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Summary
- Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver; Matthew alone names the sum (Matthew 26:15), while Mark and Luke say the chief priests promised money (Mark 14:11; Luke 22:5).
- The coins were most likely shekels of Tyre, silver coins of about 14 grams, the coin Jewish law used for sacred payments (Mishnah, Bekhorot 8:7).
- A shekel was worth four drachmas, each about a denarius, and a denarius was a labourer’s daily wage (Matthew 20:2), so the sum was about 120 days’ pay.
- Today that is about $6,960 at the US federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour (2026), or at most about $780 in silver at the price of 20 October 2026.
- Thirty shekels was what the Law paid when an ox killed a slave (Exodus 21:32), and Matthew hears in the sum Zechariah’s thirty pieces cast “to the potter” (Zechariah 11:12–13).
- Judas threw the money back; the chief priests used it to buy the potter’s field to bury strangers in, called the field of blood (Matthew 27:3–8; Acts 1:18–19).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (public domain, via BibleGateway): Exodus 21:32; Zechariah 11:12–13; Matthew 20:2, 26:14–16, 26:34, 26:75, 27:3–10; Mark 14:10–11; Luke 22:3, 22:5; John 12:6, 13:27; Acts 1:18–19. Also cited: Jeremiah 18:2–3, 19:1–13, 32:6–9.
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, New American Bible, Revised Edition, notes on Matthew 17:24–27 (bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/17), Matthew 27:5–10 (bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/27) and Acts 1:18 (bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/1)
- Mishnah Bekhorot 8:7, translated by Joshua Kulp (Mishnah Yomit), Sefaria: sefaria.org/Mishnah_Bekhorot.8.7
- Harvard Art Museums, Shekel of Tyre, object 2002.129.17: harvardartmuseums.org
- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), “Denarius” and “Drachma”, via Bible Hub: biblehub.com/topical/d/denarius.htm; biblehub.com/topical/d/drachma.htm
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, “Minimum Wage”: dol.gov
- Joseph Hostetler, “Current price of silver as of Tuesday, October 20, 2026”, Fortune: fortune.com
- W. H. Kent, “Judas Iscariot”, Catholic Encyclopedia (1910), New Advent: newadvent.org/cathen/08539a.htm
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