| Matthew 27:7 | |
|---|---|
← 27:6 27:8 → | |
 Awood-engraving of J.D. Woodward's sketch or watercolor of the monastery at Aceldama, Akeldama, or Hakeldama: the "Field of Blood" or "Potters' Field" ofJerusalem. | |
| Book | Gospel of Matthew |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
Matthew 27:7 is the seventh verse ofthe twenty-seventh chapter of theGospel of Matthew in theNew Testament. This verse continues the final story ofJudas Iscariot. In the previous verses Judas has killed himself, but not before casting thethirty pieces of silver into the Temple. In this verse the priests decide to buy apotter's field with them.
The originalKoine Greek, according toWestcott and Hort, reads:
In theKing James Version of the Bible it is translated as:
The modernWorld English Bible translates the passage as:
For a collection of other versions seeBibleHub Matthew 27:7
Burying the dead was an important religious duty, but cemeteries were ritually unclean. Using impure money to purchase land for a cemetery is thus a logical idea.[1]
This verse is the origin of the termpotter's field for a burying place for the unknown and indigent. That it is a field owned by a potter is directly linked to the quote fromZechariah that appears at27:9 and27:10, and is likely the result of a confused translation of the source, which more logically refers to a foundry for making coins. Matthew refers to it asthe potter's field, implying that was piece of land well known by that name.[2]
That the field is a burial place for strangers is not borrowed from Hebrew Bible sources. Some have interpretedstrangers as including foreigners and gentiles. Robert Gundry translatesξένοις asaliens, and feels the verse refers specifically to Gentiles, and that a cemetery for non-Jews was a doubly impure use of the unclean money.[3]Craig Blomberg suggests that the use of theblood money to buy a burial ground for foreigners may hint at the idea that "Jesus' death makes salvation possible for all the peoples of the world, including theGentiles."[4] Other scholars disagree that the cemetery is intended for Gentiles.Raymond E. Brown notes that in this era the Jewish authorities would have had no need to worry about the burying of Gentiles, the Roman authorities would have taken care of that. Brown believes that the cemetery was intended for Jews who died while visiting Jerusalem.[5]
If the field was intended for the burial of Jews from beyond Jerusalem who died in the city, it opens the possibility that the field was imagined by the priests for the burial of either the recently deceased Judas or the soon to be Jesus, both of whom meet those criteria. While possible, there is no evidence within the Gospel, or in other traditions that this is the case.[6]
| Preceded by Matthew 27:6 | Gospel of Matthew Chapter 27 | Succeeded by Matthew 27:8 |