humans, sheep and cattle in the whipping, the original text is more complex and, after grammatical analysis, concludes that the text does not describe a violent act of Jesus against the merchants.<ref name="Alexis-Baker Violence, Nonviolence"/>

== According to later sources ==
===Toledot Yeshu===
There are a number of later narratives of the incident that are generally regarded as legendary. One example is the [[Toledot Yeshu]], a parody gospel probably first written about 1,000 years after Christ, but possibly dependent on second-century Jewish-Christian gospel<ref>Price, Robert (2003) ''The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man'', p. 40.</ref> and not oral traditions that might go back all the way to the formation of the canonical narratives themselves.<ref>Alexander, P. 'Jesus and his Mother in the Jewish Anti-Gospel (the Toledot Yeshu)', in eds. C. Clivaz et al., ''Infancy Gospels'', Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck GmbH & Co. KG, 2011, pp. 588–616.</ref> The Toledot Yeshu claims that [[Yeshu]] had entered the Temple with 310 of his followers. That Christ's followers had indeed entered the Temple, and in fact the [[Holy of Holies]],<ref>Goldstein, Morris. ''Jesus in the Jewish Tradition''. New York, NY: The Macmillan Company, 1950, p. 152.</ref> is also claimed by [[Epiphanius of Salamis|Epiphanius]], who further claimed that James wore the [[breastplate of the high priest]] and the high priestly diadem on his head and actually entered the Holy of Holies,<ref>Bauckham, ''The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple'', p. 45.</ref> and that John the Beloved had become a sacrificing priest who wore the mitre,<ref>Eisenman, Robert, ''Maccabees, Zadokites, Christians, and Qumran: A New Hypothesis of Qumran Origins''. Nashville, TN: Grave Distractions Publications, 2013, p. 10.</ref> which was the headdress of the high priest.

Yeshu is likewise portrayed as robbing the {{transliteration|hbo|[[Shem HaMephorash|shem hamephorash]]}}, the 'secret name of god' from the Holy of Holies, in the Toledot Yeshu.<ref>Zindler, Frank R. ''The Jesus the Jews Never Knew''. Cranford, NJ: American Atheist Press, 2003, pp. 318–319, 428–431.</ref>

==In art==
The cleansing of the Temple is a commonly depicted event in the [[Life of Christ in art|Life of Christ]], under various titles.

[[El Greco]] painted several versions:
*[[Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple (El Greco, London)|''Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple'' (El Greco, London)]]
*[[Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple (El Greco, Madrid)|''Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple'' (El Greco, Madrid)]]
*[[Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple (El Greco, Minneapolis)|''Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple'' (El Greco, Minneapolis)]]
*[[Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple (El Greco, New York)|''Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple'' (El Greco, New York)]]
*[[Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple (El Greco, Washington)|''Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple'' (El Greco, Washington)]]

===Gallery===
{{Clear}}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Kristus uddriver kræmmerne af templet.jpg|Cleansing of the Temple. Unknown artist
File:Giotto - Scrovegni - -27- - Expulsion of the Money-changers from the Temple.jpg|''Casting out the money changers'' by [[Giotto]]
File:Jan Sanders van Hemessen - Christ driving the money changers from the temple.JPG|''Christ driving the money changers from the temple'' by [[Jan Sanders van Hemessen]]
File:Nicolas Colombel - Christ Expelling the Money-Changers from the Temple.jpg|''Christ Expelling the Money-Changers from the Temple'' by [[Nicolas Colombel]]
File:Bernardino Mei (Italian (Sienese) - Christ Cleansing the Temple - Google Art Project.jpg|''Christ Cleansing the Temple'' by [[Bernardino Mei]]
File:Изгнание торгующих из храма. XXI век.jpg|''Expulsion of the merchants from the temple'' by [[Andrei Mironov (painter)|Andrei Mironov]]
File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 024.jpg|Jesus (top left) lashes out at money changers with a whip. Rembrandt (1626).
File:Simonet - expulsion mercaderes.jpg|''Cleansing of the Temple'' by [[Enrique Simonet]]
File:Rossano Gospels - Cleansing of the Temple.jpg|The cleansing of the temple, from the [[Rossano Gospels]], 6th century. The verses cited below are [[Psalm 69|Psalm]] {{bibleverse-nb|Psalm|69:9}}, [[Hosea 9|Hosea]] {{bibleverse-nb|Hosea|9:15}}, [[Psalm 8|Psalm]] {{bibleverse-nb|Psalm|8:6-7}}, and [[Isaiah 56|Isaiah]] {{bibleverse-nb|Isaiah|56:7-8}}
File:Christ banish tradesmen from Temple (Monreale).jpg|The cleansing of the temple, from the [[Monreale Cathedral mosaics]].
File:CastingoutMoneyChangers.jpg|Casting out the money changers, by [[Carl Bloch]]
File:Brooklyn Museum - The Merchants Chased from the Temple (Les vendeurs chassés du Temple) - James Tissot.jpg|The merchants chased from the temple, by [[James Tissot]]
</gallery>
{{Clear}}

== See also ==
* {{annotated link|Christian views on poverty and wealth}}
* [[Gessius Florus]]
* [[Gospel harmony]]
* [[Ministry of Jesus]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== References ==
* [[Raymond E. Brown|Brown, Raymond E]]. ''An Introduction to the New Testament'', Doubleday (1997) {{ISBN|0-385-24767-2}}
* [[Raymond E. Brown|Brown, Raymond E]]. ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary'', Prentice Hall (1990) {{ISBN|0-13-614934-0}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Robert W. Funk |last=Funk |first=Robert W. |others=with the [[Jesus Seminar]] |title=The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of Jesus |publisher=HarperSanFrancisco |date=1998}}
* Miller, Robert J. ''The Complete Gospels'', Polebridge Press (1994), {{ISBN|0-06-065587-9}}
* [[Ched Myers|Myers, Ched]]. ''Binding the Strong Man: A political reading of Mark's story of Jesus''. Orbis (1988) {{ISBN|0-88344-620-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Köstenberger |first1=Andreas J. |last2=Kellum |first2=Leonard Scott |last3=Quarles |first3=Charles Leland |title=The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament |date=2009 |publisher=B&H Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-8054-4365-3 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Sanders |first1=E. |authorlink1=E. P. Sanders |title=The Historical Figure of Jesus |date=1995 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-0-14-192822-7 }}

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q1267621|c=Category:Cleansing of the Temple|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|wikt=no|s=Bible}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Chronology of Jesus|Life of Jesus]]: [[Ministry of Jesus|Ministry Events]]||}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Marriage at Cana|Wedding in Cana]] <small>in John 2</small> or [[Triumphal entry into Jerusalem|Triumphal Entry]] <small>in the Synoptic Gospels</small>}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[New Testament]] Events}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Nicodemus|Jesus and Nicodemus]] <small>in John 3</small> or [[Figs in the Bible|Fig Tree Cursed]] <small>in the Synoptic Gospels</small>}}
{{s-end}}
{{Life of Jesus in Christian art|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Passion of Jesus]]
[[Category:Gospel episodes]]
[[Category:Second Temple]]