thirty pieces of silver
Judas's infamous payment
Thirty pieces of silver is the price Judas Iscariot received for betraying Jesus, according to the Gospels.
The phrase now means payment for treachery or the price of selling out one's principles: He took the consulting job with the oil company—his thirty pieces of silver.
The amount evokes betrayal that can never be undone, often with an implication that the reward was pathetically small for what was sacrificed.
- Last SupperFarewell Passover gathering
- Judas kissBetrayal masked as affection
- kiss of deathUltimately ruinous act
- religious symbolismMeaningful imagery in faith
- Christian theologyStudy of God's nature
shekel · sellout · treachery · betrayal · remorse · moral conflict · damnation · potter's field · penitence · Pharisees · literary archetype · guilt · redemption arc · divine justice · sin · Christian iconography · Judas Iscariot · temptation
- betrayalbackstab, betray, betrayal, traitor, backstabber
- Biblical imageryLamb of God, Good Shepherd, bread of life, light of the world, living water
- GospelsJesus, gospels, Jesus Christ, apostles, Gospel of Mark
- Historical AllusionsTrojan horse, Achilles heel, Pyrrhic victory, crossing the Rubicon, Pandora's box
- Biblical ReferencesAdam and Eve, ark, forbidden fruit, Garden of Eden, Ten Commandments
thirty pieces of silverhero's welcome
crown of glory · just reward · blood money · ill-gotten gains · widow's mite
thirty pieces of silverincorruptibility
Immunity to moral compromise
ultimate sacrifice · moral courage · integrity · keeping the faith · faithfulness
thirty, silver, piece, pieces, thirtieth, silvery, silvered, silvering, silverware