Another claimed prophetic fulfillment which has nothing whatsoever to do with the passage which supposedly "prophesies." Z'charyah / Zechariah 11 is not a messianic prophecy. No one is betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (or prophesied that someone will, in the future, be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver). The "thirty pieces of silver" are not even thirty pieces of silver in Z'charyah / Zechariah 11. Speaking metaphorically in Z'charyah / Zechariah 11 G-d is stating that He will exile the Jewish people to Babylon for seventy years because they have rejected Him -- but He will return them to the land of Israel do the fact that there are thirty righteous men (the thirty pieces of silver) who warrant a return to Israel. "And I said to them: "If it pleases you, give [Me] My hire, and if not, forbear." And they weighed out My hire: thirty pieces of silver." Z'charyah / Zechariah 11:12. G-d is speaking (through the prophet) and saying if you fulfill my commandments (give [Me] My hire) I will not do it (forbear) for the payment of thirty righteous men who do respect me (thirty pieces of silver). The thirty pieces of silver are the, metaphorically, the pay of the shepherd (G-d). You have to start at the beginning of the chapter to understand what is happening. The beginning of chapter 11 speaks of the down fall of the nations and "the flock to be slain" (11:4) are the Jews. Jews are sold like animals (11:4-5). The two staffs G-d speaks of using (11:7) are being pleasant (נוֹעַם / no'am means pleasantness) when we are good and our punisher when we are wicked (per Radak). When G-d says he removed 3 shepherds (11:8) He is speaking of three kings He removed (Jewish kings). Now you come to 11:10 and G-d speaks of a covenant He made with the non-Jewish nations that they would not harm the Jews. (He broke His staff of pleasantness). He says to them "if you want G-d (Me) to be your shepherd (verse 11:12) then you mus pay My fee. What is G-d's fee? To be good people. To keep their end of the covenant and not harm the Jews that were given to them as slaves and victims. The verse goes on to say that only thirty people were truly righteous. These are the thirty silver coins. When you get to verse 13 the "30 coins" are thrown into the Temple (Precious Stronghold). Z'charyah / Zechariah is saying the Temple will be rebuilt because of the righteous deeds of these 30 people. They alone paid G-d's fee. This has nothing to do with anyone being betrayed, let alone betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. The opposite is true. It is G-d who feels rejected, but He realizes there are thirty righteous men (the opposite of someone who betrays you), and for the merits of these thirty men G-d will redeem the entire nation of Israel (the Jewish people) and return them from exile. 11:14 goes on to speak of the destruction of Judah which will happen as well of that of Israel (the Northern Kingdom). 11:15-16 are a reference to Rome. The Romans didn't pay attention to the decimated ones (the Judeans). He will not heal the broken one, he will not nurture the weak ones -- and this continues to this very day. Before the messiah comes the nations will attack Jerusalem (chapter 12). Clearly this is not about the messiah, clearly it has nothing to do with a payment for betraying the messiah -- the mere fact that thirty pieces of silver are mentioned is tied to the story in the Christian bible that Judas was paid with thirty pieces of silver. There is no connection whatsoever.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Photos used under Creative Commons from dionhinchcliffe, paulasenciogonzalez, paulasenciogonzalez, amy32080, petersbar, Aaron Stokes, amboo who?, Damian Gadal, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, SharonaGott, Udo Schröter, paulasenciogonzalez, Joybot, zeevveez, ianmunroe, freeqstyler, quinn.anya, Ivy Nichols, Groman123, UnknownNet Photography, torbakhopper, “Caveman Chuck” Coker, CarbonNYC [in SF!], dgoomany, Lion Multimedia Production U.S.A., oldandsolo, dbeck03