^27:3Now when⁵ Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus⁶ had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders, ^27:4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!” ^27:5So⁷ Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself. ^27:6The⁸ chief priests took the silver and said, “It is not lawful to put this into the temple treasury, since it is blood money.” ^27:7After⁹ consulting together they bought the Potter’s Field with it, as a burial place for foreigners. ^27:8For this reason that field has been called the “Field of Blood” to this day. ^27:9Then what was spoken by Jeremiah¹⁰ the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one whose price had been set by the people of Israel,¹¹^27:10and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”¹²

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Footnotes

5 Grk “Then when.” Here τότε (tote) has been translated as “now” to indicate a somewhat parenthetical interlude in the sequence of events.
6 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the leaders’ response to Judas.
8 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
9 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
10 The problematic citing of Jeremiah for a text which appears to come from Zechariah has prompted certain scribes to alter it. Codex 22 has Ζαχαρίου (Zachariou, “Zechariah”) while Φ 33 omit the prophet’s name altogether. And codex 21 and the Latin l change the prophet’s name to “Isaiah,” in accordance with natural scribal proclivities to alter the text toward the most prominent OT prophet. But unquestionably the name Jeremiah is the wording of the original here, because it is supported by virtually all witnesses and because it is the harder reading. See D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” 8:, for a discussion of the textual and especially hermeneutical problem.
11 Grk “the sons of Israel,” an idiom referring to the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58).
12 The source of this citation is debated (see the note on Jeremiah in v. above for a related discussion). The quotation is most closely related to Zech 11:12–13, but the reference to Jeremiah in v. 9 as the source leads one to look there as well. There is no exact match for this text in Jeremiah, but there are some conceptual parallels: In Jer 18:2–6 the prophet visits a potter, and in Jer 32:6–15 he buys a field. D. A. Carson argues that Jer 19:1–13 is the source of the quotation augmented with various phrases drawn from Zech 11:12–13 (“Matthew,” 8:). W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison argue that the reference to Jeremiah is not meant to refer to one specific text from that prophet, but instead to signal that his writings as a whole are a source from which the quotation is drawn (Matthew [], 3:). Although the exact source of the citation is uncertain, it is reasonable to see texts from the books of Jeremiah and Zechariah both coming into play here.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, was full of remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said.

“What’s that to us?” they said. “See to it yourself!” So he threw the silver into the temple and departed. Then he went and hanged himself.

The chief priests took the silver and said, “It’s not permitted to put it into the temple treasury, since it is blood money.” They conferred together and bought the potter’s field with it as a burial place for foreigners. Therefore that field has been called “Field of Blood” to this day. Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him whose price was set by the Israelites, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.

NLTNew Living Translation

When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.”

“What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.”

Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

The leading priests picked up the coins. “It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said, “since it was payment for murder.” After some discussion they finally decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners. That is why the field is still called the Field of Blood. This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that says,

“They took the thirty pieces of silver—

the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel,

and purchased the potter’s field,

as the Lord directed.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Then when Judas, the one who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” And throwing the silver coins into the temple he departed. And he went away and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the silver coins and said, “It is not permitted to put them into the temple treasury, because it is blood money.” And after taking counsel, they purchased with them the Potter’s Field, for a burial place for strangers. (For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood until today.) Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, who said, “And they took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one who had been priced, on whom a price had been set by the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, just as the Lord directed me.”

KJV 1900King James Version

Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.

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