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They took counsel, and bought the potter’s field with them, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field was called “The Field of Blood” to this day.
Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him upon whom a price had been set, whom some of the children of Israel priced,
and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
Matthew 27:7-10 sits inside this longer paragraph.
He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself. The chief priests took the pieces of silver, and said, “It’s not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.” They took counsel, and bought the potter’s field with them, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field was called “The Field of Blood” to this day.
Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him upon whom a price had been set, whom some of the children of Israel priced,
and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
They took counsel, and bought the potter’s field with them, to bury strangers in.
Therefore that field was called “The Field of Blood” to this day.
Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him upon whom a price had been set, whom some of the children of Israel priced,
and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
And they toke counsell and bought with them a potters felde to bury strangers in.
Wherfore that felde is called the felde of bloud vntyll this daye.
Then was fulfylled that which was spoken by Ieremy the Prophet sayinge: and they toke.xxx. sylver plattes the prise of him that was valued whom they bought of the chyldren of Israel
and they gave them for the potters felde as the Lorde appoynted me.
And they tooke counsell, and bought with them a potters fielde, for the buriall of strangers.
Wherefore that field is called, The field of bloud, vntill this day.
(Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Ieremias the Prophet, saying, And they tooke thirtie siluer pieces, ye price of him that was valued, whom they of ye children of Israel valued.
And they gaue them for the potters fielde, as the Lord appointed me.)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 Strangers and guests, whom the Jews could not abide…
Strangers and guests, whom the Jews could not abide to be joined unto, no not after they were dead.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–10 7 And they took counsel, and bought with them…
7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.
Ver. 7. To bury strangers in] Romans and others, with whom they would have nothing common, no, not so much as a burial place, Isa 65:4-5. God complains of a people that "remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments; which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou," &c.; sick they were of a Noli me tangere, Do not touch me, strict in trifles, senseless of foul sins. There are those who tell us, that the nature of this potter’s field is such, as, if a stranger’s body be laid in it, it consumes it to the bone in twenty-four hours; which it doth not to the body of any Jew. This, if it be true, saith one, it seems God would have the earth thus marked to preserve the memory of the bloody money by which it was purchased; and therefore he gave it a virtue to consume strangers’ bodies ere they could corrupt, refusing the Jews; to show how they had lost their privilege to their own land, by crucifying their Lord, and strangers began to be possessed of it. Also, to teach us, that his hope is nearest incorruption, who is the greatest stranger from the sin of the Jews, that is, crucifying Christ.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v7 They at last resolve what to do with the…
They at last resolve what to do with the money, which was no great sum, for, as we noted before, it exceeded not three pounds fifteen shillings. They would not turn it to their own private use, for (probably) it was before taken out of the treasury; neither would they again return it into the treasury, because it had been made use of as the hire of blood. They therefore agree to buy with it a piece of ground ordinarily known by the name, of
the potter’s field, probably because some potter had digged earth, and thrown the waste of his pot kilns there, so as it was of no great value. This field the vulgar, upon this purchase of it by the priests, called many years after, The field of blood. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet. The evangelists use this term fulfilled, as I have before noted, in very different senses.
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1. Sometimes to express the accomplishment of a prophecy.
2. Sometimes to express the fulfilling of a type, or answering it by the antitype.
3. Sometimes to express an allusion to some other scripture, mentioning some matter of fact of a like nature.
For the text here quoted, we have no such text in the writings of the prophet Jeremiah, which are upon sacred record. Jeremiah indeed did buy a field by order from God, Jer 32:9, to declare his faith in God’s promises for the return of the Jews out of captivity, but he bought it of his uncle Hanameel, and for seventeen pieces of silver; and that he was a potter, or that the field was called by that name, we do not read. The nearest place in the prophets to this text is Zec 11:12,13, And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. It is a very hard text as it lies in the prophet to give a just account of. The prophet was one of them who prophesied after the captivity of Babylon, yet, Zec 11:6, he plainly prophesieth after God’s destruction of the Jews and of Jerusalem. Which destruction being after that of the Chaldeans, to what it should refer, but to the last destruction of the Jews by the Romans, I cannot understand. Zec 11:7, he saith, I will feed the flock of the slaughter, that is, the flock designed for the slaughter, or drawing near to the slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. Christ came in person to feed the church of the Jews, but they also abhorred him, so that he abhorred them, and resolved to cast them quite off; Zec 11:8,9. So he broke first his staff called Beauty, took away all the glory and beauty of that church. Then, as it were in indignation, he saith, If ye think good, give me my price. What requital will you give me for my labour amongst you? So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. Their selling of Christ to a traitor for so much, signified their high contempt of him. And the Lord said, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. The evangelist indeed doth not quote the very words of the prophet, but the substance of them. And for my part I think, that the evangelist here by fulfilling meaneth the accomplishment of the prophecy in Zechariah. For I know not what other tolerable sense to make of the prophecy, if we do not say the prophet spake in the person of Christ, foretelling his own coming amongst them, their rejection and contempt of him, and his utter rejection of them; and prophesying, as a piece of their contempt and rejection of him, their selling him to Judas for thirty pieces of silver, (a most contemptible price), and God so ordering it by his providence, that this money should again be brought them, and this potter’s field should be bought with it. So as I think that text was fulfilled here more than by allusion, or as it was typical to this act, and that this act was the very thing which there is prophesied, and here fulfilled. But how Matthew saith this was
spoken by Jeremy the prophet is a harder knot. It is observable that Zechariah hath many things found in Jeremiah, and it is not improbable that the very same thing was prophesied by Jeremiah, though afterward repeated by Zechariah, and only in the writings of Zechariah left upon sacred record. Matthew having now given us an account of the fate of Judas, returneth to our Saviour, carried (as we heard) before Pilate.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–10 And they took counsel,.... With one another, considered of…
And they took counsel,.... With one another, considered of the matter, and deliberated about it a while; and at last came to a resolution,
and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in: a field of no great value, or it could not have been bought so near Jerusalem for so small a sum as thirty pieces of silver. Grotius's conjecture seems to be a good one, that it was a field the potter had dug up for his use, and had made the most of it; so that it was good for nothing, but for the purpose for which these men bought it, "to bury strangers in": either such as were not of their own nation, as the Roman soldiers, many of which were among them, and who they did not suffer to be buried among them; or proselytes, or such as came from distant parts, at their three festivals, many of whom may be supposed to die at such times: now by this act of humanity in providing for the interment of strangers, they designed, and hoped to have covered their wickedness in bargaining with Judas to betray innocent blood, for this sure of money; but it was so ordered by divine providence, that this became a public and lasting memorial of their sin and infamy: for it follows,
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 10 They bought with them the potter's field - Well…
They bought with them the potter's field - Well known, it seems, by that name. This was a small price for a field so near Jerusalem. But the earth had probably been digged for potters' vessels, so that it was now neither fit for tillage nor pasture, and consequently of small value. Foreigners - Heathens especially, of whom there were then great numbers in Jerusalem.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7–9 Verse 7. To bury strangers in.] τοις ξενοις, the…
Verse 7. To bury strangers in.] τοις ξενοις, the strangers, probably meaning, as some learned men conjecture, the Jewish strangers who might have come to Jerusalem, either to worship, or on some other business, and died there during their stay. See here, the very money for which the blessed Jesus was sold becomes subservient to the purpose of mercy and kindness! The bodies of strangers have a place of rest in the field purchased by the price at which his life was valued, and the souls of strangers and foreigners have a place of rest and refuge in his blood which was shed as a ransom price for the salvation of the whole world.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v9 Mat 27:9. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken…
Mat 27:9. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy — The words here quoted are not in any copy of Jeremiah extant. But they bear a strong resemblance to the words of Zec 11:12-13. One MS., not of great account, has Ζεχαριου, of Zechariah. Another adds no name to the word prophet, and there is none added in the Syriac version, the words being only, which was spoken by the prophet. And it seems, from a remark of Augustine, that some copies in his time named no prophet. Indeed it is not improbable that the name Jeremiah was inserted by some officious transcriber. Or we may suppose, with Bishop Hall, that in copying the words, Jeremiah was put down for Zechariah, a blunder which transcribers might easily commit, especially if the names were written by abbreviation, Ιριου for Ζριου, as the bishop says he has seen in some ancient MSS. But if the present reading is retained, we may allow, that, as the Jewish Scriptures were divided into three parts, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, what was found in the prophets might properly enough be said to be in Jeremiah, if his prophecies stood first in the collection, just as our Lord affirmed that whatever was in the Hagiographa concerning him, was contained in the Psalms, because the Psalms stood first in that division of the Scriptures. Or, we may adopt the solution offered by Grotius, who observes, that the Jews had many prophecies handed down to them by tradition, such as the prophecy of Enoch, Jdg 1:14-15, and the traditionary prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem mentioned by Josephus, and that the later prophets often allude to and repeat the words of the former. He therefore declares it to be his opinion, that the prophecy concerning the thirty pieces of silver, recorded Zec 11:12-13, which represented symbolically, according to the manner of the prophets, the things that were to befall the Messiah, was originally acted and spoken by Jeremiah, as Matthew affirms; but that Zechariah, who in many particulars followed Jeremiah, was directed by the Spirit to repeat it afterward, and preserve it in writing among his other prophecies; and that the Jews had preserved the knowledge of this fact by tradition; wherefore, though it be now found in Zechariah, being originally spoken by Jeremiah, Matthew has committed no error here in referring it to him. See note on Zec 11:12-13.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7–10 And they took counsel ... - They consulted among…
And they took counsel ... - They consulted among themselves about the proper way to dispose of this money.
And bought with them - In Act 1:18, it is said of Judas that “he purchased a field with the reward of his iniquity.” By the passage in the Acts is meant no more than that he “furnished the means” or “was the occasion” of purchasing the field. It is not of necessity implied that Judas actually made the contract and paid down the money to buy a field to bury strangers in - a thing which would be in itself very improbable, but that it was “by his means” that the field was purchased. It is very frequent in the Scriptures, as well as in other writings, to represent a man as doing that which he is only the cause or occasion of another’s doing. See Act 2:23; Joh 19:1; Mat 27:59-60.
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The potter’s field - Probably this was some field well known by that name, which was used for the purpose of making earthen vessels. The price paid for a field so near Jerusalem may appear to be very small; but it is not improbable that it had been worked until the clay was exhausted, and was neither suitable for that business nor for tillage, and was therefore considered as of little value.
To bury strangers in - Jews, who came up from other parts of the world to attend the great feasts at Jerusalem. The high priests, who regarded the “Gentiles” as abominable, would not be inclined to provide a burial-place for them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7–9 Burying-place. this the Pharisees did, as a shew of…
Burying-place. this the Pharisees did, as a shew of their charity to strangers; but their intention, according to St. Jerome, was to disgrace Jesus; thus to keep alive in the minds of the people, that he was sold by one of his own disciples, and delivered up to a disgraceful death. (Denis the Carthusian)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy…
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying-- (Zac 11:12-13). Never was a complicated prophecy, otherwise hopelessly dark, more marvellously fulfilled. Various conjectures have been formed to account for Matthew's ascribing to Jeremiah a prophecy found in the book of Zechariah. But since with this book he was plainly familiar, having quoted one of its most remarkable prophecies of Christ but a few chapters before (Mat 21:4-5), the question is one more of critical interest than real importance. Perhaps the true explanation is the following, from LIGHTFOOT: "Jeremiah of old had the first place among the prophets, and hereby he comes to be mentioned above all the rest in Mat 16:14; because he stood first in the volume of the prophets [as he proves from the learned DAVID KIMCHI] therefore he is first named. When, therefore, Matthew produceth a text of Zechariah under the name of JEREMY, he only cites the words of the volume of the prophets under his name who stood first in the volume of the prophets. Of which sort is that also of our Saviour (Luk 24:41), "All things must be fulfilled which are written of Me in the Law, and the Prophets, and the Psalms," or the Book of Hagiographa, in which the Psalms were placed first."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7–9 7. Potter’s field — Pottery, or the manufactory of…
7. Potter’s field — Pottery, or the manufactory of earthenware, was a very ancient art. The remains of it are found among the relics of the most ancient nations. The clay being dug from the surface, for the purposes of pottery, rendered the soil unfit for tillage or other uses, so that it was sold for the small price here paid.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 7. the potter’s field] Tradition places Aceldama in the…
7. the potter’s field] Tradition places Aceldama in the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem.
strangers] i. e. Jews of the dispersion, Hellenists and proselytes.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv7–9 (7) And they took counsel.—As before, they held a…
(7) And they took counsel.—As before, they held a council.
The potter’s field.—In Jer_18:2 we read of the “potter’s house” as being outside the city, probably, from Jer_19:2, in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), on the south side of Jerusalem. It is probable that it had been worked out in course of time, and was now in the state of a disused quarry. It was necessary, now that Roman soldiers were often stationed in the city, and men of all nations came to it, to provide some burial-place for them; but no Jew would admit their bones into the sepulchre of his fathers. On the other hand, every devout Jew would shrink from the thought of burying his dead in the foul and hateful spot which had become the type of the unseen Gehenna. (See Notes on Mat_5:22.) There was, therefore, a subtle fitness of association in the policy which the priests adopted. The place was itself accursed; it was bought with accursed money; it was to be used for the burial of the accursed strangers.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7–10 They took counsel. They deliberated how to dispose of…
They took counsel. They deliberated how to dispose of this blood money. This deliberation may have taken place after the Crucifixion. The potter"s field. The spot was well known at the time. It is traditionally said to have lain on the south of Jerusalem on the hillside across the valley of Hinnom, on what is called the Hill of Evil Counsel. Here is found a tract of clay, which is still used by the potters of the city. In the time of our Lord. the clay probably was considered to be exhausted, and the area, excavated in all directions, and useless for agricultural purposes, was sold for a trifling price. To bury strangers in. The "strangers" are probably not pagans, but foreign Jews and Gentile proselytes, who came to Jerusalem to attend the festival, and died there. Others think that foreigners (Greeks and Romans, etc.) exclusively are meant, the Jews regarding their very presence in the holy city as defilement, and a cemetery purchased by unclean money a fitting spot for their interment. The "field" was set apart in the Crusaders" times as a burial place for pilgrims, and to this day contains a charnel house wherein are deposited the poor and unhonoured dead of Jerusalem.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 7. Bought the potter's field. A field that had…
7. Bought the potter's field. A field that had been used for the purpose of making pottery until it was worthless for other purposes and could be bought cheap. Potters' fields are still found in the Kedron Valley south of the city. To bury strangers in. A burial place for the poor. The Jews usually provided their own tombs. Peter, in Acts 1:18, says that Judas fell down headlong and his bowels gushed out. The common explanation is that he hung himself on a tree overlooking the valley of Hinnom, that the rope gave way, and that he fell headlong upon the rocks below, a distance of forty to sixty feet.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v9 The allusion is to Jer 18:1-4; Jer 19:1-3 but…
Jeremy
The allusion is to Jer 18:1-4; Jer 19:1-3 but more distinctly to Zec 11:12; Zec 11:13.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v9 General Information:
General Information:
The author quotes Old Testament scripture to show that Judas' suicide was a fulfillment of prophecy.
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Then that which had been spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled
This can be stated in active form. AT: "This fulfilled what the prophet Jeremiah spoke" (See: Active or Passive)
the price set on him by the people of Israel
This can be stated in active form. AT: "the price the people of Israel set on him" (See: Active or Passive)
the people of Israel
This refers to those among the people of Israel who paid to kill Jesus. AT: "some of the people of Israel" or "the leaders of Israel" (See: Metonymy)
directed me
Here "me" refers to Jeremiah.
translationWords
Jeremiah
prophet
fulfill
silver
Israel
lord
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7–9 27:7 Foreigners were Gentiles who died in Jerusalem. An…
27:7 Foreigners were Gentiles who died in Jerusalem. An asset whose owner could not be traced was used for public charity. In this instance, unclean money was used to buy an unclean place for unclean people.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.