Speaking of Jesus, He actually used a literal whip on some dudes one time you know
I think the text you are alluding to is John 2:15-16. I am hoping you will give these verses another look ... and I will start with ... even Greek scholars are divided on the force of the text!
The Greek text here is very interesting. From a historical and narrative point of view it is
extremely unlikely (from my frame of reference) that the text is intending to construe
Jesus, as whipping people.
The whip: Jesus makes an object (whip is inadequate to describe this creation, as he creates this makeshift 'prod' on the fly out of cords ( ἐκ σχοινίων ) from materials on hand) and it is certainly not in the category of a weapon as those were forbidden on temple grounds. Which is attested to by Raymond Brown, Craig Keener, et. al.
The behavior: For Jesus to
strike people (specifically, non family members) with a woven group of cords, in a public temple setting, would have never been tolerated by Jews or Romans. His arrest would have been carried out immediately, by either the temple guards or Roman soldiers.
The opposition: The response of the Jewish people is ... to
request a sign that he has
the right to do these things. This does not seem the natural progression to a scene where a man has just applied cords to the bodies of people. 2:18
While it is not impossible for 'all' (πάντας) to refer to people, I think it is somewhat difficult to reach that interpretation based on the Greek text. However, it is much easier for me to imagine Jesus applying the cords to animals and get them moving out of the temple grounds and I can easily imagine vendors chasing after their property and being expelled naturally along with their animals. Or at the very least, I can see myself running after my departing sheep and oxen.
When looking at the Greek text, I am suggesting that the force of the text flows much better when 'all' (πάντας) is looking at the sheep and the oxen (
τά τε πρόβατα
καὶ τοὺς βόας,).
The NASB has interpreted
τά τε ... καὶ as "with ... and"
The ASV has interpreted
τά τε ... καὶ as "both ... and"
Why? What is the difference?
Some would argue strongly that if the intent here was 'all' (πάντας) == people ... (along)
with animals ... we should see either
μετά or
ἅμα. I am inclined to agree with their assessment. The Greek phrase, in context, is much more naturally "both the sheep and the oxen."
Nevertheless, the text becomes more difficult when we have 'all' (πάντας) (the people) driven out in 2:15 ... but we
also have him talking to people in 2:16, demanding that they (the people with doves) take out the (
caged, my interpolation) doves?!?
What I think I see in the text (as well as my interpolations) ...
1) The driving out of the animals with a whip made of cords (and some of the people chasing after their animals)
2) The pouring out and overturning of the booths/tables/physical objects, i.e. coinage and tables
3) He has a demanding conversation with those still there who still there on the temple grounds who were selling (caged) doves.
I would encourage a look at a well researched article that is a little dated (2009), but is a really well written and documented discussion of John 2:15-16, by Croy, The Messianic Whippersnapper: Did Jesus Use a Whip on People in the Temple (John 2:15)?
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25610203
My kids, all girls, think I'm lying when I tell them what it was like growing up in the 50's-60's.