Matthew 26:15 (WEB)
and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?” So they weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Matthew 26:15 (KJV)
And 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.
Key words
- τριάκοντα ἀργύριαtriakonta argyria · Greek
- 'thirty pieces of silver' — the price of a slave (Exodus 21:32) and the wage of the rejected shepherd (Zechariah 11:12).
- ἸούδαςIoudas · Greek
- 'Judas' — the Greek form of 'Judah,' the brother who proposed selling Joseph for silver (Genesis 37:26–28).
Why it matters
Judas sells Jesus to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver. Pitre sets this beside Joseph, sold for twenty pieces of silver by his brothers on Judah's suggestion: the beloved son betrayed and sold by his own. If Jesus is the new Joseph, then Mary, the mother of the betrayed son, is the New Rachel.
Fathers and councils · 21
Augustine of Hippo
“For ye know by what artifices they did this, how with money they bribed a disciple that clave to Him, in order that He might be betrayed to them, how they procured false witnesses; with what lyings in wait and artifices they wrought, “in order that they might shoot in secret One unspotted.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxvi. 14, 15.
Read the whole comment“And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver;” and so on down to the words, “And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them, and they made ready the passover.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxvi. 14–19.
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John Chrysostom
““Then went one of the twelve, he that was called Judas Iscariot, unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you?”” — editor's note: Matt. xxvi. 14, 15. [R.V., “Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said, What are ye willing to give me,” etc.]
Read the whole comment““What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you?”“I will deliver,” the devil spake by that mouth.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvi. 15.
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Jerome
“Covetousness is idolatry, or else the selling of the Lord for thirty pieces of silver was a righteous act.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvi. 15.
Read the whole comment“A brother, more thrifty than covetous, and ignorant that the Lord had been sold for thirty pieces of silver, left behind him at his death a hundred pieces of money which he had earned by weaving linen.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvi. 15.
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“He is sold, and very cheap, for it is only for thirty pieces of silver; but He redeems the world, and that at a great price, for the Price was His own blood.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvi. 15.
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Catena Aurea on Matthew
- Glossa OrdinariaCatena Aurea on Matthew
Having described the occasion of his treachery, the Evangelist proceeds to recount the manner of it.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
“Then,” when, that is, he heard that this Gospel should be preached every where; for that made him afraid, as it was indeed a mark of unspeakable power.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
The order of the narrative is this. The Lord says, “Ye know that after two days will be the feast of the Passover; . . . then assembled together the Chief Priests and Scribes; . . . then went one of the twelve.” Thus…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
“Went,” against that one high priest, who was made a Priest for ever, to many high priests, to sell for a price Him who sought to redeem the whole world.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
“Went,” he says, because he was neither compelled, nor invited, but of his own free will formed the wicked design.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
“One of the twelve,” as much as to say, of that first band who are elected for preeminent merit. [marg. note: ἀριστίδην ἰξειλεγμένων]
Read the whole comment - Glossa OrdinariaCatena Aurea on Matthew
He adds his distinctive appellation, “Scarioth,” for there was another Judas.
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
So called from the village Scariotha, from which he came.
Read the whole comment - Leo the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
He did not out of any fear forsake Christ, but through lust of money cast Him off; for in comparison of the love of money all our affections are feeble; the soul athirst for gain fears not to die for a very little;…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
The wretched Judas would fain replace, by the sale of his Master, that loss which he supposed he had incurred by the ointment. And he does not demand any fixed sum, lest his treachery should seem a gainful thing, but…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
The same do all who take any material or worldly things to cast out of their thoughts the Saviour and the word of truth which was in them. “And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver,” as many pieces as…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
Joseph was not sold as many, following the LXX [septuagint], think for twenty pieces of gold, but as the Hebrew text has for twenty pieces of silver, [marg. note: Gen 37:28] for it could not be that the servant…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
That the Lord was sold for thirty pieces of silver by Judas, denotes the unrighteous Jews, who pursuing things carnal and temporal, which belong to the five bodily senses, refuse to have Christ; and forasmuch as they…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
The “opportunity” which Judas sought is further explained by Luke, “how he might betray him in the absence of the multitude;” [Luke 22:6] when the populace was not with Him, but He was withdrawn with His disciples.…
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Cross-references · 2
Cited together in Origen on Matthew 26:14–16 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 26:14–16 (2) (Catena Aurea).