One day during Holy Week, a certain preacher misspoke
and said that Judas sold Christ not for 30 pieces of silver, but for 40...
The merchant standing among the people leaned over to his friend and said:
“That means at the current exchange rate…”
Church anecdote of the 18th century

However, first of all, it should be noted that we will never know the real amount for which Judas sold his Teacher. 30 pieces of silver were put into the hands of Judah only in order to retroactively justify the Old Testament prophecy from the Book of the prophet Zechariah: “Then the poor of the sheep who are waiting for Me will know that this is the word of the Lord. And I will say to them, if it pleases you, then give Me My wages; if not, don't give; and they will weigh thirty pieces of silver in payment to me. And the Lord said to me: throw them into the church storehouse - the high price at which they valued Me! And I took thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter” (chapter 11, 11-13).

It is no coincidence that 30 pieces of silver as payment for the betrayal of Judas are mentioned only in the Gospel of Matthew (26.15): “And he said, What will you give me, and I will deliver him to you? They offered him thirty pieces of silver.", in the Gospel of Mark (14.11), the oldest of the four, the specific amount is not indicated: And when they heard, they rejoiced and promised to give him pieces of silver., the Gospel of Luke (22:5) only says: “They were delighted and agreed to give him money”, and the Gospel of John does not say at all that betrayal was paid.

It is no secret that many places in the Gospel biography of Jesus are entirely conditioned by the corresponding prophecies from the Old Testament. In the text of the Gospels, all these places are marked, and they can be safely attributed to literary fiction. Episode with 30 pieces of silver — from among them.

But this is not the point, but to understand what financial and economic associations 30 pieces of silver evoked among the first readers of the Gospels.

Srebrenik, which appears in the Gospels, is usually identified with the silver shekel (sickle, in Greek - stater). In the Bible, the word kesef (silver, piece of silver) is sometimes used as a synonym for the expression "silver shekel" (Gen. 37:28; Judg. 9:4; 17:4; II Sam. 18:11). Moreover, at the time of the Second Temple (the end of the 6th century BC - 70 AD), the shekel was in use (see illustration), which was actually a half-shekel. This lightweight "sacred shekel" (weighing 13-14 grams of silver) was the annual tax of each Jew on the Temple.

Thus, 30 pieces of silver equal approximately 400 g of silver.
What could be bought in Judea of ​​the 1st century with this money?

In the Book of Exodus (chapter 21, 28-32) 30 pieces of silver are fine in favor of the owner for a slave or a slave who was gored to death by someone else's ox (often this amount is incorrectly interpreted as price slave).

The shekel was equal in weight to four denarii or four drachmas. The Greeks called the shekel - "tetradrachm".
30 pieces of silver, therefore, were equal to 120 denarii. A denarius was paid per day to a soldier or hired worker. Thus, we can talk about the then "average wage" for 4 months.
Judas valued the incense spent by Magdalene on Jesus at 300 denarii. This is 2.5 times more than thirty pieces of silver.

The Gospel also says that after the suicide of Judas, the money he received was used to buy "the potter's land" for burials, i.e. a certain area of ​​clay soil (like a cheap summer cottage in the Moscow region). But this information is doubtful, since it again refers to the prophecy of Jeremiah: "Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah came true, who says: and they took thirty pieces of silver, the price of the Priced One, Whom the sons of Israel valued, and gave them for the potter's land, as the Lord told me" .(Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, 9-10).
Moreover, Jeremiah himself gives completely different figures: “And I bought a field from Anameel, my uncle’s son, which is in Anathoth, and weighed out for him seven shekels of silver and ten pieces of silver” (Book of Jeremiah, chapter 32, 9).

Another important point is that the prophets Jeremiah and Zechariah lived in the era of the First Temple and, therefore, their shekel was not equal to the gospel shekel, which the evangelists, of course, did not know. The weight of the shekel in more ancient times was determined according to two standards - Babylonian and Phoenician, each of which in turn was double, light (ordinary) and heavy ("royal"). The Babylonian heavy shekel was equal to 22-23 g, light - 11-11.5 g, Phoenician heavy - 14.5-15.3 g, light - 7.3-7.7 g. It is difficult to say which of them is in mind in Old Testament prophecy. In any case, it must be remembered that in the prophecies of the Old Testament, the life of the Son of God was actually estimated somewhat differently than in the time of Jesus, despite the formal coincidence of the amount: 30 pieces of silver in the Old and New Testaments are different money ..

There are two ways to bring the 30 pieces of silver incriminated to Judas closer to the prices of our days.
First, the cost of silver. November 21, 2013 The Bank of Russia estimates 1 g of silver at 21.52 rubles. At these rates, Judas would have signed for 8,600 rubles, like a normal Russian pensioner. Why our government considers pensioners Judas is another question.

In the second method of calculation, one should focus on the comparative cost of labor (we take a segment of 4 months). The average salary of Russians in 2013 is approximately 27,000 rubles. For 4 months it turns out a little more than 100 thousand. Well, probably, for such a sum, even today there will be those who want to imprint a kiss on the cheek of their doomed victim. And then - for a week in Paris.

thirty pieces of silver

thirty pieces of silver
From the Bible. The New Testament (Gospel of Matthew, ch. 26, verses 14-16) says that Judas received thirty pieces of silver for betraying Jesus:
“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said: what will you give me, and I will betray him to you? They offered him thirty pieces of silver; and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to betray him.”
Symbol of the price of betrayal (contempt.).

Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: "Lokid-Press". Vadim Serov. 2003 .

thirty pieces of silver

The expression used in the meaning of the price of betrayal is based on the gospel story (Matt. 26:15) about the thirty pieces of silver received by Judas for betraying Jesus.

Dictionary of winged words. Plutex. 2004

See what "Thirty pieces of silver" is in other dictionaries:

Book. The price of betrayal. /i> Based on the gospel story about the thirty pieces of silver received by Judas, who betrayed Jesus Christ. BMS 1998, 546 ...

thirty pieces of silver- wing. sl. The expression used in the meaning of the price of betrayal is based on the gospel story (Mat. 26:15) about the thirty pieces of silver received by Judas for betraying Jesus... Universal additional practical explanatory dictionary by I. Mostitsky

Adj., number of synonyms: 6 issued (60) betrayed (24) sold (46) ... Synonym dictionary

sell for thirty pieces of silver- For thirty sreniks / breniks to sell (betray) Betray someone l. for selfish reasons. From the gospel story about Judas, who betrayed Christ for 30 silver coins... Dictionary of many expressions

Whom. Book. Unapproved betray someone. for selfish reasons. /i> From the Gospel. BTS, 1255 ... Big dictionary of Russian sayings

- (pieces of silver) according to the Gospels, the payment for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ. The expression thirty pieces of silver is the payment for betrayal ... Historical dictionary

- (pieces of silver), according to the Gospel, the payment for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ. The expression thirty pieces of silver means payment for betrayal ... Modern Encyclopedia

- (pieces of silver) according to the Gospel, the payment for which Judas Iscariot betrayed his teacher Jesus Christ. The expression thirty pieces of silver means payment for betrayal ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

thirty pieces of silver- (pieces of silver), according to the Gospel, the payment for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ. The expression " thirty pieces of silver" means a payment for betrayal. … Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (pieces of silver), according to the Gospel, the payment for which Judas Iscariot betrayed his teacher Jesus Christ. The expression "thirty pieces of silver" means payment for betrayal. * * * THIRTY SILVER UNITS THIRTY SILVER UNITS (pieces of silver), according to ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Books

• Thirty pieces of silver in ammunition, Alexander Tamonikov. In the secret laboratory of the FSB, an ultra-modern sniper rifle "Kolovrat" has been developed. Few people know the information about the time and place of her tests, including Major Kolodin. It's on him...

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Mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 26:14-16 and Matt. 27:3-10), the Gospel of Mark (Mark 14:10-10) and the Gospel of Luke (Luke 22:1-6). In the last two cases without specifying the exact amount.

Usually 30 pieces of silver are identified with Tyrian staters (sickles, shekels) or ancient Greek tetradrachms.

The plot of the New Testament, references in the Old Testament

Having betrayed Christ, Judas returned the money to the high priests, and with it land was purchased for the burial of the wanderers:

“3 Then Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he was condemned, and repenting, brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, I have sinned in betraying innocent blood. And they said to him: What is it to us? take a look yourself. 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he went out and went and strangled himself. 6 And the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury of the church, because this is the price of blood. 7 And having taken counsel, they bought with them the potter's field, for the burial of strangers; 8 Therefore the land is called "the land of blood" to this day. 9 Then came true what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, who says: And they took thirty pieces of silver, the price of the Priced One, whom the children of Israel valued, 10 and gave them for the potter's ground, as the Lord told me. Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27

We are talking about the following passage in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah:

“6 And Jeremiah said, This was the word of the Lord to me: 7 Behold, your uncle Anameel, the son of Sallum your uncle, is coming to you, saying, “Buy yourself my field that is in Anathoth, because by right of kinship you must buy it.” 8 And Anameel, my uncle's son, came to me, according to the word of the Lord, in the courtyard of the guard, and said to me: “Buy my field, which is in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is yours and the right of redemption is yours; buy yourself." Then I knew that it was the word of the Lord. 9 And I bought a field from Anameel my uncle's son, which is in Anathoth, and I weighed out to him seven shekels of silver and ten pieces of silver; 10 And he wrote it in a book, and sealed it, and called witnesses to it, and weighed the money in the balance. 11 And I took the bill of sale, both sealed according to the law and the statute, and open; 12 And I gave this bill of sale to Baruch the son of Niriah the son of Maaseah, in the eyes of Anameel my uncle's son, and in the eyes of the witnesses who signed this bill of sale, in the eyes of all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard; 13 And he commanded Baruch in their presence: 14 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these records, this bill of sale, which is sealed, and this record that is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, so that they remain there for many days.
Book of Jeremiah, chapter 32

In addition, exactly 30 pieces of silver are already mentioned in the Book of the Prophet Zechariah:

“8 And I will cut off three of the shepherds in one month; and my soul will turn away from them, just as their soul turns away from me. 9 Then I will say, I will not shepherd you: let the dying one die, and the perishing one let it perish, but let those that remain eat the flesh one another. 10 And I will take my rod of favor and break it, to destroy the covenant that I have made with all nations. 11 And it will be destroyed in that day, and then the poor of the sheep who wait for Me will know that this is the word of the Lord. 12 And I will say to them, If it pleases you, then give Me My wages; if not, don't give; and they will weigh thirty pieces of silver in payment to me. 13 And the Lord said to me: Throw them into the church storehouse, the high price at which they valued Me! And I took thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.”
Zechariah, chapter 11

The plot also echoes the following passage from the book Exodus, which speaks of thirty shekels of silver, in which a slave who died a violent death is valued:

“28 If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then stone the ox and not eat its flesh; and the owner of the ox is not to blame; 29 But if the ox was vigorous both yesterday and the third day, and his master, having been informed of this, did not guard him, and he killed a man or a woman, then the ox should be stoned, and its owner put to death; 30 If a ransom is imposed on him, let him give the ransom for his soul, which shall be imposed on him. 31 If he gores a son, or if he gores a daughter, then deal with him according to the same law. 32 If an ox gores a male or female servant, then their master shall be paid thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.”
Exodus chapter 21

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thirty pieces of silver
in original
other Greek αργύρια
In Russian, the following forms of writing can be found: "srebrenik", "srebrennik", "silver", "silver", "silver", "silver".

Identification of pieces of silver with specific coins

It is not clear from the text of the New Testament which specific silver coins are meant. These could be Roman denarii or quinarii, ancient Greek drachms, didrachms, staters or tetradrachms. However, usually 30 pieces of silver are identified with Tyrian staters (sickles, shekels) or tetradrachms.

Such identification with shekels (shekels) is also important from a doctrinal point of view, since it allows us to connect the text of the New Testament with several verses of the Old - in particular, with a prophecy from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah and a slave from the book of Exodus valued at 30 shekels.

In New Testament times, one drachma was equal to a denarius. The denarius, in turn, was a standard daily wage for a skilled agricultural worker (see, for example, the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard Matt. 20:1-15) or a Roman legionnaire. If we accept the version that the piece of silver is a tetradrachm (4 drachmas, equal to 4 denarii), then 30 pieces of silver is 120 denarii or a four-month salary with a seven-day working week. The purchasing power of 30 pieces of silver is evidenced by the fact that for this money a plot of land was bought for a cemetery near the capital of Judea - Jerusalem.