The clause gave them for the potter’s field may have to be “used them to pay for the potter’s field” or “paid for the potter’s field with them.”

As the Lord directed me comes from Jeremiah; it is Matthew’s way of indicating that all the events of the passion narrative are in keeping with God’s will and purpose.

Some translators have found that this rather long sentence in verses 9 and 10 is easier to read if it is restructured somewhat as follows:

• The prophet Jeremiah had said “They took the thirty pieces of silver which was the amount the people of Israel had agreed to pay for him, and they used that money to buy the potter’s field. This was what the Lord had instructed me to do.” When the chief priests bought the field, these things came true.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .