Zechariah 11:12

Hebrew Bible

10 Then I took my staff “Pleasantness” and cut it in two to annul my covenant that I had made with all the people. 11 So it was annulled that very day, and then the most afflicted of the flock who kept faith with me knew that it was the Lord’s message. 12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, forget it.” So they weighed out my payment—30 pieces of silver. 13 The Lord then said to me, “Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum at which they valued me!” So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the temple of the Lord. 14 Then I cut the second staff “Union” in two in order to annul the covenant of brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Matthew 26:15

New Testament

13 I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” 14 Then one of the 12, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me to betray him into your hands?” So they set out 30 silver coins for him. 16 From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray him. 17 Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?”

 Notes and References

"... The next scene shows Judas offering his teacher for sale (26:14-16). Every time Judas is mentioned in the story, Matthew provides more information than is found in the other Gospels. Here, Matthew presents him as crassly haggling over the price of betrayal. The “thirty pieces of silver” that are offered to him allude to Zechariah 11:12, where the shepherd is given the insulting wages of a slave (see Exodus 21:32), and underlines the fact that the events of the passion all fit into a divine plan. Even the price of betrayal was foreknown by God. Judas’s willingness to sell out his Master for a pittance contrasts sharply with the woman who was willing to pour out a fortune on Jesus’ head to express her adoration ..."

Garland, David E. Reading Matthew: A Literary and Theological Commentary (p. 254) Smyth & Helwys, 2001

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