Matthew 27:9: Quoted from Jeremiah?

QuestionerIn Matthew 27:9, Matthew had quoted a scripture from the Old Testament, and had credited it to Jeremiah, but instead it’s actually from Zechariah. I was asked this question before. I really don’t know how to answer that?John MacArthur's AnswerThat’s very interesting that you asked that. It says, “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah...”Let me tell you what I think is the best explanation of that. He quotes a thing that’s spoken by Jeremiah and then it’s a quote that comes from Zechariah. There’re two reasons for that:1. Reason number one is, the message here contained is from Jeremiah. Okay? The exact words are taken from Zechariah, but Jeremiah was a prophet of greater priority. So, he refers it to Jeremiah.2. There’s a second reason, very, very important. In the Talmudic order of prophets, which the Jews listed in the Talmud, Jeremiah was the lead name in the role of the prophets. Therefore, a reference to Jeremiah could be a reference to the whole role of the prophets. So, it’s very possible that he’s just seeing the priority of Jeremiah as the lead prophet.Either one of those or both.

Option 1) doesn't make sense to me. If the message came from Jeremiah and Jeremiah is more important, why quote Zechariah instead ? (And where in Jeremiah could it mean ?)Option 2) would be dodgy but maybe possible if the text referred to a "scroll of Jeremiah" or similar. But it doesn't. It explicitly refers to a prophecy made by Jeremiah. The idea of Jeremiah as a generic name meaning any prophet doesn't make sense to me either.

Thank you for your comments. They are well taken. I need to read some more from the previous comments to come up with the understanding. Through you comments, I have changed my position, my solution to this is in the following for your consideration:1. Comparing Matthew 27:9 with the “related ” Zech 11: 12-13, we can see that Matthew 27:9 is not a direct quote from that of Zechariah. They have quite a difference between them in terms of wording and contents. (I checked with the manuscripts of Matthew 27:9, TR+ and WH+, they are no indication of discrepancy.)2. A simple and direct answer to this question could be just by accepting whatever the Scripture said that, it was not a written prophecy but was “spoken” by and “saying” of the prophet Jeremy, “ . which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, . (KJV)”.3. Prophets all were in the same spirit of prophecy; Rev. 19:10b said “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”. Prophet Zechariah could be in the same spirit with Prophet Jeremy to deliver the written prophecy. Again, “Prophet” Matthew was in the same spirit of the prophecy to deliver the prophecy. The wording, contents, and medium did not have to be the same because they were in the same spirit. Maybe Prophet Jeremy was the first one to deliver this prophecy. “In the Talmudic order of prophets, which the Jews listed in the Talmud, Jeremiah was the lead name in the role of the prophets. (J. MacArthur)”Zechariah and Matthew both were just following Jeremy in the same spirit of prophecy.Written or spoken is not the issue, isn’t it?

There's an even simpler conclusion, the author of Matthew made a mistake.People make mistakes all the time, and as we know, whoever wrote Matthew made a huge number of mistakes (the Virgin Birth is the most obvious one), so this could just be another one.

Written or spoken is very much the issue. If Matthew referred to a written copy then the title of the scroll might be used. Spoken, of course, refers to the original prophecy and not any written work at all - and therefore must name the prophet, not the title of the text.

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1. Comparing Matthew 27:9 with the “related ” Zech 11: 12-13, we can see that Matthew 27:9 is not a direct quote from that of Zechariah.

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Obviously not since they are written in different languages ! However, it is clear that Zecharaiah is meant.

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2. A simple and direct answer to this question could be just by accepting whatever the Scripture said that, it was not a written prophecy but was “spoken” by and “saying” of the prophet Jeremy, “ . which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, . (KJV)”.

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By which you mean assuming a prophecy that nobody now has heard of - and likely nobody in Matthew's time knew either.

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3. Prophets all were in the same spirit of prophecy; Rev. 19:10b said “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”. Prophet Zechariah could be in the same spirit with Prophet Jeremy to deliver the written prophecy.

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In that case why bother naming a prophet at all ?

The prophets and prophecy no where in the scripture, they are still referring to by the Scripture:Matt. 2: 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.Spoken not recorded.

Again, it IS relevant when working out whether Matthew is referring to the title of a scroll or directly to the prophet who allegedly spoke those words.Of course the "prophecy" referred to in Matthew 2:23 is one that doesn't seem to exist. (I'd guess that it's a misreading of Judges 13:5 unless you know of anything better)

Example of Matthew’s direct quote here,Psalm 110:1 The LORDH3068 saidH5002 unto my Lord,H113 SitH3427 thou at my right hand,H3225 untilH5704 I makeH7896 thine enemiesH341 thy footstool.H1916 H7272Matt. 22: 44 TheG3588 LORDG2962 saidG2036 unto myG3450 Lord,G2962 SitG2521 thou onG1537 myG3450 right hand,G1188 tillG2193 I makeG5087 thineG4675 enemiesG2190 thyG4675 footstool?G5286 G4228Evidence that Matthew not quoting from ZechariahZec 11:12 And I saidH559 untoH413 them, IfH518 ye think good,H2895 H5869 giveH3051 me my price;H7939 and ifH518 not,H3808 forbear.H2308 So they weighed forH8254 (H853) my priceH7939 thirtyH7970 pieces of silver.H3701
Zec 11:13 And the LORDH3068 saidH559 untoH413 me, CastH7993 it untoH413 the potter:H3335 a goodlyH145 priceH3366 thatH834 I was prised atH3365 ofH4480 H5921 them. And I tookH3947 the thirtyH7970 pieces of silver,H3701 and castH7993 them toH413 the potterH3335 in the houseH1004 of the LORD.H3068Matt. 27:9 ThenG5119 was fulfilledG4137 thatG3588 which was spokenG4483 byG1223 JeremyG2408 theG3588 prophet,G4396 saying,G3004 AndG2532 they tookG2983 theG3588 thirtyG5144 pieces of silver,G694 theG3588 priceG5092 of him that was valued,G5091 whomG3739 they ofG575 the childrenG5207 of IsraelG2474 did value;G5091
Mat 27:10 AndG2532 gaveG1325 themG846 forG1519 theG3588 potter'sG2763 field,G68 asG2505 the LordG2962 appointedG4929 me.G3427
It is obvious that at least some phrases and terms are missing from each other, for instance,“whom they of the children of Israel did value ”, “And the LORD said unto me”, “in the house of the LORD” .Matthew was not quoting from Zechariah.

You do realise that comparing an English translation of Hebrew and an English translation of Greek isn't that helpful ? It can't show an exact quote (it can't even BE an exact quote).
You'd do better comparing Matthew with the Septuagint (the likely source for a Greek quote from the Tanakh).The word numbers aren't any help eitherBut the question isn't whether it was an exact quote - the question is what was Matthew referring to. Zechariah is the clear match - and you won't find a better one in Jeremiah.
Especially when you consider that your "missing" "terms and phrases" are more differences in the writing, than the meaning.

Please compare the Greek and Hebrew. I understand the issue of septualgint. If contents are different such as many phrases and terms are missing, they are not "quoting" from each other. However, the case of Matthew 22:44 and Psalm 110:1 YES.Especially when the Scripture said that it was from the "spoken" words of Jeremy and we could pinned down the hard evidence of the otherwise, I think it should be good enough for us.Thank you for helping me seeing the truth.

Correction --... We could pinned down the ...

Sorry, Correction again -... We could NOT pinned down for the ....

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Please compare the Greek and Hebrew. I understand the issue of septualgint.

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Obviously you don't. If Matthew was quoting he would be quoting the Greek Septuagint. Not the Hebrew text.

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If contents are different such as many phrases and terms are missing, they are not "quoting" from each other.

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As I pointed out, they aren't that different. All the elements you mentioned as "missing" are there, just not in the exact same words.

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Especially when the Scripture said that it was from the "spoken" words of Jeremy and we could pinned down the hard evidence of the otherwise, I think it should be good enough for us.

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Sorry, but feeble excuses are not good enough for me. The idea that there was a lost prophecy of Jeremiah that happened to so closely match Zechariah 11:12-13 is highly implausible. Far more likely it was Zechariah that was meant and the author of Matthew just got it wrong.

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