Then I said to them: Them is best understood to be the sheep dealers (see the notes on verses 8 and 9). The interpretation of New International Version which has the prophet addressing “the afflicted of the flock” (and asking them for payment at that) is unconvincing, and should not be followed.

If it seems right to you, give me my wages: The prophet’s hesitation probably arises from his refusal to continue in his work (verse 9). If it seems right to you is literally “if it is good in your eyes,” and in some languages it may be possible to use a similar idiom. Good News Translation has “If you are willing,” and Contemporary English Version has “if you think you should.”

But if not, keep them: He apparently had some right to be paid for the period of at least one month (see verse 8) for which he had worked, but whether he received anything seems to be at the discretion of the employers, and these we understand to be the dealers. Another way to say this is “otherwise, don’t pay me.”

And they weighed out as my wages: The expression they weighed out refers to an ancient practice dating from the time before coined money of standard value was in use. Since coins came into widespread use only during the Persian period, the reference to weighing here may be an indication that this passage comes from earlier rather than later in the Persian era (compare Gen 23.16; Jer 32.10). Many modern versions do not refer to the act of weighing, since such a method of payment is rare nowadays. Instead they say “they paid me” (New International Version), “they handed me my wages” (Contemporary English Version), or perhaps better, “they counted out my wages” (New American Bible). If weighing silver is still a culturally familiar practice, translators may be able to use an expression similar to the Hebrew.

Thirty shekels of silver: A shekel was a standard measure of weight. There has been much debate on the significance of the thirty shekels. If a normal wage was one piece of silver per day (compare 4-15, and Matt 20.2, though this comes of course from a much later period), then thirty pieces was about a month’s wage (compare verse 8), and the payment was reasonable. But, as virtually all commentaries point out, thirty shekels of silver was the compensation price for the injury of a slave by an ox (Exo 21.32). In a highly symbolic passage like Zech 11, this figure probably had the effect of assessing the prophet, and along with him the LORD on whose behalf he spoke, at no more than the value of an injured slave. Thus it would be a deliberate insult on the part of the dealers and an indication of their rejection of the LORD’s message. If this interpretation is valid, it helps to explain the apparently angry reaction of the prophet (and indeed the LORD) in verse 13. Contemporary English Version shows this angry reaction very well by saying “a measly thirty pieces of silver,” where the word “measly” indicates that the amount is insultingly small.

Moffatt‘s rendering of the phrase thirty shekels of silver is a warning to translators on how not to handle terms for sums of money. He renders it “thirty half-crowns.” When his version was published in 1926, a half-crown was a large coin current in Britain and having a high silver content. In 1947 the silver content was drastically reduced, and from 1971 the coin disappeared from use when decimal currency was introduced. Thus not only was the term “half-crown” unfamiliar to non-British users of English right from the beginning, but the real value of the coin changed during its period of use. And nowadays nobody under the age of about 40 remembers the coin, even in Britain. It is much better for translators to choose an expression like “thirty pieces of silver” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation), which is not linked to any particular modern currency, and thus is proof against both inflation and changes in the currency system.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .