Thirty Silver Shekels…Another misuse of context
So, you say that your “Lord” was sold for thirty pieces of silver? I can’t argue with the fact that Christians claim it or that it is written in the New Testament, but I am not impressed with the supposed proof that connects Matthew 26:15 with Zechariah 11-12-13!
Yes, I have heard a lot of suggested “proofs” for the divine mission of Christianity’s “Lord”. This one again bites the dust. You know, the story: Judas Iscariot was paid 30 silver pieces for the betrayal of his master. And to back up this claim, Zechariah 11:12-13 is used.
It says:
וָאֹמַר אֲלֵיהֶם אִם־טוֹב בְּעֵינֵיכֶם הָבוּ שְׂכָרִי וְאִם־לֹא חֲדָלוּ וַיִּשְׁקְלוּ אֶת־שְׂכָרִי שְׁלֹשִׁים כָּֽסֶף׃
“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.” (Sounds pretty convincing right! But hold on…)
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֵלַ֗י הַשְׁלִיכֵ֙הוּ֙ אֶל־הַיּוֹצֵ֔ר אֶ֣דֶר הַיְקָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָקַ֖רְתִּי מֵעֲלֵיהֶ֑ם וָֽאֶקְחָה֙ שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים הַכֶּ֔סֶף וָֽאַשְׁלִ֥יךְ אֹת֛וֹ בֵּ֥ית יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־הַיּוֹצֵֽר׃
And the Lord said to me, Cast it into the treasury: the goodly price that I was priced at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them into the treasury in the house of the Lord. (Yes, still sounding pretty good! But read on…)
Let us find where this really comes from.
First of all, the above KJV rendition of the text uses the word “price” (שְׂכָרִי), which also according to the Hebrew Strong’s includes the following possible meanings:
שָׂכָר sâkâr, saw-kawr’; from H7936; payment of contract; concretely, salary, fare, maintenance; by implication, compensation, benefit:—hire, price, reward(-ed), wages, worth.
Other translations use; hire, payment or fee here, so why was the word “price” selected for the KJV? It seems to indicate that someone is being purchased, yet what is the context of Zechariah 11?
If we use the Tanakh to define that which is in Tanakh, rather than applying one small quote taken out of it’s original context to give credibility to a New Testament claim, we will have a more thorough view of what is actually being said. So back up and research the book of Zechariah.
Zechariah 11 and much of the latter part of Zechariah is speaking of what was going to happen to Israel and Judah for their disobedience to their part of the covenant with YHVH which they made at Sinai. It shows them breaking this covenant, or and the vow to keep the covenant which is clearly broken means there is a price that must be paid.
The price for the breaking of a vow for a man is 50 silver shekels. For a woman it is valued at 30 pieces of silver in the Torah. Yes! It is the amount a woman pays when she makes and then breaks a vow. As the following verse says, this is paid to the Temple treasury. The valuation of her vow is shown in Leviticus 27:1-4:
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the valuation of persons,3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekelsaof silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels.
This is the context of the prophecy of Zechariah 11:12-13:
“And I said to them, If you think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, Cast it into the treasury: the goodly price that I was priced at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them into the treasury in the house of the Lord.”
So the amount of thirty is the valuation for a woman’s vow. Why a woman? Jesus was not a woman. So, from the get-go the context does not fit that of the betrayal of Jesus. But something does work here; if we look at the other chapters of Zechariah we can see that Judah and Israel are represented as two women. For example:
Zechariah 5:6-9:
And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basketc that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquityd in all the land.” 7And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.
9Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.” (The above prophecy of Judah being taken to Babylon may seem vague if one is not familiar with Zechariah,)
Jeremiah 6:2:
I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.
Lamentations 2:13:
“What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?”
Here and in many other places, Israel or Judah is represented as a woman/women. So if a woman—here prefigured as Israel as a single entity, makes a vow and it is broken, the value is 30 silver shekels. So HaShem is claiming that she needs to pay for the broken vow, her vow to be faithful to to the covenant she made withYHVH at Sinai. And this money is to be given to the Temple treasury, not as the price or payment of a bribe for the betrayal of Jesus, no! Remember Zechariah says “give me my price (or payment or fee).” (what you owe me for breaking a vow.)
And it is clear that the vow of the covenant is being broken in Zechariah 11, for it says:
vs.10. 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.
vs. 14: Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
So, the New Testament story of the betrayal of Jesus by one of his disciples does not fit the prophecy of Zechariah 11 which is clearly a prophecy of the breaking of the covenant by the figurative “woman” who represents Israel.
Let’s be careful in the free usage of Biblical texts to keep them in context before we build a house upon sand and worship a dogma that has no foundation!
As Always,
Ariella Tiqvah
If you enjoyed my post, please like and share, and if you care to follow my blog it will help me to get out there with my ideas. Thanks for you help.
