Text:

Before agorazontas ‘buying’ Textus Receptus omits tous ‘the ones,’ ‘those,’ which is retained by all modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

hieron (cf. 11.11) ‘Temple’: here specifically the Court of the Gentiles where all this traffic was carried on.

tous pōlountas (cf. 10.21) ‘those who sold’: the merchants who sold the animals, as well as oil, wine, and salt, for the Temple sacrifices.

tous agorazontas (cf. 6.36) ‘those who bought’: pilgrims who came to offer sacrifice and worship in the Temple.

tas trapezas (cf. 7.28) ‘the tables’ on which the money changers displayed their coins; ‘banks.’

tōn kollubistōn (only here in Mark) ‘of the money changers’: many of the worshipers, Jews of the Dispersion, would not have the half shekel coins required for the payment of the Temple tax (cf. Rawlinson).

tas kathedras (only here in Mark) ‘the chairs,’ ‘seats,’ ‘stools.’

tas peristeras (cf. 1.10) ‘the doves’ used in sacrifices, according to the requirements of the Law (cf. Lev. 12.6, 8; 14.22; 15.14, 29).

katestrepsen (only here in Mark) ‘he upset,’ ‘he overturned.’

Translation:

Came to may require alteration to ‘arrived at.’

Drive out may be rendered in a form parallel to what is used in other Gospels where the action is described as accomplished – at least in part – by the use of a whip. Where languages require a distinction between driving out as a group, or singly (as, for example, in Navajo), the former is probably preferable.

Sold and … bought is in some languages best rendered as ‘exchanged’ (or in some cultures as ‘bartered’).

Pigeons, which are very widespread, – at least in some relatively similar form – may be translated by the closest local parallel, even though the relationship may not be exact.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .