Matthew 27:3-10
New English Translation
Judas’ Suicide
3 Now when[a] Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus[b] had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!” 5 So[c] Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself. 6 The[d] chief priests took the silver and said, “It is not lawful to put this into the temple treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 After[e] consulting together they bought the Potter’s Field with it, as a burial place for foreigners. 8 For this reason that field has been called the “Field of Blood” to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah[f] the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one whose price had been set by the people of Israel,[g] 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”[h]
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- Matthew 27:3 tn Grk “Then when.” Here τότε (tote) has been translated as “now” to indicate a somewhat parenthetical interlude in the sequence of events.
- Matthew 27:3 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Matthew 27:5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the leaders’ response to Judas.
- Matthew 27:6 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
- Matthew 27:7 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
- Matthew 27:9 tc The problematic citing of Jeremiah for a text which appears to come from Zechariah has prompted certain scribes to alter it. Codex 22 has Ζαχαρίου (Zachariou, “Zechariah”) while Φ 33 and several versional witnesses omit the prophet’s name altogether. And codex 21 and the Latin ms l change the prophet’s name to “Isaiah,” in accordance with natural scribal proclivities to alter the text toward the most prominent OT prophet. But unquestionably the name Jeremiah is the wording of the original here, because it is supported by virtually all witnesses and because it is the harder reading. See D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” EBC 8:562-63, for a discussion of the textual and especially hermeneutical problem.
- Matthew 27:9 tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” an idiom referring to the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58).
- Matthew 27:10 sn The source of this citation is debated (see the tc note on Jeremiah in v. 9 above for a related discussion). The quotation is most closely related to Zech 11:12-13, but the reference to Jeremiah in v. 9 as the source leads one to look there as well. There is no exact match for this text in Jeremiah, but there are some conceptual parallels: In Jer 18:2-6 the prophet visits a potter, and in Jer 32:6-15 he buys a field. D. A. Carson argues that Jer 19:1-13 is the source of the quotation augmented with various phrases drawn from Zech 11:12-13 (“Matthew,” EBC 8:563). W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison argue that the reference to Jeremiah is not meant to refer to one specific text from that prophet, but instead to signal that his writings as a whole are a source from which the quotation is drawn (Matthew [ICC], 3:568-69). Although the exact source of the citation is uncertain, it is reasonable to see texts from the books of Jeremiah and Zechariah both coming into play here.
Matthew 27:3-10
Common English Bible
Judas’ death
3 When Judas, who betrayed Jesus, saw that Jesus was condemned to die, he felt deep regret. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, and 4 said, “I did wrong because I betrayed an innocent man.”
But they said, “What is that to us? That’s your problem.” 5 Judas threw the silver pieces into the temple and left. Then he went and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests picked up the silver pieces and said, “According to the Law it’s not right to put this money in the treasury. Since it was used to pay for someone’s life, it’s unclean.” 7 So they decided to use it to buy the potter’s field where strangers could be buried. 8 That’s why that field is called “Field of Blood” to this very day. 9 This fulfilled the words of Jeremiah the prophet: And I took the thirty pieces of silver, the price for the one whose price had been set by some of the Israelites, 10 and I gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.[a]
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