In Zechariah 11:12, the prophet asks for his wages, and the people weigh out thirty pieces of silver. Under the Mosaic Law (Exodus 21:32), this was the exact amount of compensation required for a slave who was killed by an ox. By offering this specific amount, the religious leaders were declaring that the ministry of the Good Shepherd was worth no more than a dead piece of property.
This prophecy was fulfilled with chilling precision in the first century. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for the same "handsome price" (Matthew 26:15). When Judas tried to return the money, the priests used it to buy the "Potter's Field," as the silver was considered "blood money" (Matthew 27:6-10). The rejection of the Shepherd for the price of a slave sealed the covenantal doom of the apostate generation.