Ministry & MissionClear Fulfillment
Sold for Thirty Pieces of Silver
Written: ~520 BC→Fulfilled: ~AD 30
Zechariah specified the exact price of the Messiah's betrayal: thirty pieces of silver, later used to buy a potter's field.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
Old Testament Prophecy
Zechariah 11:12-13
"I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter", the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter."
New Testament Fulfillment
Matthew 26:15; 27:9-10
""What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver... Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty pieces of silver, 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.""
Commentary
This is a remarkably specific prophecy fulfilled in exact detail. Zechariah named the price (30 silver), the response (throwing it into the temple), and the destination (the potter). Matthew records all three details: Judas received 30 silver, threw them into the temple, and the priests used them to buy the potter's field.