Deuteronomy 32:15

Israel’s Rebellion

32:15 But Jeshurun ¹  became fat and kicked,

you ²  got fat, thick, and stuffed!

Then he deserted the God who made him,

and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.

Zechariah 11:13

11:13 The Lord then said to me, “Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum ³  at which they valued me!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter ⁴  at the temple ⁵  of the Lord.

Matthew 27:9-10

27:9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah ⁶  the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one whose price had been set by the people of Israel, ⁷  27:10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.” ⁸ 

John 1:10-11

1:10 He was in the world, and the world was created ⁹  by him, but ¹⁰  the world did not recognize ¹¹  him. 1:11 He came to what was his own, ¹²  but ¹³  his own people ¹⁴  did not receive him. ¹⁵ 

Acts 3:13-15

3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ¹⁶  the God of our forefathers, ¹⁷  has glorified ¹⁸  his servant ¹⁹  Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected ²⁰  in the presence of Pilate after he had decided ²¹  to release him. 3:14 But you rejected ²²  the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 3:15 You killed ²³  the Originator ²⁴  of life, whom God raised ²⁵  from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses! ²⁶ 

[32:15]  ¹ tn To make the continuity of the referent clear, some English versions substitute “Jacob” here (NAB, NRSV) while others replace “Jeshurun” with “Israel” (NCV, CEV, NLT) or “the Lord’s people” (TEV).

[32:15]  ² tc The LXX reads the third person masculine singular (“he”) for the MT second person masculine singular (“you”), but such alterations are unnecessary in Hebrew poetic texts where subjects fluctuate frequently and without warning.

[11:13]  ³ tn Heb “splendor of splendor” (אֶדֶר הַיְקָר, ’eder hayqar). This expression sarcastically draws attention to the incredibly low value placed upon the Lord’s redemptive grace by his very own people.

[11:13]  ⁴ tn The Syriac presupposes הָאוֹצָר (ha’otsar, “treasury”) for the MT הַיּוֹצֵר (hayyotser, “potter”) perhaps because of the lack of evidence for a potter’s shop in the area of the temple. The Syriac reading is followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV. Matthew seems to favor this when he speaks of Judas having thrown the thirty shekels for which he betrayed Jesus into the temple treasury (27:5-6). However, careful reading of the whole gospel pericope makes it clear that the money actually was used to purchase a “potter’s field,” hence Zechariah’s reference to a potter. The MT reading is followed by most other English versions.

[11:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “house” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[27:9]  ⁶ tc The problematic citing of Jeremiah for a text which appears to come from Zechariah has prompted certain scribes to alter it. Codex 22 has Ζαχαρίου (Zacariou, “Zechariah”) while Φ 33 omit the prophet’s name altogether. And codex 21 and the Latin ms l change the prophet’s name to “Isaiah,” in accordance with natural scribal proclivities to alter the text toward the most prominent OT prophet. But unquestionably the name Jeremiah is the wording of the original here, because it is supported by virtually all witnesses and because it is the harder reading. See D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” EBC 8:562-63, for a discussion of the textual and especially hermeneutical problem.

[27:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” an idiom referring to the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58).

[27:10]  ⁸ sn The source of this citation is debated (see the tc note on Jeremiah in v. 9 above for a related discussion). The quotation is most closely related to Zech 11:12-13, but the reference to Jeremiah in v. 9 as the source leads one to look there as well. There is no exact match for this text in Jeremiah, but there are some conceptual parallels: In Jer 18:2-6 the prophet visits a potter, and in Jer 32:6-15 he buys a field. D. A. Carson argues that Jer 19:1-13 is the source of the quotation augmented with various phrases drawn from Zech 11:12-13 (“Matthew,” EBC 8:563). W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison argue that the reference to Jeremiah is not meant to refer to one specific text from that prophet, but instead to signal that his writings as a whole are a source from which the quotation is drawn (Matthew [ICC], 3:568-69). Although the exact source of the citation is uncertain, it is reasonable to see texts from the books of Jeremiah and Zechariah both coming into play here.

[1:10]  ⁹ tn Or “was made”; Grk “came into existence.”

[1:10]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and,” but in context this is an adversative use of καί (kai) and is thus translated “but.”

[1:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “know.”

[1:11]  ¹² tn Grk “to his own things.”

[1:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “and,” but in context this is an adversative use of καί (kai) and is thus translated “but.”

[1:11]  ¹⁴ tn “People” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[1:11]  ¹⁵ sn His own people did not receive him. There is a subtle irony here: When the λόγος (logos) came into the world, he came to his own (τὰ ἴδια, ta idia, literally “his own things”) and his own people (οἱ ἴδιοι, Joi idioi), who should have known and received him, but they did not. This time John does not say that “his own” did not know him, but that they did not receive him (παρέλαβον, parelabon). The idea is one not of mere recognition, but of acceptance and welcome.

[3:13]  ¹⁶ tc ‡ The repetition of ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) before the names of Isaac and Jacob is found in Ì⁷⁴ א C (A D without article) 36 104 1175 pc lat. The omission of the second and third ὁ θεός is supported by B E Ψ 33 1739 Ï pc. The other time that Exod 3:6 is quoted in Acts (7:32) the best witnesses also lack the repeated ὁ θεός, but the three other times this OT passage is quoted in the NT the full form, with the thrice-mentioned θεός, is used (Matt 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37). Scribes would be prone to conform the wording here to the LXX; the longer reading is thus most likely not authentic. NA²⁷ has the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[3:13]  ¹⁷ tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”

[3:13]  ¹⁸ sn Has glorified. Jesus is alive, raised and active, as the healing illustrates so dramatically how God honors him.

[3:13]  ¹⁹ sn His servant. The term servant has messianic connotations given the context of the promise, the note of suffering, and the titles and functions noted in vv. 14-15.

[3:13]  ²⁰ tn Or “denied,” “disowned.”

[3:13]  ²¹ tn This genitive absolute construction could be understood as temporal (“when he had decided”) or concessive (“although he had decided”).

[3:14]  ²² tn Or “denied,” “disowned.”

[3:15]  ²³ tn Or “You put to death.”

[3:15]  ²⁴ tn Or “Founder,” “founding Leader.”

[3:15]  ²⁵ sn Whom God raised. God is the main actor here, as he testifies to Jesus and vindicates him.

[3:15]  ²⁶ tn Grk “whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the words “to this fact” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.