peasant terms by “den of robbers”; Jesus expresses the view of the countryside and its exploited people.26 What, then, can be implied by “house of prayer”? Haenchen, despite noting that Isaiah 56 does not oppose prayer and sacrifice, takes the cleansing episode to signify (for John at least) the end of the Jewish cult.27 Mark and Jesus may not have so understood this event. For the real problem with the Temple system, which Jesus’ action exposes and opposes, is that ordinary people are for the