And found in the temple
Not in the holy place itself, nor in the court of the priests,
where the sacrifices were offered, nor in the court of the women,
nor in the court of the Israelites, where the people worshipped;
but in the court of the Gentiles, or the outward court, even all
that space of ground which was between the wall which divided the
whole from common ground, and the buildings of the temple, and
which was open to the air; for the whole sacred enclosure, or all
within the wall, went by the name of the temple. Into this all
strangers might come; and the passover now being at hand, here
were
those that sold oxen, and sheep, and doves:
the oxen, or bullocks, were for the Chagigah, or feast kept on
the second day of the passover; (See Gill on John
18:28); and the sheep, or lambs, as the Persic version
reads, for the passover supper; and the doves were for the
offerings of the poorer sort of new mothers: with these they were
supplied from the Mount of Olives. It is said F3,
``there were two cedar trees on the Mount of Olives, and under one of them were four shops of them that sold things for purification; and out of one of them they brought forty bushels of young doves every month: and out of them the Israelites had enough for the nests, or the offerings of turtle doves;''(See Gill on Matthew 21:12);
and the changers of money sitting:
who changed foreign money into the current coin of the Jews,
strangers coming, at this feast, from several parts of the world;
and sometimes there was need of changing shekels into half
shekels, which, at certain times, were paid for the ransom of
Israelites; see the note on the place above mentioned.
F3 Echa Rabbati, fol. 52. 4.