Easton's Bible Dictionary: M. G. Easton, M.A., D.D.
(
Mt. 21:12; Mk. 11:15; Jn. 2:15). Every Israelite from twenty years and upwards had to pay (
Ex. 30:13-15) into the sacred treasury half a shekel every year as an offering to Jehovah, and that in the exact Hebrew half-shekel piece. There was a class of men, who frequented the temple courts, who exchanged at a certain premium foreign moneys for these half-shekels to the Jews who came up to Jerusalem from all parts of the world.
When our Lord drove the traffickers out of the temple, these money-changers fared worst. Their tables were overturned and they themselves were expelled.