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Response
In Hebrew culture, thirty pieces of silver were not considered a significant amount of money. It was precisely the price paid to the owner of a slave if the slave was gored by an ox: “If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.”, (Exodus 21:32). The death of the slave was compensated with the thirty pieces of silver. There are two other instances in the Bible that mention this specific amount, and they are interconnected. The first reference is in Zechariah, which includes a prophecy that is later fulfilled in the book of Matthew.
Preceding the prophecy of the thirty pieces of silver is a recount of a peculiar event in Zechariah’s life. God instructed the prophet Zechariah to act as a shepherd and tend to a flock “doomed to slaughter” (Zechariah 11:4-14). This was used by God to symbolize a prophetic judgment against Israel for the crucifixion of Christ, foretelling the downfall of Israel in AD 70 and the subsequent dispersion of the nation. Several elements in this passage indicate it as a prophecy about Jesus. Firstly, Zechariah mentions that he “disposed of the three shepherds” of the doomed flock (verse 8). These “three shepherds” likely refer to the three religious authorities during Jesus’ time who played a role in condemning Him: the elders, the scribes, and the chief priests “From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”, (Matthew 16:21). Secondly, Zechariah divides his two shepherd
One of the staffs is named Favor and is broken to symbolize the breaking of the Mosaic Covenant by the disobedient people and God’s setting aside His favor or providential care to allow judgment to come upon them «And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. », (Zechariah 11:10). The second staff, named Union, is broken to represent the breaking up of the nation by the Romans.
Another prophetic reference is found in the thirty pieces of silver given to Zechariah after his work as a shepherd. He went to those he worked for and asked them to pay him what they thought he was worth. They gave him thirty pieces of silver, which he sarcastically calls a “handsome price” because it was such a small amount «And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD. », (Zechariah 11:13)—the price paid for a slave’s accidental death. The employers meant to insult Zechariah with this amount of money. Returning the insult, God tells Zechariah to “throw it to the potter,” and Zechariah tossed the money into the house of the Lord to be given to the potter.
These actions are a shockingly accurate and detailed prophecy, for when Judas Iscariot bargained with the leaders of Israel to betray the Lord Jesus, he asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” The murderous cabal then counted out for Judas “thirty pieces of silver” «and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. », (Matthew 26:15). That’s all they considered Jes
Later, Judas was overcome with guilt for betraying Jesus and, fulfilling Zechariah’s vivid prophecy, he threw the thirty silver coins into the temple (Matthew 27:3-5). The Jewish leaders used the thirty pieces of silver to buy a field from a potter, as Zechariah had predicted (Matthew 27:6-10). It was in that field that Judas hanged himself.
