Zechariah 11:13
And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
Original Language Analysis
Historical Context
Zechariah enacted this prophetic sign-act around 520-518 BC during temple rebuilding. The shepherd symbolism throughout Zechariah 11 represents God's care for Israel and their rejection of His shepherding. The immediate context involves breaking the staff called "Beauty" (covenant favor) and "Bands" (unity between Judah and Israel), depicting covenant dissolution due to rejection.
The fulfillment came over 500 years later when Judas Iscariot agreed to betray Jesus for exactly thirty silver pieces (Matthew 26:14-16). After Jesus's arrest, Judas experienced remorse and threw the blood money into the temple (Matthew 27:3-5). The chief priests, considering it unclean for the treasury, used it to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners (Matthew 27:6-10). Matthew sees this as fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy (though attributing it to Jeremiah, possibly because Jeremiah stood first in the prophetic scroll order, or combining Jeremiah 18-19's potter imagery with Zechariah's text).
This prophecy demonstrates Scripture's unity and divine inspiration—specific details predicted centuries before fulfillment, impossible through human foresight alone. It reveals Israel's pattern of rejecting God's messengers, culminating in rejecting Messiah Himself.
Questions for Reflection
- How do I value Jesus—as precious beyond measure (1 Peter 1:18-19), or do I treat Him as cheaply as thirty pieces of silver?
- What does the fulfillment of such specific prophetic details teach about Scripture's divine inspiration and reliability?
- How does God's sovereignty operate even through human betrayal and rejection to accomplish redemptive purposes?
Analysis & Commentary
And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. This verse drips with divine irony following the contemptuous payment of thirty silver pieces. The command "Cast it unto the potter" (hashlikhehu el-ha-yotser, הַשְׁלִיכֵהוּ אֶל־הַיּוֹצֵר) involves throwing the money contemptuously to the potter—either a craftsman working in the temple precincts or symbolizing worthlessness (clay vessels being common and cheap). God's sarcasm is biting: "a goodly price that I was prised at of them" (eder ha-yeqar asher yaqareti me'aleyhem)—"What a magnificent sum they valued me at!"
The thirty pieces of silver represents the price for a slave gored by an ox (Exodus 21:32), an insulting valuation for the Shepherd of Israel. Matthew 27:9-10 explicitly identifies this as prophecy fulfilled when Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty silver pieces, then threw the money into the temple. The priests used it to purchase the potter's field for burying strangers (Matthew 27:3-10). The prophetic precision is stunning: the specific amount, the rejection by religious leaders, the money cast into the temple, and the connection to a potter/field purchase—all fulfilled exactly.
This demonstrates how Israel corporately valued their covenant Lord—as worth only slave-price. The rejection prefigures the ultimate rejection when Jewish leaders delivered Jesus to crucifixion. Yet God's sovereignty operates even through betrayal: the very act of contempt becomes the mechanism of redemption. What humans intend for evil, God orchestrates for salvation (Genesis 50:20).