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.

prophetic passage is both about money paid in connection with a shepherd authorized by God, and about a potter⁵⁵. These two elements were also present in the narrative: Jesus, the shepherd, was betrayed for money, and the money was used to buy the field of the potter. So the quotation was added to the narrative and manipulated, especially by the introduction of the word "field", in order to strengthen the tenuous links between quotation and narrative. The same goal was served on a smaller scale by the introduction of some details of the OT text into the preceding gospel context.

        In all probability, the evangelist was the one who made the connection. So far, we have not found indications of a pre-Matthean connection; on the contrary, we found that the slight adjustments of the context to the quotation were probably due to Matthew. The main argument for the evangelist being responsible for the connection is of course that the quotation belongs to Matthew’s series of fulfilment quotations with their standard introduction. If the other fulfilment quotations were added, at the editorial level, to existing narratives, the fulfilment quotation of 27,9-10 may be expected to have been added by Matthew as well, so long as the evidence is not otherwise. Matthew added the quotation to traditional materials that had not yet been influenced by the Zechariah passage, adapted it to the preceding narrative, especially by introducing the word "field", and conversely made some minor modifications in the narrative context.

III. Conclusion

        At the beginning of my paper, I asked the question how peculiar the quotation in Matt 27,9-10 really is. The question can now be answered. The quotation is Matthew’s most heavily edited fulfilment quotation, and it was so heavily edited because it had to be made to fit the narrative context: the purchase, by the chief priests, of the potter’s field with the money paid to Judas. On the other hand, it agrees on basic points with the other fulfilment quotations: the evangelist used the same type of biblical text and the same exegetical devices to modify it; he added the quotation to an existing narrative and slightly