Mark 11:15

And they come to Jerusalem: and he entered into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and them that bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves.

The similarity between the two cleansings resulted from the fact that the profaners of the temple had not altered in any manner their desecration of the house of God. The court of the Gentiles had been turned into a merchandising mart; and, in the providence of God, that very court had been intended for use by devout Gentiles who worshipped God.

The double gouging of the multitudes who came to worship God was a lucrative abuse on the part of the temple concessionaires. Certain animals (or doves for the poor) were required in the Jewish sacrifices; but the difficulty of transporting livestock made it more convenient to purchase them in the temple. Moreover, "Temple dues had to be paid in the Tyrian coinage, the Tyrian shekel being the nearest equivalent to the Hebrew shekel."[11] Thus, through control of the available supply of animals, and of the money required for their purchase, exploitation of the multitudes was brazenly accomplished.