According to CNN’s Freedom Project, dedicated to ending modern-day slavery, “In 2009, the average price of a slave was $90.”īased on these interpretations, Judas could have been paid anywhere between $90 and $3,000 in today’s sums. On the other hand, various biblical scholars instead point to Exodus, where it describes thirty pieces of silver as the price of a slave. In this interpretation, Judas would have been paid about $3,000 in today’s value. I n comparison, a modern-day US military soldier earns about $25,000 a year. A Roman soldier, for example, was paid about 225 denarii per year. One theory is that the pieces of silver used to pay Judas were equivalent to a Roman denarius. There are several different interpretations. (Exodus 21:32) But what does this all mean in today’s current economy? If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. So I took the thirty shekels of silver and cast them into the treasury in the house of the Lord. (Zechariah 11:12-14) Read more: The archaeological evidence of Pontius PilateĪdditionally, in the book of Exodus, thirty pieces of silver was the cost of a slave who was killed. Then the Lord said to me, “Cast it into the treasury”-the lordly price at which I was paid off by them. Then I said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty shekels of silver. In the book of Zechariah, the prophet is paid the same amount for his daily wage as a shepherd. This is not the first time the exact same amount of thirty pieces of silver are mentioned in the Bible. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. Let’s first look at the Gospel passage found in the book of Matthew. Read more: Why isn’t Judas Iscariot a saint? However, we can at the very least examine the price Judas was paid, and see if the money was tempting enough to make a man hand over his friend to a potential death sentence. It is certainly difficult, not to say impossible, trying to go back in time to discover the exact intentions of Judas Iscariot. Whereas the Gospels of John (13:27) and Luke (22:3) suggest that Judas possessed by Satan, the Gospel of Matthew (27:1–10) presents the reader with a Judas who, after learning that Jesus was to be crucified, attempted to return the money he had been paid for his betrayal to the chief priests, and commits suicide by hanging. Even the Gospels seem to differ on the matter. If Judas betrayed Jesus for the money somehow remains an open question.
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