Maarten J.J. Menken, «The Old Testament Quotation in Matthew 27,9-10: Textual Form and Context», Vol. 83 (2002) 305-328

The source of the fulfilment quotation in Matt 27,9-10 must be Zech 11,13, but the biblical text is distorted to a degree that is unparalleled in the other fulfilment quotations, and Matthew ascribes the quotation to Jeremiah. Another difficulty is that the quotation seems to have influenced the context to a much larger extent than in the case of the other fulfilment quotations. A careful analysis of the text shows that the peculiar textual form can be explained in a relatively simple way. The influence of the quotation on Matt 27,3-8 is limited, and is best ascribed to Matthew’s redaction. After all, this fulfilment quotation appears to be less exceptional than it is sometimes supposed to be.

temple treasure but the gifts or money given by people for sacrifices or for the temple ⁵⁴. By consequence, there is no reference to the rcw) of Zech 11,13, be it a variant reading or an alternative interpretation.

        The fourth item to be dealt with here is the chief priests’ purchase of the potter’s field (27,7). I refer to what I wrote above: this element cannot come from the quotation, precisely because it was imported into the quotation with some "exegetical violence".

        So far as we can detect serious influence of the quotation on the preceding narrative, it is limited to the number thirty and the wording of v. 5a. These instances are best ascribed to Matthew’s redaction.

3. The development of Matt 27,3-10

        Until now, we have detected a strong influence of the narrative on the quotation, and a superficial influence of the quotation on the narrative. The crucial question is: how obvious was it, to either Matthew or those who passed on the narrative before him, to connect this story to Zech 11,12-13? To my mind, the answer to this question has to be that it was not very obvious. In the quotation, the chief priests are equated with the prophet, just as Judas in v. 5. Now in Zechariah the prophet, and indirectly God, receives the money as wages for his work as a shepherd, whereas in Matthew, Judas receives it for his betrayal, and returns it to the chief priests who paid it to him. So the equation is, to say the least, not immediately what one would expect, and we have seen that it gave rise to textual manipulations that served to make the quotation applicable to the narrative. Zech 11,12-13 is not the first OT passage that comes to mind in connection with the handing over of Jesus by Judas to the chief priests for money. In fact, early Christian authors recognized this act in other OT passages, such as Psalm 41 (see John 13,18), Psalm 69 or 109 (see Acts 1,20). Other passages that easily come to mind are the story of Joseph being sold by his brothers (Genesis 37), the curse of whoever accepts a bribe to slay an innocent person (Deut 27,25), or, if one is looking for prophetic words, Amos 2,6 ("because they sell the righteous for silver"); 8,6 ("that we may buy the helpless for silver").

        The reason to connect Zech 11,12-13 with the story was that this