BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY

Money-changer

Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term

How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.

GREEK · G5132

τράπεζα

trapeza — table

τράπεζα, -ης, ἡ [in LXX chiefly for שֻׁלְחָן, also for לֶחֶם, etc. ;] 1. a table, dining-table: Mat.15:27, Mrk.7:28, Luk.16:21 19:23 22:21, 30; of the table of shewbread, Heb.9:2. By meton., of food provided (see DB, iv, 670 a): Act.16:34, Rom.11:9" (LXX) 1Co.10:21; διακονεῖν ταῖς τ., Act.6:2 (cf. Page, in l, but see infr.). 2. A money-changer's table, a bank (Dem., Arist., al.): Mat.21:12, Mrk.11:15, Luk.19:23, Jhn.2:15; so also accusative to Dr. Field (Notes, 113), Act.6:2 (but see supr.).† (AS)

14 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →

GREEK · G2855

κολλυβιστής

kollubistēs — moneychanger

κολλυβιστής, -οῦ, ὁ (κόλλυβος, a small coin, a rate of exchange), a money-changer: Mat.21:12, Mrk.11:15, Jhn.2:15 (of. κερματιοτής).† (AS)

3 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →

Historical dictionary entry

(Matt. 21:12; Mark 11:15; John 2:15). Every Israelite from twenty years and upwards had to pay (Ex. 30:13-15) into the sacred treasury half a shekel every year as an offering to Jehovah, and that in the exact Hebrew half-shekel piece. There was a class of men, who frequented the temple courts, who exchanged at a certain premium foreign moneys for these half-shekels to the Jews who came up to Jerusalem from all parts of the world. (See PASSOVER.) When our Lord drove the traffickers out of the temple, these money-changers fared worst. Their tables were overturned and they themselves were expelled.

Scripture references

Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.

Compare other reference traditions

Look up Money-changer in Smith’s Bible Dictionary and ISBE →