What is the significance of thirty pieces of silver?

The next verses bring the nation again before us. "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. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I look the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." (vv. 12, 13.) The fulfilment of this prophecy is known to all, but we give its record in order to have the subject fully before the reader. In Matthew we read, "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 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." (Matt. 26:14-15.) In Zechariah it is "I said unto them," whereas in Matthew it is Judas who speaks to the chief priests (the representatives of the nation). This brings out a very interesting principle in the ways of God. It was Judas' sin that betrayed the Lord, but Jehovah used the sin of Judas to test the chief priests as to their estimate of Christ, and thus, passing by the intermediate instrumentality, he says, "I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price." They did "think good," and what was the price, the value at which they estimated Jesus, the Son of God, their Messiah? If we turn to the book of Exodus, we may read, "If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he" (that is, the owner) "shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned." (Ex. 21:32.) It was therefore the value of a slave; and this was the contemptuous price the Jewish leaders offered for the life of Him who was Jehovah and Immanuel. Who would have dared to think that man, and man in such a position, with such light as the word of God in his hand afforded, could have fallen so low? And who can fathom the unspeakable grace that led the only begotten of the Father, the Word Who had become flesh, Jehovah the Saviour, to submit Himself to such degradation? Ah! herein lies the revelation of man's heart, and of God's heart, and, together with it, the need — the need as displayed by the heart of man, and the secret — as disclosed by the heart of God in His ineffable grace — of redemption.

The reader will observe in verse 13 the striking words interposed between the command to "cast it unto the potter" and the execution of the thing commanded. The Lord (speaking in Zechariah) interjects, as it were, the words, "a goodly price that I was prised at of them" words which reveal how deeply He felt His contemptuous rejection by "His own," "Reproach," He says in Psalm 69, "hath broken my heart," and so here the knowledge of the goodly price at which He was "prised" wounded His soul. A goodly price indeed at which to value Him who redeemed them out of Egypt, and who had now come into their midst as Jehovah — the Saviour! Such is man; and it was by the presentation of Christ that the state of man was revealed.

The fulfilment of the second part of the prophecy is also found in Matthew: "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 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; and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me." (Matt. 27:3-10.) It will be observed again that the Lord passes over all the instrumentalities by which this prediction was accomplished. He says in Zechariah, "I" (either the Lord Himself or the prophet symbolically) "took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." In the gospel we find that it was Judas who cast down the pieces of silver in the temple (in the house of the Lord), and that it was the chief priests who bought with them the potter's field, but as both alike were but the instruments (even while acting according to the suggestions of their own evil hearts), in the Lord's hands, both actions are here connected with the prophet.

The wages of the good Shepherd, thirty pieces of silver, and these thrown into the house of Jehovah to the potter is to be considered next. Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave who had been killed. If the ox gore a manservant or a maidservant, the owner shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver (Exodus 21:32). Oh, what unfathomable love! The Lord from heaven became like a slave. The love He looked for He found not. It was refused to Him, and instead He was insulted, mocked, and treated like a miserable slave. There was one of the twelve who was called Judas Iscariot. He went to the chief priests and said, What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they weighed unto him thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:15). The money at the command of Jehovah is thrown away by the prophet with indignation into the house of Jehovah, to the potter. Perhaps the prophet never knew the real significance of his act, but we know it from the New Testament. "Then Judas which betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, repented himself and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. But they said, What is this to us? See thou to it. And he cast down the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, and departed and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, it is not lawful to put them into the treasury since it is the price of blood. And they took counsel and bought with them the potters' field to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called the field of blood unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah, the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was priced, whom certain of the children of Israel did price, and they gave them for the potters' field, as the Lord appointed me" (Matt. 27:3-10). How striking the fulfillment. However, here is a difficulty. In Matthew it is stated that Jeremiah spoke the prophecy, and Zechariah's name is not mentioned at all. How can this be explained?

I am compelled through circumstances to glance but cursorily at these final and affecting scenes. Yet let us not fail to observe, first for our warning, how easy it is for eleven good men to be led astray by the fair pretences of one bad man, who was influenced by evil feelings unknown to them. Alas! the flesh, even in the regenerate, remains ever the same hateful thing, and there is no good for the believer save where Christ is the object and controls the heart. Next, for our joy, how sweet to find that love to Christ is surely vindicated of Him and has the Spirit's guidance in the weakest one, spite of the murmurs of those who seem ever so high and strong! Thirdly, if a saint manifested her estimate of Jesus — so lavishly in the judgment of utilitarian unbelief — what was His value in the eyes of the bribing priests and of the betrayer? "And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver" (ver. is). A slave's price was enough for the despised Lord of all! (Compare Ex. 21:32; Zech. 11:12-13.)

There are two other typical references in this chapter which are significantly associated with this. In ver. 13 the Cities of Refuge are briefly alluded to, whither the poor outcast, blood-guilty by misfortune, might fly for protection; and in ver. 32 the mention of thirty pieces of silver, which we find stated as the compensation for a dead slave. To the dishonour of our race we remember that this was the precise value which, after bargaining, was put upon the Son of God by the religions leaders of the day. It was a sober business transaction, and therein consists its bitter contempt, its being undesigned. They thought Him a wicked man, but, even so, not worth more than a few shekels' reward. This insult was keenly felt, even amongst so many other terrible injuries. "They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver … Cast it unto the potter; a goodly price that I was prized at of them! (Zech. 11:11-13.) We frequently see twenty times as much offered for the apprehension of some common malefactor. This was a long time ago. Yes, but there are millions of people around us who would not surrender even that for the possession of Christ now.

Consider for a moment what became of the money for which our Lord was sold. The traitor could not keep nor use it: it blistered his hands, and he threw it back to the priests; but their piety prevented their taking it. Eventually it was paid for a potter's field, as had been prophesied. Now is there anything more desolate than a field — robbed of its clay, and strewn with calcined cinders and other refuse — which a potter has done with? And to what purpose was the field put? The most miserable and melancholy of all, though perhaps in this world the most useful and necessary of all — "to bury strangers in! Therefore that field was called the Field of Blood unto this day." Characteristically to the last, even the blood-money of the great Martyr goes to buy a refuge and resting-place for the bodies of wretched aliens. Oh, can there be a more pathetic connection of thought in all the long eternity, past or future, than the thought of the dead Benefactor hanging on that rude cross, with His thorn-crowned head sunken on His breast, and the desolate burying-ground for nameless paupers that was purchased by the price of His betrayal!

Zech. 11:12-13.

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.

And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was priced at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.

Under the Mosaic law, if a slave were killed by being gored by an ox, the master of the slave was to be recompensed by the payment of thirty shekels of silver by the owner of the ox (Ex. 21:32). Thirty shekels of silver were therefore regarded as the equivalent of a slave. And such was the sum at which the Lord of glory was valued by the people whom He had come to bless! They regarded Him as of no more value than a slave.

“And I said to them, If ye think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear. And they weighed for my hire thirty silver-pieces. And Jehovah said to me, Cast it to the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty silver-pieces, and cast them to the potter in the house of Jehovah” (v. 12-13). This is how much they figured the shepherd of Israel to be worth! Thirty silver pieces was the value of a slave.

The language of verses 10 and 11 is veiled, for we know from Matthew 27:3-10 that this prophecy was fulfilled in the sad history of Judas betraying the Lord Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, then in remorse returning to the chief priests with the money and throwing it down in the temple. With this money they bought the potter's field for a place to bury strangers.

Why is the Lord represented in Zechariah as asking, “If ye think good, give me my price?” Is it not because He was presented to Israel, giving them the choice as to what to do to Him? He did not fight against being delivered up. They decided it was worth thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave being gored to death by an ox (Ex. 21:32), to have Him murdered. Then in verse 13 God's sovereign word speaks, “Throw it to the potter.” While the chief priests are seen in Matthew as making the decision, it was really God who sovereignly worked in them to bring them to this decision. How good to know that God is in perfect control!

As to the thirty pieces of silver, Zechariah says, “I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.” While it was Judas who actually threw the money down in the house of the Lord, the matter is spoken of in this way to show the humble acceptance of the Lord Jesus in His being rejected, and also to emphasize the enormity of Israel's guilt in the blood money being displayed in the temple, the place so holy to Israel! The potter is one who has power over the clay to make one vessel to honor, another to dishonor (Rom. 9:21), a reminder of God's sovereign working with “the poor of the flock” or with people like Judas, the chief priests or Pilate, who, in spite of their stubborn determination to do their own will, were only tools in the hand of a sovereign God

Then comes another development far more awful and of endless moment. "And I said to them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver." It was not only that the purpose of gathering the nations was postponed, but Christ also was sold to death by His own! and at what a price! "He came to his own, and his own received him not." The consequence was the other staff had to be broken. "Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands." This went far beyond interfering with the gathering of the peoples; its effect was "to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel." God would not even gather Israel now. Not only would He not gather the nations round the Messiah according to His earthly purpose of blessing; but He would not even assemble the Jewish people. Thus the rejection of Jesus during His life made it impossible to gather the Gentiles, the rejection of Jesus in His death broke for the time all hopes of gathering Israel. The Jews must be scattered instead of Israel being gathered. All such plans were shattered for the time.

"If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die; then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit: but if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death. If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give, for the ransom of his life, whatsoever is laid upon him. Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him. 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. And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein; the owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his. And if one man's ox hurt another's, that he die, then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide. Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own." (vv. 28-36.)

It will suffice again to indicate that the same principle of righteous equivalent also obtains in these directions. Even the death of the owner, as well as the ox, is enjoined if there had been a guilty knowledge of the propensity of the animal, and he had made no provision to guard against it. (v. 29.) How vividly it brings before our minds the truth taught by our blessed Lord, that even the hairs of our heads are all numbered. Everything is provided for, and every relationship, with their various breaches, adjusted in harmony with the righteous government under which Israel was now placed. There is one particular that should not be unnoticed. The manservant, or the maidservant, was priced at thirty shekels of silver. It is to this the prophet Zechariah refers: "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." (Zech. 11:12.) It is Christ who is thus set forth who was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. (Matt. 26:15.) Such was man's estimate of the value of God manifest in flesh, of the only begotten of the Father!

Notice again the mention of the servant in verse 32. The price of a servant was thirty shekels of silver. The redemption price of a free Israelite was fifty shekels (Lev. 27:3); that of a slave, thirty shekels. How it reminds us again of Him who was sold for thirty pieces of silver (Deut. 11:12).