The Scripture behind the Scripture

Thirty Pieces of Silver

Zechariah 11:12 mentions thirty pieces of silver weighed out as a shepherd's wages, later cast to the potter. Matthew 27:9 cites this at Judas's betrayal money, but attributes the words to Jeremiah, a well known difficulty that should not be hidden.

“And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.”Zechariah 11:12

“Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;”Matthew 27:9

In its own place

In its own place. Zechariah 11 is a strange and somber prophetic drama in which the prophet acts out the role of a shepherd over a doomed flock, representing God's care for his people and their rejection of it. The shepherd asks for his wages, and they weigh out thirty pieces of silver. God then tells the prophet, ironically, to cast this goodly price at which he was valued to the potter in the house of the Lord, so the prophet takes the thirty pieces and throws them to the potter in the temple. In its original setting the thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave under the law of Moses, represent a contemptible valuation of the shepherd and, through him, of God's own care for the flock. It is a sign of the people's ingratitude and rejection, treating the good shepherd's labor as worth no more than a slave's compensation. The casting of the money to the potter in the temple dramatizes the rejection and the worthlessness of the transaction. It is prophetic street theater, enacting Israel's despising of God's shepherding and the judgment that follows. The details, the thirty pieces, the potter, the temple, are gestures in this acted parable of rejected care.

Where the New Testament takes it up

This is a quotation, but Matthew attributes it to Jeremiah rather than Zechariah, which is a well known crux that Christians should face honestly rather than hide. When Judas throws the betrayal money into the temple and hangs himself, the chief priests use it to buy a potter's field, and Matthew 27:9 says this fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, quoting words about thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, given for the potter's field. The wording clearly draws on Zechariah 11:12 to 13, yet Matthew names Jeremiah. Several honest explanations have been offered. Jeremiah has passages about a potter, in chapters 18 and 19, and about buying a field, in chapter 32, so Matthew may be blending Zechariah's thirty pieces and potter imagery with Jeremiah's field and potter themes, attributing the composite citation to the more prominent prophet, a known practice when combining texts. Others suggest Jeremiah headed a scroll of the prophets in some arrangement, so the collection could be cited by his name. Still others allow for an early copying variation, though the manuscripts strongly support Jeremiah. The wording itself is not a straight quotation of either prophet but an interpretive blend. The responsible course is to name the difficulty plainly, note that Matthew is weaving Zechariah's language with Jeremianic themes, and not pretend the attribution is simple.