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.

        The edition of A. Rahlfs differs on one minor point. In the third line, Ziegler follows B )* and reads ske/yomai, "I will look" (a future), whereas Rahlfs reads ske/yai, "look" (an aorist imperative), with the large majority of textual witnesses. To my mind, Ziegler is right in preferring ske/yomai. The words which the Lord directs to the prophet start with the aorist imperative ka/qej, "put"; the reading ske/yai is then probably an adaptation in form of the second verb in the sentence to the first one.

        It is obvious that the textual form of Matthew’s quotation differs from Hebrew text and LXX⁷. The text of Zechariah is still recognizable in Matt 27,9, much less so in 27,10. To explain the textual form of the latter verse, many commentators follow the lead of the apparently false ascription of the quotation to Jeremiah and appeal to passages from this biblical book. They refer to Jer 18,1-2, where we meet a potter but no purchase of a field; to 19,1-13, where a potter’s bottle is mentioned and some similarities to Matt 27,3-8 are found; and to Jer 32,6-9, where we hear about the purchase of a field but not about a potter ⁸. It seems, in any case, that in our quotation the biblical text