What exactly was a "moneychanger" in the New Testament?

Question

Why did Jesus become upset by them? What exactly was the issue?
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Answer 1

Here's the issue...

Moneychangers were people who would take the currency that someone had, say money from Asia, and change it into local currency. Well, if you've ever gone to another country and changed money, you know that they take a commission when they do it. Well they were doing this in the temple area, and not only were they taking a commission, but they were ripping people off. So that is what Jesus means when he says, "You have changed my Father's house into a den of thieves."

The point here is that the "priests" were ripping people off in order to make monetary gain when people would come to worship the Lord.

Answer 2

First, I'm not saying my take on this is the only way to look at at this, okay? But because of people bringing sacrifices, giving contributions, etc. there had to be some money changing hands (I won't go into what kind of coins, how much they were worth, what the sacrificial animals cost, etc.) But it had gotten so over the top that the temple, an incredibly holy space, was more like a shopping mall filled with people buying and selling. Jesus became upset because money had become an idol--meaning it was more important than G-d, and yet these were the same people holding themselves up as a righteous example to everyone else.

The Jewish members of R/S can explain better than I about temple practices, just giving you a Christian's response. Are there parallels between this story and what's going on in some circles of the church today? You bet!

Edit--Just read Gershon's response, since he doesn't allow e-mail, have to respond here. I see no way in which my answer was bashing Jews. The moneychangers may have been Gentile, but someone had to be allowing the practice to get out of hand. The problem with so many answers is that people are obviously confusing tax collectors with temple money changers; that was two different occupations. If I'm wrong, Gershon, I'm willing to be corrected via e-mail.

Answer 3

The temple at Jerusalem had many sacred rituals that went on inside. Some dealt with washing, others with sacrifices. The sacrifices were what the moneychangers were about. The smallest sacrifice that could be performed required a pair of doves and was part of a peace offering. The individual was either asking for blessings or asking for forgiveness of sin. Depending on the severity of the sin, you could go all the way up to a lamb. Most people at the time couldn't easily acquire doves or other animal sacrifices so the moneychangers come into play to sell people sacrificial animals. Initially, the moneychangers were outside the temple, in which, there really was no problem. It was when they moved inside the temple, started competing for the front entrance, charging outrageous prices and yelling at the top of their lungs to get more business. That was when they began to become thieves. Jesus threw them out because of the intents of their hearts. The whole idea started out well, but very quickly became sour.

Answer 4

Jews entering the Temple were required to pay a Temple Tax and use a certain local coin for that tax. Many Jews tarveled from regions where other coins were in use, so they had to exchange their coins for the temple coin.

The money changers held those temple coins and would often charge a usery fee to travelers when they exchanged coins. Usery, or any interest charge, was made unlawful by God's decree.

If that weren't bad enough, the money changers operated within the temple grounds. So Jesus made a whip out of cords and lashed out at the money changers, not only for the usery, but also for turning God's "house of prayer" into a "den of thieves."

Today's most obvious descendent of the money changers is the Federal Reserve, a cabal of private banks, mostly European, that took all our gold and exchanged it for their worthless debt instruments called Federal Reserve Notes.

Of course Congress allowed all this to happen by passing the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. By 1933, President Roosevelt had declared the United States bankrupt. Search for House Joint Resolution 192, passed in March of 1933 for details.

Answer 5

The profession of money-changer in Palestine was made necessary by the law requiring every male Israelite who had reached the age of 20 years to pay into the treasury of the sanctuary a half-shekel at every numbering of the people, an offering to Yahweh, not even the poor being exempt. It seems to have become an annual tax, and was to be paid in the regular Jewish half-shekel (Exo_30:11-15). Since the Jews, coming up to the feasts, would need to exchange the various coins in common circulation for this Jewish piece, there were money-changers who exacted a premium for the exchange. This fee was a kollubos (about 31 cents in U.S. money, i.e. in 1915), hence, the name kollubistēs. The Jews of Christ's day came from many parts of the world, and the business of exchanging foreign coins for various purposes became a lucrative one, the exchangers exacting whatever fee they might. Because of their greed and impiety, Jesus drove them from the courts of the temple.

Answer 6

People went to the temple to give their offerings, and had no choice but to use the moneychangers there to get cash or convert items... and these people were ripping them off in a great degree...
It upset Jesus because people traveled a great deal to honor God and these people took advantage of them.

Answer 7

The priests in the temple created "temple money" which was different than the currency used on the outside. People would come into the temple and in order to purchase anything such as animals for sacrifices, one would have to change his currency to "temple money" for a small interest fee of course. This is what upset Jesus. People were getting rich off of the sacrifices which were to be an offering to God.

Answer 8

Ahh, another area people like to bash Jews. Moneychangers were gentiles and were in the gentile court of the Temple.

Answer 9

money changer in the bible was a tax collector. They got a fee and the rest went to the rulers. They changed coins from all over the place for shekels.

Answer 10

they were Jewish Usurers ( money lenders ).Like Shylock in the merchant of Venice .and they charged vast amounts of interest which is why Jews were so disliked all over Europe in the middle ages
And before anyone jumps on me for saying it .this is history and even mentioned in the Magna Carta and not my personal racism