SUMMARY
The sheep merchants give the shepherd his wages, thirty shekels of silver. The LORD commands him to throw them into the LORD’s treasury.
ANALYSIS
The prophet assumes the position of shepherd, replacing the false shepherds (11:4-11). He sets out to fulfill his task with two staffs, Favor and Unity. The puzzling passage that follows implies that the shepherd left the flock when the sheep abandoned the covenant; when the shepherd was paid his wages, thirty shekels of silver, he flung them into the treasury of the LORD.
Judas’ betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and his subsequently throwing them back in the Temple is cited by Matthew 27:3-10 as a fulfillment of this prophecy, although most New Testament manuscripts attribute it to Jeremiah.
