Francis Turretin on the alleged discrepancies in Matthew 27:9 and Mark 1:2

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Reformed Covenanter

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... The prophecy concerning the thirty pieces of silver and the field bought with them is cited from Jeremiah (Mt. 27:9), which is certainly found in Zech. 11:12. From this some attribute universal falsehood and slips of the memory (sphalma mnēmonikon) to Matthew. But the difficulty can be cleared up in various ways. Some are of the opinion that the name Jeremiah (leremiou) has crept into the text from the ignorance of transcribers (since zou may have been written as an abbreviation of Zachariou), but that the error is one of small importance (viz., occurring in a proper name the correction of which is easily made from a comparison of the Old and New Testaments). Others (with better reason) maintain that there is here a blending (synchysin) of two prophetical passages from which this testimony is drawn, viz., from Jer. 32 and Zech. 11. Cases similar to this occur in: Mt. 21:5 from Is. 62:11 and Zech. 9:9; Mt. 21:13 from Is. 56:7 and Jer. 7:11; Acts 1:20 from Pss. 69:25 and 109:8; 1 Pet. 2:7, 8 from Ps. 118:22 and Is. 8:14.

Nor is it an unusual thing (when the words or testimonies belong to two persons) to omit one and give only the name of the other (as Mk. 1:2, 3 where the first part is taken from Malachi, the latter from Isaiah, and yet Malachi is omitted and Isaiah alone mentioned). And this can be done with greater propriety when the one who is cited is either more ancient than the other, and the later has drawn many things from him (as is the case here). For Jeremiah was before Zechariah, and Zechariah borrowed many things from him and imitated (as it were) his addresses (as might easily be shown from Zech. 1:14 which is taken from Jer. 18:11 and 35:15; and Zech. 3:8 from Jer. 23:5). Hence the Jews were in the habit of saying, “the spirit of Jeremiah is in Zechariah.” ...

For more, see Francis Turretin on the alleged discrepancies in Matthew 27:9 and Mark 1:2.
 
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