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.

typology, Davies and Allison rightly conclude "that the evangelist received the tradition that Judas hanged himself" ⁴⁴.

        The repentance of Judas is presumably also a traditional element. The fact that Judas repents is somewhat unexpected, given the way in which Matthew edits Mark’s depiction of Judas. According to Mark 14,10-11, Judas goes to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them, and although he does not ask for money, they promise to pay it to him. In Matt 26,14-16, the short scene has been slightly transformed. Judas now asks the chief priests: "What will you give me, so that I deliver him to you?" In Matthew’s view, financial profit is the motive for Judas to betray his master. In Mark’s version of the story of the Last Supper, Jesus speaks about the terrible fate of his betrayer without a direct dialogue with Judas (14,18-21). Matthew has the short scene end with such a dialogue (26,25). Judas asks: "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?", and Jesus answers: "You have said so". Matthew’s Judas is so impudent as to ask whether Jesus refers to him, and Jesus overtly points him out to be the betrayer. Matthew has expanded the meeting between Jesus and Judas at Jesus’ arrest, as he found it in Mark (Mark 14,45 // Matt 26,49-50). According to Matthew, Judas explicitly greets Jesus ("Hail, Rabbi"), and Jesus reacts with the words: "Friend, why are you here?"⁴⁵. In this way, the insulting hypocrisy of Judas is emphasized. On the whole, Matthew tends to blacken Judas even more than Mark already did: Judas becomes a greedy, insolent hypocrite ⁴⁶. The positive note of the repentance of Judas is at odds with this tendency, and is best explained as a traditional element which Matthew inserted because it gave him an opportunity to inculpate the Jewish authorities. If the repentance of Judas is a traditional element, his return of the money must also belong to tradition, because it is the immediate consequence of the repentance ⁴⁷.