Chapter 2 of 15
When I returned to my master, he was seated in a chair by a small table, onto which he had counted out the coins. "Thirty," he said, glancing up at me. "Thirty pieces of silver." He sounded puzzled. "I don't understand, Enoch. Was that intended to be some kind of insult?"
"As I understand Roman contracts," I explained, "there must be equal benefit to both parties, or else the contract is not valid. If the traded goods or services are not equal in value, silver coins are added to the goods or services of lower value to balance the values and to 'seal the agreement.' So I do not feel that the Procurator was trying to insult you. Possibly, he was recognizing the obvious, that he will benefit from this agreement much more than you will, and that he needed to add value to his side. But most likely it was simply his way of letting you know that he was amused by the idea that you and he had entered into a contract. 'Like merchants in the bazaar,' as he said."
Now I must tell you, my brother, that my knowledge of the laws that pertain to Roman contracts was not nearly so extensive as my explanation would imply, and that I said these things mostly to ease my master's mind. In fact, the thirty silver coins probably were meant as an insult, just as my master had suspected. I believe that Pilate was trying to make the point that he had not really entered into any kind of agreement, but rather that he had "bought" my master – that whether my master had been bought by the prospect of being able to continue as High Priest or whether he had been bought with silver was all the same to the Procurator.
How much of this was in the thoughts of the priest I do not know. But in any event, he did not comment on my interpretation of the purse. "Even though this Jesus may well be a blasphemer," he said, "I do not like the idea of turning over one of our own people to the Romans. And as we do not know where he is, how are we to capture him?"
"I can alert the temple guards to seek him out, if that is your wish," I suggested. "The city will be crowded for the festival, but it should not be difficult to find a man who seems to thrive on provoking confrontations with the authorities."
Caiaphas shook his head and sighed. "I will pray for guidance," he said. "I will ask the Lord to send me a sign so that His will may be done through me." He rose to his feet, signaling that the discussion about Jesus had come to an end.
"And what shall we do with the coins?" I asked. "Would you like me to add them to the treasury?"
But Caiaphas did not like that suggestion, possibly because he did not wish to have to explain the source of the coins to the other priests. "No," he said, "I will keep them myself for a while, Enoch. Surely, we will be able to find a use for thirty pieces of silver."
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©2004 Henry Charles Mishkoff