John 2:14

Those that sold (tou pwlounta). Present active articular participle of pwlew, to sell. They were in the Court of the Gentiles within the temple precinct (en twi ierwi), but not in the nao or temple proper. The sacrifices required animals (oxen, boa, sheep, probata, doves, peristera) and "changers of money" (kermatista, from kermatizw, to cut into small pieces, to change money, only here in N.T., late and rare). Probably their very presence in his Father's house angered Jesus. The Synoptics ( Mark 11:15-17 ; Matthew 21:12 , Lu 10:45) record a similar incident the day after the Triumphal Entry. If there was only one, it would seem more natural at the close. But why could it not occur at the beginning also? Here it is an obvious protest by Christ at the beginning of his ministry as in the Synoptics it is an indignant outcry against the desecration. The cessation was only temporary in both instances.