Though this verse (concerning betrayal of Jesus) is cited in Zechariah 11:12-13, why is the prophet Jeremiah referred here?
Matthew 27:10
ESV - 10 And they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.
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I think that Jeremiah 19:1-11 discusses this. In Jeremiah 19:1, Jeremiah is told by the Lord, "Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.'" and "Go out to the part of the HInnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate." (19:2). The Potsherd Gate is believed to be near the entrance to the "potters field" which is where potters discarded all their worthless broken pots, or "potsherds". In verse 6, the Lord says "The time will soon come that people will no longer call this place the Topheth or the Hinnon valley. But they will call this valley, the Valley of Slaughter." Could this also then be known as the "Field of Blood" (Matthew 27:8)? in Jeremiah vs. 10, the Lord commands Jeremiah "Now break the jar in front of those who have come here with you." So Jeremiah breaks the pot (bought for a price) into potsherds, and casts them into the "potters field." Since the Bible is inerrant, and Matthew says in Matthew 27:9, "Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah...", I believe this section in Jeremiah could be what he is speaking of.
It is not cited in Jeremiah, however that is not to say that Jeremiah did not speak it. Prophets did not always write what they spoke, nor did they always speak what they wrote. This explanation is detailed on the site Precepts if you wish to follow this link. http://precepts.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/jeremiahs-pieces-of-silver/
The OT is divided into three sections - the Law, Writings and Prophets. Many times, Jews would refer to the writing of ALL of the Prophets as Jeremiah since his book was first in the order of the prophetic books. Remember, Matthew's audience was primarily the Jews. He constantly referred to (and often paraphrased) the OT to show them that Jesus was foretold in the OT so he would naturally use the customary way in which the Jews referenced the OT.
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