Why Was Jesus Sold for Exactly 30 Pieces of SILVER? It Wasn't Random

Why did the priests offer Judas exactly thirty pieces of silver, and why did nobody bargain? Most of us know the story of the betrayal by heart. But the number in the middle of it was not random. In this study we follow those thirty coins from the purse Judas carried to the temple floor where he threw them, and from there to a field outside Jerusalem that you can still visit today. Along the way we look at the silver shekel of Tyre and the face stamped on it, a law about an ox in Exodus 21 that explains the number better than most sermons, the Field of Blood in the Valley of Hinnom and the first-century tombs found there in 1989, and a famous puzzle in Matthew 27:9, where Matthew names Jeremiah for words found in Zechariah. That puzzle leads to the heart of the story: a prophet who threw thirty pieces of silver into the house of the Lord long before Judas did, and the words God spoke over that price. Where the video draws on history, archaeology or interpretation rather than the words of the Bible itself, it says so clearly. Which surprised you more: the law about the ox, or the field for strangers? Tell me in the comments. And subscribe to Deeper Than Sunday for one Bible story you thought you knew, read slowly, every week. 📖 Scripture and sources: Every passage and historical source mentioned in the video is listed here so you can read it for yourself. Scripture Matthew 26:14-16 Matthew 26:31 Matthew 27:3-10 Mark 14:10-11 Luke 22:3-6 Acts 1:18-19 Exodus 21:28-32 Genesis 37:26-28 Deuteronomy 23:18 Matthew 20:1-2 Matthew 20:28 Philippians 2:7 Jeremiah 18:1-4 Jeremiah 19:1-11 Jeremiah 32:6-9 Zechariah 11:4-14 Zechariah 13:7 Matthew 28:19 Historical and archaeological sources Mishnah, Bekhorot 8:7 (Tyrian silver for payments required by the Torah) Mishnah, Challah 4:11 (Ariston of Apamea) Eusebius, Onomasticon (Akeldama in the Valley of Hinnom) Gideon Avni and Zvi Greenhut, The Akeldama Tombs: Three Burial Caves in the Kidron Valley, Jerusalem, IAA Reports 1, Israel Antiquities Authority, 1996 Gordon Franz, "The Tyrian Shekel and the Temple of Jerusalem," Bible and Spade, 2002 Hunt Museum, Limerick, Ireland: silver decadrachm of Syracuse in a medieval gold mount (accession MG 034) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Chapters 0:00 The Coins on the Temple Floor 2:49 What Judas Asked For 3:43 The Silver Shekel of Tyre 7:09 A Law About an Ox 10:40 The Price of Blood 12:55 The Field of Blood You Can Still Visit 15:32 Did Matthew Get the Name Wrong? 18:15 Zechariah's Thirty Pieces of Silver 21:59 What This Means for You