Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 26:15
Verse 15. Thirty pieces of silver.] triakonta arguria, thirty silverlings; but stathrav, staters, is the reading of the Codex Bezae, three copies of the Itala, Eusebius, and Origen sometimes; and stathrav arguriou, silver staters, is the reading of the famous Basil MS. No. 1, in Griesbach, and one copy of the Itala. A stater was the same as the shekel, and worth about 3s. English money, according to Dean Prideaux: a goodly price for the saviour of the world! Thirty staters, about 4l. 10s. the common price for the meanest slave! See Exod. xxi. 32. The rabbins say, thirty y[lo selain of pure silver was the standard price for a slave, whether good or bad, male or female. See tract Erachin, fol. 14, and Shekalim, cap. 1. Each selaa weighed 384 barley-corns; the same number was contained in a shekel; and therefore the shekel and the selaa were the same. See the notes on Gen. xx. 16, and Exod. xxxviii. 24.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 15. And said [unto them] , etc.] Though the words, to them, are not in the original text, they are rightly supplied; as they are by the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, and in Munsters Hebrew Gospel; and mean the chief priests to whom Judas went, and to whom he made the following proposal; what will ye give me, and I will deliver him to you ? They did not ask him to do it, he first made the motion; a barbarous and shocking one! to deliver his Lord and Master, with whom he had familiarly conversed, and from whom he had received so many favours, into the hands of those that hated him; nor was he concerned what they would do to him, or what would become of him, when in their hands: all his view, and what he was intent upon, was, what they would give him for doing it. They did not tempt him, by first offering him so much money, if he would betray him; but he himself first moves it to them, and tempts them with it to offer him an handsome reward: and it is to be observed, that he does not mention the name of Jesus, either because they might be talking of him, when he came into their company; or else as suiting his language to theirs, who, when they spake of him, usually said, he, or that man, or this fellow. And in the same rude way Judas now treats his master: and they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver ; that is, thirty shekels of silver; for it is a rule with the Jews, that when mention is made in Scripture of pieces of silver, without expressing the species, shekels are meant: so Onkelos, and Jonathan ben Uzziel, in their Targums on ( Genesis 20:16 45:22), render pieces of silver, by shekels of silver; so pieces of gold signify shekels of gold: thus the 1700 pieces of gold in ( Judges 8:26), are, in the Septuagint, Arabic, and Vulgate Latin versions, called so many shekels of gold; and our version supplies the word shekels also, as it does in ( 2 Chronicles 9:15,16), and yet some learned men have asserted f1486 , that there were no shekels of gold among the Jews, though express mention is made of them in ( 1 Chronicles 21:25). The value of a shekel of gold, according to Brerewood f1487 , was, of our money, fifteen shillings; and some make it to come to a great deal more; to one pound sixteen shillings and sixpence sterling: had these thirty pieces been pieces, or shekels of gold, they would have amounted to a considerable sum of money; but they were pieces of silver, and not talents, or pounds, but shekels. The silver shekel had on one side stamped upon it the pot of manna, or, as others think, a censer, or incense cup, with these words around it, in Samaritan letters, shekel Israel, the shekel of Israel; and, on the other, Aarons rod budding, with this inscription about it, Jerusalem Hakedushah, Jerusalem the holy f1488 . As for the weight and value of it, R. Gedaliah says f1489 , we know by tradition that the holy shekel weighs 320 grains of barley of pure silver; and the same writer observes f1490 , that the selah, or holy shekel, is four denarii, or pence; that is, Roman pence, each being of the value of seven pence halfpenny of our money: and to this agrees what Josephus says, that a shekel is a coin of the Hebrews, which contains four Attic drachms, or drams; and an Attic dram is of the same value with a Roman penny: so that one of these shekels was worth about half a crown; and it usually weighed half an ounce, as not only some Jewish writers affirm, who profess to have seen them, and weighed them themselves, as Jarchi f1492 , Gerundensis f1493 , Abarbinel f1494 , and Gedaliah ben Jechaiah f1495 ; but other writers also, as Masius Arias Montanus f1497 , Waserus and Bishop Cumberland. Now thirty shekels of silver were the price of a servant, ( Exodus 21:32). So f1499 Maimonides observes, that the atonement of servants, whether great or small, whether male or female, the fixed sum in the law is thirty shekels of good silver, whether the servant is worth an hundred pound, or whether he is not worth but a farthing, and which was in value of our money about three pounds fifteen shillings. This was the goodly price, which Christ, who appeared in the form of a servant, was prized at, according to the prophecy in ( Zechariah 11:12,13), and which the high priests thought a very sufficient one; and the wretch Judas, as covetous as he was, was contented with.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 14-16 - There were but twelve called apostles, and one of them was like devil; surely we must never expect any society to be quite pure on thi side heaven. The greater profession men make of religion, the greate opportunity they have of doing mischief, if their hearts be not righ with God. Observe, that Christ's own disciple, who knew so well his doctrine and manner of his life, and was false to him, could not charg him with any thing criminal, though it would have served to justify his treachery. What did Judas want? Was not he welcome wherever his Maste was? Did he not fare as Christ fared? It is not the lack, but the love of money, that is the root of all evil. After he had made that wicke bargain, Judas had time to repent, and to revoke it; but when lesse acts of dishonesty have hardened the conscience men do withou hesitation that which is more shameful.
Greek Textus Receptus
ειπεν 2036 5627 V-2AAI-3S τι 5101 I-ASN θελετε 2309 5719 V-PAI-2P μοι 3427 P-1DS δουναι 1325 5629 V-2AAN καγω 2504 P-1NS-C υμιν 5213 P-2DP παραδωσω 3860 5692 V-FAI-1S αυτον 846 P-ASM οι 3588 T-NPM δε 1161 CONJ εστησαν 2476 5627 V-2AAI-3P αυτω 846 P-DSM τριακοντα 5144 A-NUI αργυρια 694 N-APN
Vincent's NT Word Studies
15. What will ye give? (ti qelete moi dounai?) Rather, What are ye willing to give me? It brings out the chaffering aspect of the transaction. So Rev.They covenanted with him for (esthsan autw). But the meaning is, they weighed unto him; or, very literally, they placed for him (in the balance). Although coined shekels were in circulation, weighing appears to have been practiced, especially when considerable sums were paid out of the temple-treasury.
Thirty pieces of silver (triakonta arguria). Matthew refers to Zech. xi. 12. These pieces were shekels of the sanctuary, of standard weight, and therefore heavier than the ordinary shekel. See on Matthew xvii. 24. Reckoning the Jerusalem shekel at seventy-two cents, the sum would be twenty-one dollars and sixty cents. This was the price which, by the Mosaic law, a man was condemned to pay if his ox should gore a servant (Exod. xxi. 32). Our Lord, the sacrifice for men, was paid for out of the temple-money, destined for the purchase of sacrifices. He who "took on him the firm of a servant" was sold at the legal price of a slave.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
26:15 {What are ye willing to give me?} (ti thelete moi dounai?) this "brings out the _chaffering_ aspect of the transaction" (Vincent). "Mary and Judas extreme opposites: she freely spending in love, he willing to sell his Master for money" (Bruce). And her act of love provoked Judas to his despicable deed, this rebuke of Jesus added to all the rest. {And I will deliver him unto you} (kagw h-min paradwsw auton). The use of kai with a co-ordinate clause is a colloquialism (common in the _Koin_ as in the Hebrew use of _wav_. "A colloquialism or a Hebraism, the traitor mean in style as in spirit" (Bruce). The use of egw seems to mean "I though one of his disciples will hand him over to you if you give me enough." {They weighed unto him} (hoi de estesan auto). They placed the money in the balances or scales. "Coined money was in use, but the shekels may have been weighed out in antique fashion by men careful to do an iniquitous thing in the most orthodox way" (Bruce). It is not known whether the Sanhedrin had offered a reward for the arrest of Jesus or not. {Thirty pieces of silver} (triakonta arguria). A reference to #Zec 11:12. If a man's ox gored a servant, he had to pay this amount (#Ex 21:32). Some manuscripts have statras (staters). These thirty silver shekels were equal to 120 denarii, less than five English pounds, less than twenty-five dollars, the current price of a slave. There was no doubt contempt for Jesus in the minds of both the Sanhedrin and Judas in this bargain.
