Commentary on John

Heracleon

[Heracleon says] that those found in the temple selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money-changers sitting, represent those who give nothing away free but suppose the entrance of foreigners into the temple to be a matter of merchandise and profit. They furnish the sacrifices for the service of God for the sake of their own profit and greed.… The whip, in turn, was made from cords by Jesus, who did not receive it from another.… The whip is an image of the power and activity of the Holy Spirit who blows away the wicked.… The whip, the cord, the linen, and all such things are an image of the power and activity of the Holy Spirit.… The whip was tied to a piece of wood. The wood is a type of the cross … that the gamblers, the merchants and all evil have been nailed upon and destroyed by this wood.

See also

• More works by Heracleon

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