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.

adjustment to moi in the final line of the quotation³, is too simple a solution. The basic problem lies in the ambiguity of the aorist e!labon at the beginning of the quotation: is it a 3rd pers. pl. or a 1st pers. sg.? In a linear reading of the text, whether it was practised by a lector in a scriptorium or by a scribe himself, e!labon is very easily interpreted as a 3rd pers. pl., because it follows and interprets the plural participle labo/ntej in 27,6 (both verbal forms have the same object, ta_ [tria/konta] a)rgu/ria). The verbal form at the beginning of the next clause must have the same subject; if it originally was e!dwka, the plural interpretation of e!labon will have caused almost automatically a change into e!dwkan. The end of the quotation, however, seems to require that the verbs in the two preceding main clauses are in the singular; in that case, the quotation is also closer to its OT source, in which the prophet takes the thirty silver pieces. Because a linear reading leads more easily to an adaptation of the text to what precedes than to what follows, one should prefer in this case the singular form e!dwka⁴. That a plural subject in the context of a quotation performs an act that is ascribed to a singular subject in the quotation, occurs elsewhere as well (see, e.g., Acts 13,47 = Isa 49,6; 2 Cor 6,2 = Isa 49,8; Heb 13,6 = Ps 118,6).