And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
Parallel translations
- WEB I said to them, “If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.” So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
- BSB Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.
- NKJV Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
- NASB And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages.
- NLT And I said to them, “If you like, give me my wages, whatever I am worth; but only if you want to.” So they counted out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Shepherd asks for His wages, and they weigh out thirty pieces of silver—the price of a slave. It matters because this insulting valuation of God's Shepherd is fulfilled in the betrayal of Jesus.
Overview
Asked to set His worth, the flock values the Shepherd at thirty pieces of silver, the compensation for a gored slave (Exod. 21:32)—a deliberate insult. This prophecy is strikingly fulfilled when Judas betrays Jesus for exactly thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:15). The verse exposes how lightly the world esteems the One who is beyond price.
Cross-references & the web
Fulfillment
- Matt 26:15And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
Cross-references · 9
- Matt 26:15And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
- Exod 21:32If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
- Luke 22:3–6Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
- Mark 14:10–11And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.
- John 13:27–30And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
- Gen 37:28Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
- 1 Kgs 21:2And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
- John 13:2And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;
- 2 Chr 30:4And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.
How Zechariah 11:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.