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John 2 · a question people ask

"He made a whip of cords" (2:15). Did Jesus strike people with it?

In the text

Here are the words: "He made a whip of cords and drove all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money and overthrew their tables" (2:15). Then "To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”" (2:16). John tells what Jesus made, what he drove out of the temple, and what he did with the money and the tables. He says nothing more about the whip, and these notes add nothing to his words.

The verses

“He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. He made a whip of cords and drove all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money and overthrew their tables. To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!””
John 2:14-16 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of John 2

John 2: The beginning of his signs

At Cana, John tells of no word spoken over the water: Jesus tells the servants "Fill the water pots with water" and "Now draw some out", and the ruler of the feast "didn’t know where it came from", but the servants knew (2:7-9). And "When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered" his words about the temple (2:22).

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Last reviewed October 1, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions