What was it Really Worth for Judas to Betray Jesus?
Q: How much money actually was the 30 pieces of silver that Judas was paid for betraying Jesus? Was this the price of a new pair of sandals or are we talking a nice house in downtown Jerusalem?
This expert on Roman Social and Economic History chimed in but wrote an in-depth and entertaining breakdown of the prices in this post. But we will post another one of their responses here that we found very informative and though-provoking. A Historian’s Take: “There are varying prices for donkeys, going as high as Pliny’s claim that one crazy (probably drunk) noble paid 400,000 sesterces (100,000 denarii/pieces of silver) for one particularly fine donkey, but they were reasonably expensive creatures – think what you’d pay for a workhorse of a car or truck.
“Not necessarily gonna break your bank, but not generally an off-the-cuff purchase. We’ve got a general range of prices between 11 and 50 denarii for a donkey though – so, depending on how much you’ve stuffed yourself, you could probably afford – or haggle for – a midrange donkey! Nothing incredible, but certainly an animal that’ll take you from point A to point B;) If you wanted to put it into car context? You could probably afford a 2008 Prius or something. A decent workhorse doesn’t look super fancy but gets the job done. Of course, that’s just the purchasing cost: upkeep (feeding, stabling, etc) would add up quickly. But in our car example, so does insurance, gas, and parking, so…” When you think about it, the most infamous betrayal in history was only worth the modern day equivalent of a 2008 Prius. Doesn’t that make it all the worse?