>>Theological interpretation
In
Zechariah 11:12–13, 30 pieces of silver is the price
Zechariah receives for his labour. He takes the coins and throws them "to the potter".
Klaas Schilder notes that Zechariah's payment indicates an assessment of his worth, as well as his dismissal.
[17] In
Exodus 21:32, 30 pieces of silver was the price of a slave, so while Zechariah calls the amount a "handsome price" (Zechariah 11:13), this could be
sarcasm. Webb, however, regards it as a "considerable sum of money."
[18]
Schilder suggests that these 30 pieces of silver then get "bandied back and forth by the Spirit of
Prophecy."
[19] When the chief priests decide to buy a
field with the returned money, Matthew says that this fulfilled "what was spoken by
Jeremiah the prophet." Namely, "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me" (Matthew 27:9–10). Although many scholars see Jeremiah's name as included in error,
[20] Jeremiah's purchase of a field in
Jeremiah 32 may indicate that both prophets are in mind.
[21] Craig Blomberg argues that Matthew is using
typology in his quotation, rather than "any kind of single or double fulfillment of actual predictive prophecy." According to Blomberg, Matthew is telling his readers that, "like Jeremiah and Zechariah, Jesus attempts to lead his people with a prophetic and pastoral ministry, but instead he ends up suffering innocently at their hands."
[22] William Hendriksen argues that Matthew is referring to Jeremiah 19.
[23]
Blomberg also suggests that Matthew may also be saying that "Jesus' death is a ransom, the price paid to secure a slave's freedom," and that the use of the
blood money to buy a
burial ground for foreigners (Matthew 27:7) may hint at the idea that "Jesus' death makes salvation possible for all the peoples of the world, including the
Gentiles."
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