Zechariah 11:12,13:

12 I said to them, "If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them." So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 Yahweh said to me, "Throw it to the potter, the handsome price that I was valued at by them!" I took the thirty pieces of silver, and threw them to the potter, in the house of Yahweh. -- World English

I [Zechariah] said to them [the shepherds of Israel and Judah], "If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them." So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 Yahweh said to me [Zechariah], "Throw it to the potter, the handsome price that I was valued at by them!" I [Zechariah] took the thirty pieces of silver, and threw them to the potter, in the house of Yahweh. -- World English

According to many, this scripture shows that Jesus is Yahweh (Jehovah). It is often vaguely used to support the trinity doctrine. Since Jesus was priced at 30 pieces of silver, and since it appears to many that Yahweh here says, "I was valued at by them," they conclude that Jesus is here called Yahweh, and evidently this is supposed to give support to the trinitarian philosophy of three persons in one God. Let us look at this closer.

The above is all part of a prophetic dramatization. In the context the prophet takes two shepherd's staves, named Beauty and Bands, and breaking them, shows the cessation of God's pastoral relationship toward Israel. The staff, Beauty, depicts the cessation of his covenant with them, while Bands indicates the deterioration of the relationship between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern monarchy of Judah. The prophecy of the potter's field is a part of the former. It was this act, brought about by the treachery of Judas, that marked the termination of the law relationship to "them that believed". -- Colossians 2:14; Romans 10:4

The thirty pieces of silver was the price which, by the Mosaic law, a man was condemned to pay if his ox should gore a servant (Exodus 21:32). The price paid to Judas for our Lord, the sacrifice for all mankind, was paid for out of the temple-money, destined for the purchase of sacrifices. He who "took on himself the form of a slave", in likeness of sinful flesh, (Philippians 2:7; Romans 8:3,21) was sold at the legal price of a slave.

Now if in the prophetic drama of Zechariah, the price valued is fulfilled in Jesus, and if this would prove that Jesus is Yahweh, we would need to consider the rest of the prophecy in the same light. If in the prophecy, it is Yahweh who asks for the wages -- "give me my wages", then according the reasoning of many desiring to prove that Jesus is Yahweh, we should expect that the one who fulfilled this part also must be Yahweh. In the fulfillment, who asked for the wages? Matthew records it was Judas: "What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver him to you?" (Matthew 26:15, World English) According to the reasoning often presented in trying to prove that Jesus is Yahweh through use of Zechariah 11:12,13, this would also prove that Judas is Yahweh.

Additionally, Matthew 27:5 says of Judas, "He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary..." Since in the fulfillment it was Judas who actually threw the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, should we then conclude that Judas is Zechariah, or if Zechariah represented Jesus (as some commentators claim), should we conclude that Judas is Jesus? No, for the prophetic drama does not have actual person-for-person correspondences, but rather prophetically depicts the events to occur.

However, actions are often attributed to Yahweh even though Yahweh himself does not carry out the actions. Thus we read in Exodus 7:17 where Yahweh says He Himself will smite the waters with the rod in His own hand. Yet, it was Aaron that held the rod (Exodus 7:19,20). Should we conclude from this that Aaron is also Yahweh?

See also:
Misuse of Similarities

Those who try to use Zechariah 11:12-13 to try to prove that Jesus is Yahweh simply haven't taken time to try to reason thoroughly on where such reasoning leads. Thus there is nothing here that shows that Jesus is Yahweh, or that there are three persons in one God, as claimed by the trinity doctrine.

Last update: May 11, 2003

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See also our resource page on the Trinity and Oneness doctrines:
Trinity/Oneness Refutation

Jesus - God or Son of God? by Brian Holt

An analysis of the most common arguments used to both prove and disprove the notion that Jesus is God. Beginning with the book of Matthew and continuing through Revelation, it tallies and discusses every scripture that implies Jesus is God and every scripture that implies he is not. Not to be left out of the discussion is a comparison of the arguments from the Hebrew scriptures.

This work discusses the common arguments used by both sides and provides the response given by the opposing view. It concludes by asking the reader to review the arguments from both sides and determine for himself what he believes. If you want to know what evidence there is that Jesus is God (or what evidence there is that he is not), this is the book that presents a fair and balanced discussion of the matter.

Before you discuss this subject with a Trinitarian or a non-Trinitarian, make sure you know why he believes what he believes. A comparison of the arguments is in order.