There is a minor textual problem in this verse, which is reflected in the translation of New American Bible, “He made a (kind of) whip of cords.” The additional Greek word hōs (kind of) has been attributed to a scribe who could not imagine a whip made out of cords. However, this reading has the support of two ancient papyri. The Greek word used to translate whip in this passage comes from a Latin word, which sometimes describes a whip used for driving cattle, and that may be the meaning in this context. No weapons of any sort (not even sticks) were permitted within the Temple precincts, and this rule may account for the fact that Jesus had to make a whip from cords.

The order of the Greek text of the last part of this verse reads “he scattered the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables.” Good News Translation rearranges this clause (he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins), as New English Bible and New American Bible also do. Thus the turning over of the tables is made the cause of the scattering of the coins, which would seem to be the more logical sequence.

The term moneychangers may need recasting as “those who were exchanging one kind of money for another” or “those who were exchanging Roman money for money acceptable in the Temple” (which was their specific function).

Rather than say specifically overturned the tables, one may say simply “he knocked over the tables” or “pushed the tables over.”

And scattered their coins may be best translated as “and thus caused their coins to scatter” or “in this way made the coins go in all directions.” Unless one shows the relation between overturning the tables and scattering the coins, the implication may be that Jesus stooped down, picked up the coins, and purposely threw them in various directions. Since such an act is not implied by the story, it is better to make the specific relation between overturning the tables and scattering the coins.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .