ONE OF THE TWELVE, WHO BETRAYED JESUS

Judas Iscariot

“was a thief, and had the bag”

Also called Judas · Judas son of Simon

VERSES THAT NAME HIM

23

RECORDS WITH JESUS

10

NAMED BESIDE HIM

15

SOURCES OUTSIDE SCRIPTURE on how it ends

HIS LIFE IN FOUR PARTS

How much does Scripture tell?

Named last in every Gospel list, as the one who betrayed Jesus. Scripture gives no years for his life, so the ring is divided by how much is recorded: 12 records of what he did or what was said to him, one bead each. The last part is tradition and is drawn dashed. Choose a part to read it.

II · THE GOSPELS, IN THE HARMONY’S ORDER

With Jesus

• Chosen as one of the Twelve Mark 3:13–19
• Sent out with the Twelve Matthew 10:1–5
• “One of you is a devil” John 6:66–71
• Objects to the ointment at Bethany: “Why was not this ointment sold” John 12:3–8
• Goes to the chief priests: “What will ye give me?” Matthew 26:14–16
• At the foot-washing: “ye are clean, but not all” John 13:2
• Named as the betrayer at the supper Matthew 26:20–25
• “None of them is lost, but the son of perdition” John 17:12
• The kiss in the garden Matthew 26:47–50
• The silver returned; his death Matthew 27:3–10

CHAPTER BY CHAPTER

Where is he named?

One square for each chapter of the books that name Judas: 23 verses in 13 chapters. The darker the square, the more verses in it name him. Choose a chapter to read what happens there.

THE GOSPELS AND ACTS

MATTHEW 26

3 verses name him

¶ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,

WHAT HAPPENS HERE

• Goes to the chief priests: “What will ye give me?”
• Named as the betrayer at the supper
• The kiss in the garden

CHAPTER I · BEFORE THE CALL

The son of Simon

Home, trade and family · 4 records

SCRIPTURE · JOHN 12:6

He had the bag

This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

He kept the common purse of the Twelve: he “had the bag”.

PASSAGE

John 12:6·John 13:29

SCHOLARS · JOSHUA 15:25

“Iscariot”: of Kerioth?

And Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth, and Hezron, which is Hazor,

“Iscariot” is most often explained as “man of Kerioth”, a town of Judah (Joshua 15:25), though Smith (1884) notes that the name has received many interpretations. Scripture does not say where he came from.

PASSAGE

Joshua 15:25

CHAPTER II · WITH JESUS

One of the Twelve

The Gospels, in the harmony’s order · 10 records

SCRIPTURE · JOHN 12:3–8

Objects to the ointment at Bethany: “Why was not this ointment sold”

Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

NAMED WITH HIM

Mary of Bethany, Simon, father of Judas

IN THE HARMONY

§141 · At the feast in the house of Simon the leper Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus for his burial

PASSAGE

John 12:3–8

SCRIPTURE · MATTHEW 26:14–16

Goes to the chief priests: “What will ye give me?”

And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

IN THE HARMONY

§142 · Judas, stung by the rebuke of Jesus at the feast, bargains with the rulers to betray Jesus

TOLD IN 3 BOOKS

Matthew 26:14–16·Mark 14:10–11·Luke 22:3–6

SCRIPTURE · MATTHEW 26:47–50

The kiss in the garden

¶ And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.

WHERE

Gethsemane

IN THE HARMONY

§153 · Jesus is betrayed, arrested, and forsaken

TOLD IN 4 BOOKS

Matthew 26:47–50·Mark 14:43–46·Luke 22:47–48·John 18:2–5

SCRIPTURE · MATTHEW 27:3–10

The silver returned; his death

And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.

WHERE

Jerusalem, Aceldama, the field of blood

IN THE HARMONY

§158 · Remorse and suicide of Judas the betrayer

PASSAGE

Matthew 27:3–10

CHAPTER III · THE CHURCH IN ACTS

His place filled

Acts and the letters · 2 records

SCRIPTURE · ACTS 1:16–17

“Guide to them that took Jesus”

Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.

Peter tells the believers that Judas “was guide to them that took Jesus”, and that he “was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry”.

PASSAGE

Acts 1:16–17

SCRIPTURE · ACTS 1:25

“His own place”

That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

The apostles pray for a man to take the place “from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place”.

PASSAGE

Acts 1:25

CHAPTER IV · AFTER SCRIPTURE

After Scripture

Tradition, by who said it and when · 1 source

SCRIPTURE FIRST

What Scripture says of his end

Matthew: when Judas saw that Jesus “was condemned”, he “repented himself”, brought back the thirty pieces of silver and said, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood”. He “cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”

Scripture Matthew 27:3–5

Matthew: the chief priests would not put “the price of blood” into the treasury. They “bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in”, and so it was called “The field of blood”.

Scripture Matthew 27:6–8

Acts, in Peter's words: “this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.” The field was called “Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.”

Scripture Acts 1:18–19

Each account quotes Scripture: Matthew the words “spoken by Jeremy the prophet” about the thirty pieces of silver and the potter's field; Acts two Psalms, “Let his habitation be desolate” and “his bishoprick let another take”.

Scripture Matthew 27:9–10·Acts 1:20

The two accounts stand side by side here and are not merged. They differ on who bought the field (the chief priests in Matthew, Judas himself in Acts) and on how he died (he “hanged himself” in Matthew; “falling headlong, he burst asunder” in Acts). Mark, Luke and John say nothing of his death.

From the text Matthew 27:5–8·Acts 1:18–19

THEN TRADITION · 1 SOURCE, EARLIEST FIRST

• c. 70 First reported by Papias, fragment 3, preserved by Oecumenius Later tradition

Each is labelled with who said it and when; none is blended into Scripture.

THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM

Who was with him?

Every record of Judas in Scripture, in story order (the Gospels in the order of Robertson's harmony, then Acts and the letters). A person counts as "with him" only where a verse of that record names them both. 15 people in all.

named in the passage from first to last mention Point at a column to see what happens; click it to keep it (click again to let go); choose a name to follow that person.

II · WITH JESUS

Chosen as one of the Twelve

And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.

NAMED WITH HIM HERE

• Peter Mark 3:16
• Andrew Mark 3:18
• James son of Zebedee Mark 3:17
• John son of Zebedee Mark 3:17
• Philip Mark 3:18
• Bartholomew Mark 3:18
• Thomas Mark 3:18
• Matthew Mark 3:18
• James son of Alphaeus Mark 3:18
• Thaddaeus Mark 3:18
• Simon the Zealot Mark 3:18
• Zebedee Mark 3:17
• Alphaeus Mark 3:18

SIDE BY SIDE

One moment, several accounts

4 moments of his story told by more than one book, each in its own words in the King James Version. His names are marked; switch on "only here" to underline the words that just one account has.

Luke

Luke 6:13

6:13 ¶ And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

John

John 6:70

6:70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?

NEAR AND FAR

Where was he?

6 places named in his story, with what happened there and how far each lies from Jerusalem. Tradition's places are dashed, with who placed him there and when. Choose a card or a pin.

Scroll to zoom · drag to move · the map stays on his places Land outline: the Atlas (Natural Earth)

OPEN QUESTIONS

What readers still ask

4 questions the reviewed sources leave open for Judas, with the answers given and who gives them, and 3 things Scripture does not say, in italic. Choose one.

VIEWS, WITH WHO HOLDS THEM · THIS PAGE

How did Judas die? Matthew and Acts tell it differently. (Harmonising views first, as Strauss lists them, then the view that they differ.)

He hanged himself, then the body fell and burst

Easton (1897), quoting an earlier writer; Casaubon, Kuinoel, Winer and others, as listed by Strauss (1846); the Latin Vulgate's wording of Acts 1:18, “when he had hanged himself”, as reported by Kerr (ISBE, 1915)

Easton: the rope gave way or the branch broke, and he fell headlong and was crushed. Acts tells the end of what Matthew begins.

Scholars Matthew 27:5·Acts 1:18 M. G. Easton, 1897·D. F. Strauss (trans. George Eliot), 1846·C. M. Kerr, 1915

“Hanged himself” means he was choked, and then fell

Matthew Henry (early 18th century), following Henry Hammond

Henry takes Matthew's word to mean that Judas was “strangled, or choked with grief and horror”, after which he fell headlong and burst.

Scholars Matthew 27:5·Acts 1:18 Matthew Henry, 1706-1721

He survived the hanging and died later

Oecumenius and other ancient commentators, as reported by Strauss (1846)

On this view Matthew tells of a failed attempt, and Acts of the death that came afterwards.

Scholars D. F. Strauss (trans. George Eliot), 1846

Two different accounts

D. F. Strauss (1846), with K. Hase

Strauss argues that each writer knew only the story he tells, since otherwise he could not have left out the other half, and judges the attempts to reconcile them a failure.

Scholars D. F. Strauss (trans. George Eliot), 1846

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