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Matthew 27:6
ESV But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.”
NIV The chief priests picked up the coins and said, 'It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.'
NASB The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, 'It is not lawful to put them in the temple treasury, since it is money paid for blood.'
CSB The chief priests took the silver and said, "It's not permitted to put it into the temple treasury, since it is blood money."
NLT The leading priests picked up the coins. 'It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,' they said, 'since it was payment for murder.'
KJV And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.

What does Matthew 27:6 mean?

The chief priests demonstrate once more that Jesus was exactly right in condemning them for hypocrisy. They were willing to pay "blood money" to capture Jesus. Now, it seems, they are once again interested in legalism. They insist on following the law about not putting blood money in the treasury. The law they seem to have in mind is from Deuteronomy 23:18, "You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog [male prostitute] into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God." A more general sense of the rule is that money made from immoral activity was not meant to be taken to the temple.

Hypocrisy aside, this incident reflects humanity's traditional view of traitors. Despite Judas' actions being exactly what the religious leaders always wanted (John 11:48–53), and those they actively encouraged (Matthew 26:14–16), they were still seen as noxious. Even those who benefitted from the betrayal, condemned the person who did it. Referring to this payment as "blood money" only highlights the shame of what Judas has done.
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