Nestled in between the references to this lordly price of thirty pieces of silver (which, as we shall recall is the fine established in Exodus to be paid for an injured slave), we find a reference to Zechariah 13:7, which occurs after Jesus and his disciples are celebrating Passover and have gone to the Mount of Olives. Matthew 26:31 reads:

Then Jesus says to them: all of you shall stumble in me in this night, for it has been written:

Strike the shepherd, 

And the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.

Here it should be noted that the verb I have translated as “stumble” σκανδαλίζω skandalizō, means to stumble or give offense (and is also the root of our english word “scandalize”).  This citation, too, more closely resembles the NRSV and thus the Hebrew text.  It is worth, I think, refreshing our memory of the whole passage of Zechariah 13:7-9, which is included below.  The NRSV and LXX texts are compared line by line (with LXX in italics). 

[7] “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,

“Sword, raise up against my shepherd

Against the man who is my associate,” says the LORD of hosts.

And against my male citizen”, says the Lord Almighty.

Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered;

Strike the shepherds and remove the sheep, 

I will turn my hand against the little ones.

And I shall bring my hand against the shepherds.

[8] In the whole land, says the LORD,

And it shall be in all the land, says the Lord,

Two-thirds shall be cut off and perish

The two measures shall be utterly destroyed and shall be abandoned

And one third shall be left alive.

But the third shall be left behind in it.

[9] And I will put this third into the fire,

And I shall pass through the third by means of fire and I shall purify them,

Refine them as one refines silver

As silver is purified

And test them as gold is tested.

And I shall test them as gold is tested. 

They will call on my name,

This one shall called my name,

And I will answer them.

And I shall hearken to it.

I will say, “They are my people”;

I shall say “This is my people,”

And they will say, “The LORD is our God.”

And this one shall say “The Lord is my God.”

There is an interesting contrast between the NRSV and LXX in vv. 7.  The LXX has a sword striking “shepherds,” plural, and God’s hand is raised against these shepherds.  The NRSV text, however, has a singular, and then God’s hand is turned against his “little ones,” seemingly referring to the sheep.  This latter form certainly suits Matthew’s purposes, in which Jesus is clearly the shepherd and the disciples are the sheep.  

But the other thing that is important to note here are vv. 8-9, which describe the destruction of two-thirds of people and purification through fire of the remaining third. Here too, it seems that Matthew is using Zechariah to both make the fall of Jerusalem intelligible, as well as to foreshadow a coming utopian state of faithfulness for God’s people.  In this sense the citation is reinforcing conclusions that we have already drawn about how Zechariah is being used.  

But another thing that is important to take from this citation is that perhaps we should reconsider what Matthew actually is intending to communicate when he refers to things being consumed by fire throughout the gospel.  I have historically tended to read these as fire-as-punishment only, which is an interpretation that is heavily shaped by theological concepts like “hell as a place of eternal damnation.” But those theological concepts are medieval innovations, rather than things that are actually clearly and inarguably outlined in Scripture. In the next several posts, then, we will look at how it is exactly that Matthew is using “fire” through his gospel (the list I am using is taken from this search in a concordance).