30 Shekels of Silver

There are stunning similarities between the Old Testament story of Joseph and the New Testament story of Jesus, to a degree that one can see the story of Joseph as a prophetic foreshadow of the great redemption story of Jesus:

Both were betrayed and mistreated. Both made a comeback for the redemption of a great number of people.

Joseph was betrayed by his brothers who sold him as a slave to Egypt. Jesus was betrayed by his disciple who took money form the chief priests to betray him with a kiss.

Joseph came back from an unjust prison sentence to redeem Egypt and the children of Israel from a famine. Jesus came back from an unjust death sentence to redeem the whole of humanity from their sins.

Joseph's brothers sold him for 20 shekels of silver (or 20 pieces of silver as others translate) to Midianite merchants. The same amount of money is also mentioned in the law of Moses in Leviticus 27:5 where it is stated that any person between the ages of five and twenty who is dedicated to the Lord by a vow can be redeemed for 20 shekels of silver. This would have been the right amount for Joseph - whose dedication to the Lord can be seen in the unique dreams he had - since he was 17 years old when he was sold as a slave.

Judas took 30 shekels of silver from the chief priests for his betrayal of Jesus. Jesus was 33 years old when he was betrayed and subsequently died on the cross. According to Leviticus 27:3 the amount of redeeming a dedicated male of this age would have been 50 shekels of silver. (His dedication to the Lord stands out of question.) But the 30 shekels of silver that Judas got for betraying Jesus interestingly matches the amount set out in Leviticus 27:4 for redeeming a female. How does this make sense? Jesus was clearly a man, not a woman as modern feminist theologians might suggest. He also did not try to be or act like a woman. But, in his lifetime, he challenged society's viewpoint about women repeatedly. For example: he spoke with the Samaritan woman at a well - something religious Jews at that time never would have done. The first disciple to whom Jesus appeared after his resurrection was a woman - Mary Magdalene. By this Jesus acknowledged and elevated the position of a woman far above the social standard of his time.

In the same way I think it is not by chance that the betrayal amount of Judas is matching the redemption amount for women in the Old Testament. The God who came down to earth in Jesus Christ is identifying Himself here with women and uplifting their status in society by choosing the redemption amount for His son to be the one of a woman. Jesus continued his message of upgrading women in a society that downgraded women.