tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post2332281754063213016..comments2009-11-08T21:00:07.329-06:00Todd Bolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06156730661243501832tbolen91@bibleplaces.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post-42816618722320120372009-11-08T21:00:07.329-06:002009-11-08T21:00:07.329-06:00Tom - good ideas. I&#39;m working this semester on research on just this issue, which I hope will turn into an article. I&#39;ll be happy to share it with you when I finish.Todd Bolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06156730661243501832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post-17103767473731231132009-11-06T15:55:10.343-06:002009-11-06T15:55:10.343-06:00It has always struck me as curious that in the years BEFORE the Great Revolt the required coin for paying the annual Temple tax was the so-called Tyrian half-shekel, which was full of images: a Roman eagle on one side and the head of the Phoenician god Melqart on the other! This, at a time when observant Jewish sensibilities in art, from all appearances, are strongly an-iconic, without images. I have never delved into this, but I have a theory: that requiring the pagan coin represents a shrewd and somewhat cynical &quot;business decision&quot; on the part of the corrupt, Sadducean priestly managers of the Temple system: Besides wanting the coffers filled with a standard coin of known value, they no doubt also reaped a tidy profit from the many moneychanging concessions, which the people were pretty much forced to patronize. Again, just my theory (unless I read it somewhere and have forgotten!), but could such a thing -- the self-serving requirement of a special coin, and the nature of the coin itself -- form part of the context for Jesus&#39; cleansing of the Temple? Here&#39;s another angle related to that story: Is it possible that another part of the context and rationale for the cleansing was the very act of people purchasing their sacrificial animals, on the spot, as opposed to the traditional idea of humbly bringing the best and unblemished of one&#39;s own flock? Of course, not everyone kept animals, but I wonder if perhaps this widespread &quot;convenience&quot; selling/buying of animals somehow violated, in Jesus&#39; mind, the true spirit of the festal sacrifice.<br />TOM POWERS / JerusalemTom Powershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10870485697190778886noreply@blogger.com