Money Changer

Money Changer [Grk. kollybistēs, kermatistēs]. A person engaged in the business of exchanging currencies.

The concept of money changing appears in two contexts: (1) in the Parable of the Talents, where the master rebukes the servant who buried the one talent instead of trading it for interest from the bankers (trapezitēs, Matt 25:26-27; Luke 19:22-23), and (2) when Jesus overthrew the tables of the temple money changers and drove them out because of their abuse towards the people (Matt 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; John 2:13-16). Whenever Israel conducted a census, those over twenty years had to pay a half-shekel into the temple treasury as an offering to the Lord (Exod 30:11-15). The census was usually taken during major festivals, which brought Jews from all parts of the world to Jerusalem. On such occasions, money changers turned this offering practice into an abusive business by using high conversion rates. When Jesus attended a Passover feast in Jerusalem, He angrily poured out their money and overthrew their tables, accusing them of exchanging the purpose of the temple from that of a house of prayer for all nations to a "den of thieves" (Matt 21:13; Mark 11:17) or "a house of merchandise" (John 2:16).