How does Matthew 27:9-10 fulfill prophecy?
Matthew speaks Judas and the thirty pieces of silver as being a fulfillment of prophecy from Jeremiah. My bible notes reference Jeremiah 32:6-9. I am having trouble with this correlation of scripture. It seems more related to Zech 11:12-13.
Matthew 27:9 - 10
ESV - 9 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel. 10 And they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.
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Asked April 06 2017
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Chuck Long
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Singapore Moses
The Old Testament prophecy stated in Zech. 11:12-13 fulfilled in Matthew 27:9-10. Some MSS and versions read "Zechariah" and others do not have either name. Jeremiah could have been added by a copyist (cp. Zech. 11:12-13 Jer. 32:6-9).
JD Abshire
I understand the Old Testament Bible is divided three ways. The Torah (Law), the writings which are identified by the first book (the Psalms) and the prophets. These divisions were so identified by the Lord Jesus in Luke 24:44 In our Protestant Bible the prophetic books begin with Isaiah but in the Jewish Bible the prophetic books begin with the Book of Jeremiah. A Jew could hear the phrase "spoken by Jeremy the prophet" and would know it is in the prophetic section of scripture, a Jewish idiom. Matthew apparently cited the passage from the roll/scroll that contained the prophetic books which began with the first book, Jeremiah. Its admirable that whoever compiled the study notes in your Bible was trying real hard to uphold the inerrancy of scripture by finding a passage in Jeremiah that would support the Matthew reference but I do not see it. Zechariah 11:12-13 nails it.
John Appelt
Concerning Matthew’s quote of 27:9-10, Matthew 27:3-8 and Acts 1:18-19 give the background. Judas, who had agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, Matthew 26:14-16, became remorseful when Jesus was condemned. He tried to give the money back. When the priests and elders refused it, Judas threw down the ill-gotten gain in the temple. With the blood money, the priests decided to buy the potter’s field, later called the field of blood, to bury strangers in it. It could well reflect how much the Lord was valued by Israel. There are four parts to the Jeremiah quote in Matthew 27:9-10. Thirty pieces of silver. The value of the price was set by the sons of Israel. They gave the silver for the potter’s field. They did as the Lord directed the prophet. The passages that seem to be related to Matthew’s quote are Jeremiah 18-19, 32:6-25, and Zechariah 11:4-14. The Jeremiah passages refer to the potter and later to a field bought for seventeen shekels of silver, but in separate unrelated accounts. Jeremiah does not mention enough details to be directly tied to the quote. Zechariah has the most corresponding concepts. He has thirty pieces of silver which are thrown into the house of the Lord for the potter. He says the Lord directed him to throw them and speaks of the value of the price. But he does not mention the sons of Israel setting the price or the money being used to buy the potter’s field. Despite the lack of some elements, Zechariah’s prophecy has enough to be considered the source of Matthew’s quote. The earliest manuscripts have “Jeremiah,” so the name is not a copyist’s error. If Zechariah is the prophet, then the name “Jeremiah” may have been used because it at one time headed the books of the prophets in which Zechariah is found. Another explanation is that Matthew’s verse says, “had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.” This suggests it was verbally given, but perhaps not written down. Other verses in Matthew that were “spoken” by prophets are Matthew 2:15, 17, 23, 4:14, 8:17, 12:17, 13:35, 21:4, 24:15, 27:35. Some of the references are clearly identified and yet not all of them are. If the words were Jeremiah’s spoken words, then Zechariah, later by inspiration, could have also given a written record of the same. Whatever the source, whether the words of Zechariah, called the words of Jeremiah, or the spoken words of Jeremiah, Matthew used them in his unique way, using a formula, “that it might be fulfilled.” It was not a fulfilled prophecy, but the filling of details of history by using past events, as he did in Matthew 2:15, 2:18, 2:23, 8:16-17. It was his way of completing the theme. Matthew skillfully and expertly used the Scriptures which were an appropriate source for explanations and comparisons especially to the Jews, who were very much knowledgeable with the Old Testament writings. By the prophets’ words he authenticated the life of Christ.
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