Turning the tables: re-evaluating the incident between Jesus and the money-changers

Journal article

This article will reassess the commonly called ‘Temple cleansing’ incident and its causes. This will be done by analyzing the event through a broader prism, including the historical context of the event, while taking into consideration commerce, culture, currency, and other factors in 30 CE Judea. This re-examination leads to the proposal that the familiar story’s past explanations and interpretations suffered from the different attempts to find a noble motive for the altercation with the money changers. A re-examination of the dispute suggests that the incident was over the currency Jesus presented to them for exchange, and that there was no noble purpose, or indeed no prior motive at all. This new interpretation and suggested narrative resolve the various contradictions in the Gospels, and this new reconstruction is consistent with the personality and circumstances of Jesus, as well as the realities of 30 CE. The article further suggests that the altercation with the money-changers belongs to an older text which depicted Jesus’ life as a historical figure.

Authors: Olshanetsky, H; Silverman, A; Cosijns, L

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Journal: Cogent Arts & Humanities
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 1
• Article number: 2587102
• Publication date: 2026-12-31
• Acceptance date: 2025-11-04
• DOI: 10.1080/23311983.2025.2587102
• EISSN: 2331-1983
• ISSN: 2331-1983
• Language: English
• Keywords: Religious History; Roman currency; Christianity; Second Temple; Bible (The); Archaeology; History; money-changers; Jesus; Religion in Context; Temple cleansing; Roman History & Culture