Thirty pieces of silver
Encyclopedia
Thirty pieces of silver was the price for which Judas Iscariot
betrayed Jesus
, according to the Gospel of Matthew
26:15 in the Christian
New Testament
. Before the Last Supper
, Judas went to the chief priests and agreed to hand over Jesus in exchange for 30 silver
coin
s. Afterwards, he was filled with remorse and returned the money.
The Old Testament
also mentions 30 pieces of silver, in the books of Exodus and Zechariah
. The Gospel of Matthew claims this as a prophecy fulfilled by Jesus, connecting it to the prophet Jeremiah
. as a spoken prophecy, and not as a written one in the book of Jeremiah.
The type of coins cannot be identified precisely, but the image has often been used in artwork depicting the Passion
of Christ. The phrase is used in literature and common speech to refer to people selling out
.
accounts, Judas Iscariot
was a disciple
of Jesus
. Before the Last Supper
, Judas went to the chief priests and agreed
to hand over Jesus in exchange for thirty silver coins. Jesus is then arrested
in Gethsemane
, where Judas reveals Jesus' identity to the soldiers by giving him a kiss.
According to Chapter 27 of Matthew's gospel
, Judas is filled with remorse and returns the money to the chief priests before hanging himself. The chief priests decide that they cannot put it into the temple treasury, and so with it they buy the Potter's Field.
suggests two possibilities for the identity of the coins used to pay Judas. They may have been tetradrachm
s of Tyre, usually referred to as Tyrian shekel
s (about 1.38 troy ounces), or they may have been stater
s from Antioch
, which bore the head of Augustus
. Alternatively, they may have been Ptolemaic
tetradrachms.
11:12-13, 30 pieces of silver is the price Zechariah receives for his labour. He takes the coins and throws them "to the potter". Klaas Schilder
notes that Zechariah's payment indicates an assessment of his worth, as well as his dismissal. In Exodus 21:32, 30 pieces of silver was the price of a slave, so while Zechariah calls the amount a "handsome price" (Zechariah 11:13), this could be sarcasm
. Webb, however, regards it as a "considerable sum of money."
Schilder suggests that these 30 pieces of silver then get "bandied back and forth by the Spirit of Prophecy
." When the chief priests decide to buy a field with the returned money, Matthew says that this fulfilled "what was spoken by Jeremiah
the prophet." Namely, "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me" (Matthew 27:9–10). Although many scholars see Jeremiah's name as included in error, Jeremiah's purchase of a field in Jeremiah
32 may indicate that both prophets are in mind. Craig Blomberg
argues that Matthew is using typology
in his quotation, rather than "any kind of single or double fulfillment of actual predictive prophecy." According to Blomberg, Matthew is telling his readers that, "like Jeremiah and Zechariah, Jesus attempts to lead his people with a prophetic and pastoral ministry, but instead he ends up suffering innocently at their hands."
Blomberg also suggests that Matthew may also be saying that "Jesus' death is a ransom, the price paid to secure a slave's freedom," and that the use of the blood money
to buy a burial ground for foreigners
(Matthew 27:7) may hint at the idea that "Jesus' death makes salvation possible for all the peoples of the world, including the Gentiles."
holding the silver in a bag or purse, where they serve as an attribute
to identify him. As one of the "Instruments of the Passion
" the Thirty Pieces by themselves often feature in groups of the Instruments, especially in the late Middle Ages, although they are one of the less commonly-chosen elements of the group. Sometimes a money bag is used in depictions; otherwise a hand holding the coins, or two hands, showing the counting-out.
A number of "Judas-pennies", ancient coins said to be from the original thirty, were treated as relic
s in the Middle Ages, and were believed to help in difficult cases of childbirth. As a minor component of the Instruments, and one whose survival was hard to explain given the Biblical account of the use of the money, the relics, and their depiction in art, both appear from the 14th century, later than more important elements like the Crown of Thorns
or Spear of Longinus
. This was as a result of new styles of devotions, led by the Franciscans in particular, which promoted contemplation of the Passion episode by episode, as in the Stations of the Cross
. The stone on which the coins were said to have been counted out was in the Lateran Palace
in Rome.
The phrase "30 pieces of silver" is used more generally to describe a price at which people sell out
. In Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment
, it is echoed in the 30 roubles which the character Sonia earns for selling herself. In the folk-song King John and the Bishop
, the bishop's answer to the riddle
of how much the king is worth is 29 pieces of silver, as no king is worth more than Jesus. In Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 2
, the mistress of Falstaff asks "and didst thou not kiss me, and bid me fetch thee thirty shillings?"
their principles or ideals, and is also used in literature as a symbol of betrayal. For example, in the aftermath of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, a number of residents of the street in which the Governor General John Kerr had been born sent the Governor 30 pieces of silver, as Kerr was widely blamed for the crisis. Another usage was at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009, a spokesman from Tuvalu
criticised the final document
by saying, "It looks like we are being offered 30 pieces of silver to betray our people and our future ... Our future is not for sale." Anthony Molloy's 1998 book on legal ethics in the context of tax fraud was called Thirty Pieces of Silver. In Robert Penn Warren
's novel All the King's Men
, it is used in describing a character who has "sold out his best pal."
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
betrayed Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, according to the Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
26:15 in the Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. Before the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
, Judas went to the chief priests and agreed to hand over Jesus in exchange for 30 silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s. Afterwards, he was filled with remorse and returned the money.
The Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
also mentions 30 pieces of silver, in the books of Exodus and Zechariah
Book of Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah is the penultimate book of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew and Christian Bible, attributed to the prophet Zechariah.-Historical context:...
. The Gospel of Matthew claims this as a prophecy fulfilled by Jesus, connecting it to the prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
. as a spoken prophecy, and not as a written one in the book of Jeremiah.
The type of coins cannot be identified precisely, but the image has often been used in artwork depicting the Passion
Passion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
of Christ. The phrase is used in literature and common speech to refer to people selling out
Selling out
"Selling out" is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or "success" . It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience...
.
Biblical narrative
According to the gospelGospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
accounts, Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
was a disciple
Apostle (Christian)
The term apostle is derived from Classical Greek ἀπόστολος , meaning one who is sent away, from στέλλω + από . The literal meaning in English is therefore an "emissary", from the Latin mitto + ex...
of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. Before the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
, Judas went to the chief priests and agreed
Bargain of Judas
The Bargain of Judas is a biblical episode related to the life of Jesus that appears in all three Synoptic Gospels, , and . It relates how Judas Iscariot made a bargain with the chief Jewish priests to betray Jesus....
to hand over Jesus in exchange for thirty silver coins. Jesus is then arrested
Arrest of Jesus
The arrest of Jesus is a pivotal event recorded in the Canonical gospels. The event ultimately leads, in the Gospel accounts, to Jesus' crucifixion...
in Gethsemane
Gethsemane
Gethsemane is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem most famous as the place where, according to Biblical texts, Jesus and his disciples are said to have prayed the night before Jesus' crucifixion.- Etymology :...
, where Judas reveals Jesus' identity to the soldiers by giving him a kiss.
According to Chapter 27 of Matthew's gospel
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
, Judas is filled with remorse and returns the money to the chief priests before hanging himself. The chief priests decide that they cannot put it into the temple treasury, and so with it they buy the Potter's Field.
Identity of the coins
The word used in Matthew 26:15 (arguria) simply means "silver coins," and scholars who accept the historical reliability of the narrative disagree on the identity of the coins involved. Donald WisemanDonald Wiseman
Donald John Wiseman OBE, FBA was a Biblical scholar, archaeologist and Assyriologist. He was Professor of Assyriology at the University of London from 1961 to 1982.-Early life and beliefs:...
suggests two possibilities for the identity of the coins used to pay Judas. They may have been tetradrachm
Tetradrachm
The tetradrachm was an Ancient Greek silver coin equivalent to four drachmae. It was in wide circulation from 510 to 38 BC.-History:Many surviving tetradrachms were minted by the polis of Athens from around the middle of the 5th century BC onwards; the popular coin was widely used in transactions...
s of Tyre, usually referred to as Tyrian shekel
Tyrian shekel
Tyrian shekels were coins of Tyre, which in the Roman Empire took on an unusual role as the medium of payment for the Temple tax in Jerusalem, and subsequently gained notoriety as a likely mode of payment for Judas Iscariot...
s (about 1.38 troy ounces), or they may have been stater
Stater
The stater was an ancient coin used in various regions of Greece.-History:The stater is mostly of Macedonian origin. Celtic tribes brought it in to Europe after using it as mercenaries in north Greece. It circulated from the 8th century BC to 50 AD...
s from Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
, which bore the head of Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
. Alternatively, they may have been Ptolemaic
Ptolemaic Kingdom
The Ptolemaic Kingdom in and around Egypt began following Alexander the Great's conquest in 332 BC and ended with the death of Cleopatra VII and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. It was founded when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt, creating a powerful Hellenistic state stretching from...
tetradrachms.
Theological interpretation
In ZechariahBook of Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah is the penultimate book of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew and Christian Bible, attributed to the prophet Zechariah.-Historical context:...
11:12-13, 30 pieces of silver is the price Zechariah receives for his labour. He takes the coins and throws them "to the potter". Klaas Schilder
Klaas Schilder
Klaas Schilder was a theologian and professor in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and later in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands .Schilder was born into a state church family...
notes that Zechariah's payment indicates an assessment of his worth, as well as his dismissal. In Exodus 21:32, 30 pieces of silver was the price of a slave, so while Zechariah calls the amount a "handsome price" (Zechariah 11:13), this could be sarcasm
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
. Webb, however, regards it as a "considerable sum of money."
Schilder suggests that these 30 pieces of silver then get "bandied back and forth by the Spirit of Prophecy
Bible prophecy
Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy is the prediction of future events based on the action, function, or faculty of a prophet. Such passages are widely distributed throughout the Bible, but those most often cited are from Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew 24, Matthew 25, and Revelation.Believers in biblical...
." When the chief priests decide to buy a field with the returned money, Matthew says that this fulfilled "what was spoken by Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
the prophet." Namely, "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me" (Matthew 27:9–10). Although many scholars see Jeremiah's name as included in error, Jeremiah's purchase of a field in Jeremiah
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....
32 may indicate that both prophets are in mind. Craig Blomberg
Craig Blomberg
Craig L. Blomberg is an American New Testament scholar. Since 1986 he has been Distinguished Professor of the New Testament at Denver Seminary in Colorado.-Life:...
argues that Matthew is using typology
Typology (theology)
Typology in Christian theology and Biblical exegesis is a doctrine or theory concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testaments...
in his quotation, rather than "any kind of single or double fulfillment of actual predictive prophecy." According to Blomberg, Matthew is telling his readers that, "like Jeremiah and Zechariah, Jesus attempts to lead his people with a prophetic and pastoral ministry, but instead he ends up suffering innocently at their hands."
Blomberg also suggests that Matthew may also be saying that "Jesus' death is a ransom, the price paid to secure a slave's freedom," and that the use of the blood money
Blood money (term)
Blood money is money or some sort of compensation paid by an offender or his family group to the family or kin group of the victim.-Particular examples and uses:...
to buy a burial ground for foreigners
Potter's field
A potter's field was an American term for a place for the burial of unknown or indigent people. The expression derives from the Bible, referring to a field used for the extraction of potter's clay, which was useless for agriculture but could be used as a burial site.-Origin:The term comes from...
(Matthew 27:7) may hint at the idea that "Jesus' death makes salvation possible for all the peoples of the world, including the Gentiles."
Relics and depiction in art
Judas is often shown in narrative scenes from the PassionPassion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
holding the silver in a bag or purse, where they serve as an attribute
Emblem
An emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
to identify him. As one of the "Instruments of the Passion
Arma Christi
Arma Christi , or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with Jesus' Passion in Christian symbolism and art....
" the Thirty Pieces by themselves often feature in groups of the Instruments, especially in the late Middle Ages, although they are one of the less commonly-chosen elements of the group. Sometimes a money bag is used in depictions; otherwise a hand holding the coins, or two hands, showing the counting-out.
A number of "Judas-pennies", ancient coins said to be from the original thirty, were treated as relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
s in the Middle Ages, and were believed to help in difficult cases of childbirth. As a minor component of the Instruments, and one whose survival was hard to explain given the Biblical account of the use of the money, the relics, and their depiction in art, both appear from the 14th century, later than more important elements like the Crown of Thorns
Crown of Thorns
In Christianity, the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was woven of thorn branches and placed on Jesus Christ before his crucifixion...
or Spear of Longinus
Holy Lance
The Holy Lance is the name given to the lance that pierced Jesus' side as he hung on the cross in John's account of the Crucifixion.-Biblical references:The lance is mentioned only in the Gospel of John and not in any of the...
. This was as a result of new styles of devotions, led by the Franciscans in particular, which promoted contemplation of the Passion episode by episode, as in the Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
. The stone on which the coins were said to have been counted out was in the Lateran Palace
Lateran Palace
The Lateran Palace , formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran , is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main Papal residence....
in Rome.
Literary references
The 30 Pieces are used in Christian literature on the betrayal of Jesus, as in the poem Thirty Pieces of Silver by William Blane:
"Thirty pieces of silver"
Burns on the traitor's brain;
"Thirty pieces of silver!
Oh! it is hellish gain!"
The phrase "30 pieces of silver" is used more generally to describe a price at which people sell out
Selling out
"Selling out" is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or "success" . It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience...
. In Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
, it is echoed in the 30 roubles which the character Sonia earns for selling herself. In the folk-song King John and the Bishop
King John and the Bishop
King John and the Bishop is an English folk-song dating back at least to the 16th century. It is catalogued in Child Ballads as number 45 and Roud Folk Song Index 302....
, the bishop's answer to the riddle
Riddle
A riddle is a statement or question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and...
of how much the king is worth is 29 pieces of silver, as no king is worth more than Jesus. In Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 2
Henry IV, Part 2
Henry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V.-Sources:...
, the mistress of Falstaff asks "and didst thou not kiss me, and bid me fetch thee thirty shillings?"
Modern usage
The phrase is used to accuse politicians and artists of selling outSelling out
"Selling out" is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or "success" . It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience...
their principles or ideals, and is also used in literature as a symbol of betrayal. For example, in the aftermath of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, a number of residents of the street in which the Governor General John Kerr had been born sent the Governor 30 pieces of silver, as Kerr was widely blamed for the crisis. Another usage was at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009, a spokesman from Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
criticised the final document
Copenhagen Accord
The Copenhagen Accord is a document that delegates at the 15th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed to "take note of" at the final plenary on 18 December 2009....
by saying, "It looks like we are being offered 30 pieces of silver to betray our people and our future ... Our future is not for sale." Anthony Molloy's 1998 book on legal ethics in the context of tax fraud was called Thirty Pieces of Silver. In Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the influential literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935...
's novel All the King's Men
All the King's Men
All the King's Men is a novel by Robert Penn Warren first published in 1946. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. In 1947 Warren won the Pulitzer Prize for All the King's Men....
, it is used in describing a character who has "sold out his best pal."