Zechariah 11:12

12 I said to them, "If you are willing, give me my wages. But if not, keep them." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver as my wages. ¹

Zechariah 11:12 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 11:12

And I said unto them, If ye think good
Not to the poor of the flock that waited on him, and knew the word of the Lord, and valued it; but to the other Jews that despised Christ and his Gospel:

give me my price;
or, "give my price" ^F9; what I am valued at by you, to Judas the betrayer: or the price due unto him for feeding the flock, such as faith in him, love to him, reverence and worship of him. So the Targum paraphrases it, "do my will". Kimchi says the price is repentance, and good works:

and if not, forbear;
unless all is done freely, willingly, and cheerfully; see ( Ezekiel 2:5 Ezekiel 2:7 ) or, if worth nothing, give nothing:

So they weighed for my price thirty [pieces] of silver;
the price a servant was valued at, ( Exodus 21:32 ) see the fulfilment of this prophecy in ( Matthew 26:15 ) . The Jews own ^F11 that this prophecy belongs to the Messiah; but wrongly interpret it of thirty precepts given by him: in just retaliation and righteous judgment, thirty Jews were sold by the Romans for a penny, by way of contempt of them ^F12.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 (yrbv wbh) "date mercedem meam", Vatablus, Calvin, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius.
F11 Bereshit Rabba, sect. 98. fol. 85. 3.
F12 Egesippus de Urb. excidio Anacep. p. 680.

Zechariah 11:12 In-Context

10 Then I took the stick called "Favor" and broke it, to cancel the covenant which the Lord had made with all the nations.

11 So the covenant was canceled on that day. Those who bought and sold the sheep were watching me, and they knew that the Lord was speaking through what I did.

12 I said to them, "If you are willing, give me my wages. But if not, keep them." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver as my wages.

13 The Lord said to me, "Put them in the Temple treasury." So I took the thirty pieces of silver - the magnificent sum they thought I was worth - and put them in the Temple treasury.

14 Then I broke the second stick, the one called "Unity," and the unity of Judah and Israel was shattered.

Cross References

• 1. 11.12, 13Matthew 27.9, 10.+O+N11.12Matthew 26.15.