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.

explain this modification of the text? One could view it as a kind of "targumization": the subject of the sentence is made explicit¹⁹. Such a view, however, evokes the question why the subject has been made explicit in precisely this way. To my mind, an answer to this question can be found in the preceding narrative. According to Matt 27,6, the chief priests refuse to put the thirty silver pieces in the temple fund "because they are the price of blood". This must be a reference to Deut 23,19, the prohibition to bring "the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog" into the temple²⁰. This prohibition is preceded, in Deut 23,18, by another prohibition that belongs together with it: there shall be no female cult prostitutes "of the daughters of Israel", and no male cult prostitutes "of the sons of Israel". In the latter case, the Hebrew text has l)r#&y ynbm, correctly translated in the LXX as a)po_ ui(w=n 'Israh/l, which is the same wording as used in Matt 27,9, with the same partitive sense. One could say that Zech 11,13 and Deut 23,18-19 are analogous scriptural passages, that is, passages that have at least one word in common and preferably also have a similar content²¹. The common words are hwhy tyb / ei)j to_n oi]kon kuri/ou, and the similar content is that both passages are about bringing money into the temple. Analogous passages can be connected, not only in explaining but also in rendering them, so it was legitimate to replace Mhyl(m / u(pe_r au)tw=n by l)r#&y ynbm / a)po_ ui(w=n 'Israh/l. In any case, the modification in the quotation can be explained as an adaptation to another OT passage alluded to in the context. In the law from Deuteronomy, the sons of Israel are not allowed to bring money earned by prostitution into the temple; in Matthew, the chief priests do not bring the money they paid to Judas for Jesus into the temple.

3. Matt 27,10a (Zech 11,13e)

        The next line of the quotation is the equivalent of the final line of Zech 11,13: we hear what the prophet, identified with the chief priests,