Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a
disciple
A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to:
Religion
* Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ
* Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples
* Seventy disciples in t ...
and one of the original
Twelve Apostles
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...
of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
. According to all four canonical
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ap ...
in the
Garden of Gethsemane
Gethsemane () is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. It is a place of great resona ...
master
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
" to reveal his identity in the darkness to the crowd who had come to arrest him. His name is often used synonymously with betrayal or treason.
The
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...
gives no motive for Judas's betrayal, but does present Jesus predicting it at the
Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
, an event also described in all the other gospels. The
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
states that Judas committed the betrayal in exchange for
thirty pieces of silver
Thirty pieces of silver was the price for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, according to an account in the Gospel of Matthew 26:15 in the New Testament. Before the Last Supper, Judas is said to have gone to the chief priests and agreed to hand ...
. The
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...
and the
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
suggest that he was
possessed
Possessed may refer to:
Possession
* Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else
** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body
*** ...
by
Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
. According to , after learning that Jesus was to be crucified, Judas attempted to return the money he had been paid for his betrayal to the chief priests and committed
suicide by hanging
Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck.
Hanging is often considered t ...
. The priests used the money to buy a field to bury strangers in, which was called the " Field of Blood" because it had been bought with blood money. The
Book of Acts
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...
quotes
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
as saying that Judas used the money to buy the field himself and, he " ellheadlong... burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." His place among the Twelve Apostles was later filled by
Matthias Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew.
People
Notable people named Matthias include the following:
In religion:
* Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscariot
* ...
.
Due to his notorious role in all the gospel narratives, Judas remains a controversial figure in Christian history. His betrayal is seen as setting in motion the events that led to Jesus's crucifixion and
resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
, which, according to traditional
Christian theology
Christian theology is the theology of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theology, theologian ...
, brought
salvation
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
to humanity. The
Gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
Gospel of Judas
The Gospel of Judas is a non-canonical Gnostic gospel. The content consists of conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot. Given that it includes late 2nd-century theology, it is widely thought to have been composed in the 2nd century (prior ...
—rejected by the
proto-orthodox
The term proto-orthodox Christianity or proto-orthodoxy is often erroneously thought to have been coined by New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman, who borrowed it from Bentley Layton (a major scholar of Gnosticism and Coptologist at Yale), and desc ...
Church as
heretical
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
—portrays Judas's actions as done in obedience to instructions given to him by Jesus, and that he alone amongst the disciples knew Jesus's true teachings. Since the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, Judas has sometimes been portrayed as a personification of the Jewish people and his betrayal has been used to justify
Christian antisemitism
Antisemitism in Christianity, a form of religious antisemitism, is the feeling of hostility which some Christian Churches, Christian groups, and ordinary Christians have towards the Jewish religion and the Jewish people.
Antisemitic Christian ...
.
Historicity
Although Judas Iscariot's historical existence is generally widely accepted among secular historians, this relative consensus has not gone entirely unchallenged. The earliest possible allusion to Judas comes from the
First Epistle to the Corinthians
The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author ...
, in which
Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
does not mention Judas by name, but uses the passive voice of the Greek word ''paradídōmi'' (παραδίδωμι), which most Bible translations render as "was betrayed": "...the Lord Jesus on the night when he ''was betrayed'' took a loaf of bread..." Nonetheless, some biblical scholars argue that the word ''paradídōmi'' should be translated as "was handed over". This translation could still refer to Judas, but it could also instead refer to God metaphorically "handing Jesus over" to the Romans.
In his book ''Antisemitism and Modernity'' (2006), the Jewish scholar
Hyam Maccoby
Hyam Maccoby ( he, חיים מכובי, 1924–2004) was a Jewish-British scholar and dramatist specialising in the study of the Jewish and Christian religious traditions. He was known for his theories of the historical Jesus and the origins of C ...
suggests that, in the New Testament, the name "Judas" was constructed as an attack on the Judaeans or on the Judaean religious establishment held responsible for executing Jesus. In his book ''The Sins of Scripture'' (2009),
John Shelby Spong
John Shelby "Jack" Spong (June 16, 1931 – September 12, 2021) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. From 1979 to 2000, he was the Bishop of Newark, New Jersey. A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he call ...
concurs with this argument, insisting, "The whole story of Judas has the feeling of being contrived ... The act of betrayal by a member of the twelve disciples is not found in the earliest Christian writings. Judas is first placed into the Christian story by the
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...
(), who wrote in the early 70s CE."
Most scholars reject these arguments for non-historicity, noting that there is nothing in the gospels to associate Judas with Judeans except his name, which was an extremely common one for Jewish men during the first century, and that numerous other figures named "Judas" are mentioned throughout the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
, none of whom are portrayed negatively. Positive figures named Judas mentioned in the New Testament include the prophet
Judas Barsabbas
Judas Barsabbas was a New Testament prophet and one of the 'leading men' in the early Christian community in Jerusalem at the time of the Council of Jerusalem in around 50 AD.
Biblical account
He is mentioned in Acts , where he and Silas are d ...
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
rendering of the Hebrew name Judah (, , Hebrew for "God is thanked"), which was an extremely common name for Jewish men during the first century AD, due to the renowned hero
Judas Maccabeus
Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabæus, Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, ''Yehudah HaMakabi'') was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleuci ...
. Consequently, numerous other figures with this name are mentioned throughout the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
. In the
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...
, the earliest of all the gospels, which was written in the mid-60s or early 70s AD, Judas Iscariot is the only apostle named "Judas". follows this portrayal. The
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...
, however, replaces the apostle whom Mark and Matthew call "
Thaddeus
Thaddeus (Latin ''Thaddaeus'', Ancient Greek Θαδδαῖος ''Thaddaĩos'', from Aramaic תדי ''Ṯaday'') is a male given name.
As of the 1990 Census, ''Thaddeus'' was the 611th most popular male name in the United States, while ''Thad'', ...
" with "Judas son of James".
Peter Stanford
Peter James Stanford (born 23 November 1961) is an English writer, editor, journalist and presenter, known for his biographies and writings on religion and ethics. His biography of Lord Longford was the basis for the 2006 BAFTA-winning film '' ...
suggests that this renaming may represent an effort by the author of the Gospel of Luke to create a "good Judas" in contrast to the betrayer Judas Iscariot.
Judas's
epithet
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
"Iscariot" ( or ), which distinguishes him from the other people named 'Judas' in the gospels, is usually thought to be a Greek rendering of the
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
phrase , (), meaning "the man from
Kerioth
Kerioth ( he, קְרִיּוֹת, ''Qǝrīyyōṯ'') is the name of two cities mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The spelling Kirioth appears in the King James Version of Amos 2:2. The name means "cities," and is the plural of the Biblical Hebrew ק ...
". This interpretation is supported by the statement in the
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
that Judas was "the son of Simon Iscariot". Nonetheless, this interpretation of the name is not fully accepted by all scholars. One of the most popular alternative explanations holds that "Iscariot" (, in Syriac Aramaic, per the
Peshitta
The Peshitta ( syc, ܦܫܺܝܛܬܳܐ ''or'' ') is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition, including the Maronite Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the ...
text) may be a corruption of the Latin word , meaning "dagger man", which referred to a member of the
Sicarii
The Sicarii (Modern Hebrew: סיקריים ''siqariyim'') were a splinter group of the Jewish Zealots who, in the decades preceding Jerusalem's destruction in 70 CE, strongly opposed the Roman occupation of Judea and attempted to expel them and th ...
( in Aramaic), a group of Jewish rebels who were known for committing acts of
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
in the 40s and 50s AD by assassinating people in crowds using long knives hidden under their cloaks. This interpretation is problematic, however, because there is nothing in the gospels to associate Judas with the Sicarii, and there is no evidence that the cadre existed during the 30s AD when Judas was alive.
A possibility advanced by
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg
Ernst Wilhelm Theodor Herrmann Hengstenberg (20 October 1802, in Fröndenberg28 May 1869, in Berlin), was a German Lutheran churchman and neo-Lutheran theology, theologian from an old and important Dortmund family.
He was born at Fröndenberg, ...
is that "Iscariot" means "the liar" or "the false one", from the Hebrew . C. C. Torrey suggested instead the
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
form or , with the same meaning. Stanford rejects this, arguing that the gospel-writers follow Judas's name with the statement that he betrayed Jesus, so it would be redundant for them to call him "the false one" before immediately stating that he was a traitor. Some have proposed that the word derives from an Aramaic word meaning "red color", from the root . Another hypothesis holds that the word derives from one of the Aramaic roots or . This would mean "to deliver", based on the
LXX
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
rendering of Isaiah 19:4—a theory advanced by J. Alfred Morin. The epithet could also be associated with the manner of Judas's death, hanging. This would mean Iscariot derives from a kind of Greek-Aramaic hybrid: , , meaning "chokiness" or "constriction". This might indicate that the epithet was applied posthumously by the remaining disciples, but Joan E. Taylor has argued that it was a descriptive name given to Judas by Jesus, since other disciples such as
Simon Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupatio ...
/Cephas (''Kephas'' "rock") were also given such names.
Role as an apostle
Although the canonical gospels frequently disagree on the names of some of the minor apostles, all four of them list Judas Iscariot as one of them. The
Synoptic Gospels
The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...
state that Jesus sent out "the twelve" (including Judas) with power over unclean spirits and with a ministry of preaching and healing: Judas clearly played an active part in this apostolic ministry alongside the other eleven. However, in the Gospel of John, Judas's outlook was differentiated—many of Jesus' disciples abandoned him because of the difficulty of accepting his teachings, and Jesus asked the twelve if they would also leave him.
Simon Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupatio ...
spoke for the twelve: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life," but Jesus observed then that despite the fact that he himself had chosen the twelve, one of them (unnamed by Jesus, but identified by the narrator) was "a devil" who would betray him.
One of the best-attested and most reliable statements made by Jesus in the gospels comes from the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
, in which Jesus tells his apostles: "in
the new world
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
, when the Son of Man shall sit on his glorious throne, you will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel
The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( he, שִׁבְטֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל, translit=Šīḇṭēy Yīsrāʾēl, lit=Tribes of Israel) are, according to Hebrew scriptures, the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, also known as Israel, throu ...
." New Testament scholar
Bart D. Ehrman
Bart Denton Ehrman (born 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including t ...
concludes, "This is not a tradition that was likely to have been made up by a Christian later, after Jesus's death—since one of these twelve had abandoned his cause and betrayed him. No one thought that ''Judas Iscariot'' would be seated on a glorious throne in the Kingdom of God. That saying, therefore appears to go back to Jesus, and indicates, then, that he had twelve close disciples, whom he predicted would reign in the coming Kingdom."
Matthew directly states that Judas betrayed Jesus for a bribe of "
thirty pieces of silver
Thirty pieces of silver was the price for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, according to an account in the Gospel of Matthew 26:15 in the New Testament. Before the Last Supper, Judas is said to have gone to the chief priests and agreed to hand ...
" by identifying him with a kiss—"the
kiss of Judas
The kiss of Judas, also known as the Betrayal of Christ, is the act with which Judas identified Jesus to the multitude with swords and clubs who had come from the chief priests and elders of the people to arrest him, according to the Synoptic ...
"—to arresting soldiers of the High Priest
Caiaphas
Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD), known simply as Caiaphas (; grc-x-koine, Καϊάφας, Kaïáphas ) in the New Testament, was the Jewish high priest who, according to the gospels, organized a plot to kill Jesus. He famous ...
, who then turned Jesus over to
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...
's soldiers.
Mark's Gospel states that the chief priests were looking for a way to arrest Jesus. They decided not to do so during the feast f_the_Passover.html"_;"title="Passover.html"_;"title="f_the_Passover">f_the_Passover">Passover.html"_;"title="f_the_Passover">f_the_Passover_since_they_were_afraid_that_people_would_riot;_instead,_they_chose_the_night_before_the_feast_to_arrest_him._According_to_Luke's_account,_
f_the_Passover.html"_;"title="Passover.html"_;"title="f_the_Passover">f_the_Passover">Passover.html"_;"title="f_the_Passover">f_the_Passover_since_they_were_afraid_that_people_would_riot;_instead,_they_chose_the_night_before_the_feast_to_arrest_him._According_to_Luke's_account,_demonic_possession">Satan_entered_Judas_at_this_time.
According_to_the_account_in_the_Gospel_of_John,_Judas_carried_the_disciples'_money_bag_or_box_(,_),_but_the_Gospel_of_John_makes_no_mention_of_the_thirty_pieces_of_silver_as_a_fee_for_betrayal._The_John_the_Evangelist.html" "title="demonic_possession.html" ;"title="Passover">f_the_Passover.html" ;"title="Passover.html" ;"title="f the Passover">f the Passover">Passover.html" ;"title="f the Passover">f the Passover since they were afraid that people would riot; instead, they chose the night before the feast to arrest him. According to Luke's account, demonic possession">Satan entered Judas at this time.
According to the account in the Gospel of John, Judas carried the disciples' money bag or box (, ), but the Gospel of John makes no mention of the thirty pieces of silver as a fee for betrayal. The John the Evangelist">evangelist
Evangelist may refer to:
Religion
* Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels
* Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ
* Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
comments in John 12:5–6 that Judas spoke fine words about giving money to the poor, but the reality was "not that he cared for the poor, but [that] he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it." However, in John 13:27–30, when Judas left the gathering of Jesus and his disciples with betrayal in mind, some [of the disciples] thought that Judas might have been leaving to buy supplies or on a Charity (practice), charitable errand.
Ehrman argues that Judas's betrayal "is about as historically certain as anything else in the tradition", pointing out that the betrayal is independently attested in the Gospel of Mark, in the Gospel of John, and in the Book of Acts. Ehrman also contends that it is highly unlikely that early Christians would have made up the story of Judas's betrayal, since it reflects poorly on Jesus's judgement in choosing him as an apostle. Nonetheless, Ehrman argues that what Judas actually told the authorities was not Jesus's location, but rather Jesus's secret teaching that he was the Messiah. This, he holds, explains why the authorities did not try to arrest Jesus prior to Judas's betrayal.
John P. Meier
John Paul Meier (August 8, 1942 – October 18, 2022) was an American biblical scholar and Roman Catholic priest. He was author of the series ''A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus'' (5 v.), six other books, and more than 70 articles ...
sums up the historical consensus, stating, "We only know two basic facts about udas (1) Jesus chose him as one of the Twelve, and (2) he handed over Jesus to the Jerusalem authorities, thus precipitating Jesus' execution."
Death
Many different accounts of Judas' death have survived from antiquity, both within and outside the New Testament. states that, after learning that Jesus was to be crucified, Judas was overcome by remorse and attempted to return the 30 pieces of silver to the
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
s, but they would not accept them because they were blood money, so he threw them on the ground and left. Afterwards, he committed suicide by hanging himself according to Mosaic law ( ) The priests then used the money to buy a
potter's field
A potter's field, paupers' grave or common grave is a place for the burial of unknown, unclaimed or indigent people. "Potter's field" is of Biblical origin, referring to Akeldama (meaning ''field of blood'' in Aramaic), stated to have been pu ...
, which became known as
Akeldama
Akeldama (Aramaic: חקל דמא or 𐡇𐡒𐡋 𐡃𐡌𐡀 ''Ḥaqel D'ma'', "field of blood"; Hebrew: חקל דמא; Arabic: حقل الدم, ''Ḥaqel Ad-dam'') is the Aramaic name for a place in Jerusalem associated with Judas Iscariot, o ...
(חקל דמא – ''khakel dama'') – the Field of Blood – because it had been bought with blood money. states that Judas used the money to buy a field, and " ellheadlong... burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." In this account, Judas' death is apparently by accident and he shows no signs of remorse.
The early
Church Father
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
Papias of Hierapolis
Papias ( el, Παπίας) was a Greek Apostolic Father, Bishop of Hierapolis (modern Pamukkale, Turkey), and author who lived c. 60 – c. 130 AD. He wrote the ''Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord'' ( el, Λογίων Κυριακῶν Ἐξ ...
( 60–130 AD) recorded in his ''Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord'', which was probably written during the first decade of the second century AD, that Judas was afflicted by God's wrath; his body became so enormously bloated that he could not pass through a street with buildings on either side. His face became so swelled up that a doctor could not even identify the location of his eyes using an optical instrument. Judas' genitals became enormously swollen and oozed with
pus
Pus is an exudate, typically white-yellow, yellow, or yellow-brown, formed at the site of inflammation during bacterial or fungal infection. An accumulation of pus in an enclosed tissue space is known as an abscess, whereas a visible collection ...
and
worm
Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always).
Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...
s. Finally, he killed himself on his own land by pouring out his innards onto the ground, which stank so horribly that, even in Papias' own time a century later, people still could not pass the site without holding their noses. This story was well known among Christians in antiquity and was often told in competition with the two conflicting stories from the New Testament.
According to the apocryphal
Gospel of Nicodemus
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
, which was probably written in the fourth century AD, Judas was overcome with remorse and went home to tell his wife, who was roasting a chicken on a spit over a charcoal fire, that he was going to kill himself, because he knew Jesus would rise from the dead and, when he did, he would punish him. Judas's wife laughed and told him that Jesus could no more rise from the dead than he could resurrect the chicken she was cooking. Immediately, the chicken was restored to life and began to crow. Judas then ran away and hanged himself. In the apocryphal
Gospel of Judas
The Gospel of Judas is a non-canonical Gnostic gospel. The content consists of conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot. Given that it includes late 2nd-century theology, it is widely thought to have been composed in the 2nd century (prior ...
, Judas has a vision of the disciples stoning and persecuting him.
The discrepancy between the two different accounts of Judas's death in and has proven to be a serious challenge to those who support the idea of
Biblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible "is without error or fault in all its teaching"; or, at least, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact". Some equate inerrancy with biblical i ...
. This problem was one of the points leading
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
, for example, to reject the view "that every statement in Scripture must be historical truth". Nonetheless, various attempts at
harmonization
In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads".
A harmonized scale can be created by using each note of a musical scale as a root ...
have been suggested. Generally they have followed literal interpretations such as that of
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
, which suggest that these simply describe different aspects of the same event—that Judas hanged himself in the field, and the rope eventually snapped and the fall burst his body open, or that the accounts of Acts and Matthew refer to two different transactions. Some have taken the descriptions as figurative: that the "falling prostrate" was Judas in anguish, and the "bursting out of the bowels" is pouring out emotion.
Modern scholars reject these approaches. Arie W. Zwiep states that "neither story was meant to be read in light of the other" and that "the integrity of both stories as complete narratives in themselves is seriously disrespected when the two separate stories are being conflated into a third, harmonized version." David A. Reed argues that the Matthew account is a
ic exposition that allows the author to present the event as a fulfillment of prophetic passages from the Old Testament. They argue that the author adds imaginative details such as the thirty pieces of silver, and the fact that Judas hangs himself, to an earlier tradition about Judas's death.
Matthew's description of the death as fulfilment of a prophecy "spoken through Jeremiah the prophet" has caused difficulties, since it does not clearly correspond to any known version of the
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah ( he, ספר יִרְמְיָהוּ) is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the boo ...
but does appear to refer to a story from the
Book of Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah, attributed to the Hebrew prophet Zechariah, is included in the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible.
Historical context
Zechariah's prophecies took place during the reign of Darius the Great and were contempora ...
which describes the return of a payment of
thirty pieces of silver
Thirty pieces of silver was the price for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, according to an account in the Gospel of Matthew 26:15 in the New Testament. Before the Last Supper, Judas is said to have gone to the chief priests and agreed to hand ...
. Even writers such as
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
and
John Calvin
John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
concluded that this was obviously an error. Evangelical theologian James R. White has suggested the misattribution arises from a supposed Jewish practice of using the name of a Major Prophet to refer to the whole content of the scroll group, including books written by minor prophets placed in the same grouping.
Some scholars have suggested that the Gospel writer may also have had a passage from Jeremiah in mind, such as chapters and which refer to a potter's jar and a burial place, and chapter which refers to a burial place and an earthenware jar. Raymond Brown suggested, "the most plausible xplanationis that Matthew 27:9–10 is presenting a mixed citation with words taken both from Zechariah and Jeremiah, and ... he refers to that combination by one name. Jeremiah 18–9 concerns a potter (18:2–; 19:1), a purchase (19:1), the Valley of Hinnom (where the Field of Blood is traditionally located, 19:2), 'innocent blood' (19:4), and the renaming of a place for burial (19:6, 11); and Jer 32:6–5 tells of the purchase of a field with silver."
Scholar Glenn W. Most suggests that Judas' death in Acts can be interpreted figuratively, writing that πρηνὴς γενόμενος should be translated as saying his body changed in position from vertical to prone, rather than falling headlong, and the spilling of the entrails is meant to invoke the imagery of dead snakes and their burst-open bellies. Hence Luke was stating that Judas became a snake and died like one.
Betrayal of Jesus
There are several explanations as to why Judas betrayed Jesus. In the earliest account, in the Gospel of Mark, when he goes to the chief priests to betray Jesus, he is offered money as a reward, but it is not clear that money is his motivation. In the Gospel of Matthew account, on the other hand, he asks what they will pay him for handing Jesus over. In the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John, the
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
enters into Judas, causing him to offer to betray Jesus. The Gospel of John account has Judas complaining that money has been spent on expensive perfumes to anoint Jesus which could have been spent on the poor, but adds that he was the keeper of the apostles' purse and used to steal from it.
One suggestion has been that Judas expected Jesus to overthrow Roman rule of Judea. In this view, Judas is a disillusioned disciple betraying Jesus not so much because he loved money, but because he loved his country and thought Jesus had failed it. Another is that Jesus was causing unrest likely to increase tensions with the Roman authorities and they thought he should be restrained until after the Passover, when everyone had gone back home and the commotion had died down.
The Gospels suggest that Jesus foresaw (, ) and allowed Judas' betrayal (). One explanation is that Jesus allowed the betrayal because it would allow God's plan to be fulfilled. Another is that regardless of the betrayal, Jesus was ultimately destined for crucifixion. In April 2006, a Coptic papyrus manuscript titled the
Gospel of Judas
The Gospel of Judas is a non-canonical Gnostic gospel. The content consists of conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot. Given that it includes late 2nd-century theology, it is widely thought to have been composed in the 2nd century (prior ...
from 200 AD was translated, suggesting that Jesus told Judas to betray him, although some scholars question the translation. Nevertheless, the Gospel of Judas is an apocryphal Gnostic Gospel composed in the 2nd century and some scholars agree that it contains no real historical information.
Judas is the subject of philosophical writings.
Origen of Alexandria
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theolog ...
, in his Commentary on John's Gospel, reflected on Judas's interactions with the other apostles and Jesus' confidence in him prior to his betrayal. Other philosophical reflections on Judas include '' The Problem of Natural Evil'' by
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
and "
Three Versions of Judas
"Three versions of Judas" (original Spanish title: "Tres versiones de Judas") is a short story by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges. It was included in Borges' anthology, ''Ficciones'', published in 1944. Like several other Borges stor ...
", a short story by
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...
. They allege various problematic ideological contradictions with the discrepancy between Judas' actions and his eternal punishment. Bruce Reichenbach argues that if Jesus foresees Judas' betrayal, then the betrayal is not an act of
free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...
, and therefore should not be punishable. Conversely, it is argued that just because the betrayal was foretold, it does not prevent Judas from exercising his own free will in this matter. Other scholars argue that Judas acted in obedience to God's will. The gospels suggest that Judas is apparently bound up with the fulfillment of God's purposes (, , , , , , ), yet "woe is upon him", and he would "have been better unborn" (). The difficulty inherent in the saying is its paradox: if Judas had not been born, the Son of Man would apparently no longer do "as it is written of him." The consequence of this apologetic approach is that Judas' actions come to be seen as necessary and unavoidable, yet leading to condemnation. Another explanation is that Judas' birth and betrayal did not necessitate the only way the Son of Man could have suffered and been crucified. The earliest churches believed "as it is written of him" to be prophetic, fulfilling Scriptures such as that of the suffering servant in Isaiah 52–53 and the righteous one in Psalm 22, which do not require betrayal (at least by ''Judas'') as the means to the suffering. Regardless of any necessity, Judas is held responsible for his act (Mark 14:21; Luke 22:22; Matt 26:24).
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
believed that Judas was free to change his intention, but
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
argued in rebuttal that Judas' will was immutable.
John Calvin
John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
states that Judas was predestined to damnation, but writes on the question of Judas' guilt: "surely in Judas' betrayal, it will be no more right, because God himself willed that his son be delivered up and delivered him up to death, to ascribe the guilt of the crime to God than to transfer the credit for redemption to Judas." The Catholic Church has no view on his damnation. The Vatican only proclaims individuals' Eternal Salvation through the Canon of Saints. There is no 'Canon of the Damned', nor any official proclamation of the damnation of Judas.
It is speculated that Judas's damnation, which seems possible from the Gospels' text, may not stem from his betrayal of Christ, but from the despair which caused him to subsequently commit suicide. This is confirmed in
Cornelius a Lapide
Cornelius Cornelii à Lapide (''né'' Cornelis Cornelissen van den Steen; 18 December 1567 – 12 March 1637) was a Flemish Catholic priest. He was a Jesuit and exegete of scripture.
Life
He was born at Bocholt, in Belgian Limburg. He studi ...
's famous commentary, in which he writes that by hanging himself, "Judas then added to his former sin the further sin of despair. It was not a more heinous sin, but one more fatal to himself, as thrusting him down to the very depths of hell. He might, on his repentance, have asked (and surely have obtained) pardon of Christ. But, like Cain, he despaired of forgiveness."
In the ''
Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
'' of
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
, Judas is punished for all eternity in the ninth circle of Hell: in it, he is devoured by Lucifer, alongside
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
and
Gaius Cassius Longinus
Gaius Cassius Longinus (c. 86 BC – 3 October 42 BC) was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC. He was the brother-in-law of Brutus, another leader of the cons ...
(leaders of the group of senators that
assassinated
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
).
In his book ''
The Passover Plot
''The Passover Plot'' is a 1965 book by British biblical scholar Hugh J. Schonfield, who also published a translation of the New Testament from a Jewish perspective.Hugh J. Schonfield suggested that the crucifixion of Christ was a conscious re-enactment of Biblical
prophecy
In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...
and that Judas acted with the full knowledge and consent of Jesus in "betraying" him to the authorities. The book has been variously described as 'factually groundless', based on "little data" and "wild suppositions", "disturbing" and "tawdry".
In his 1969 book ''Theologie der Drei Tage'' (English translation: ''
Mysterium Paschale
''Mysterium Paschale. The Mystery of Easter'' (german: Theologie der Drei TageBalthasar, Hans Urs von (2000). p3) is a 1969 book by the Swiss theologian and Catholic priest Hans Urs von Balthasar. The original German edition was published by Benzi ...
''),
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Hans Urs von Balthasar (12 August 1905 – 26 June 1988) was a Swiss theologian and Catholic priest who is considered an important Catholic theologian of the 20th century. He was announced as his choice to become a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, ...
emphasizes that Jesus was not betrayed but surrendered and delivered up by himself, since the meaning of the Greek word used by the New Testament, ''paradidonai'' (παραδιδόναι, la, tradere), is unequivocally "handing over of self". In the "Preface to the Second Edition", Balthasar takes a cue from
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
(
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
: ''agni qui occisus est ab origine mundi'',
NIV Niv may refer to:
* Niv, a personal name; for people with the name, see
* Niv Art Movies, a film production company of India
* Niv Art Centre, in New Delhi, India
NIV may refer to:
* The New International Version, a translation of the Bible into ...
: "the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world") to extrapolate the idea that God as " immanent Trinity" can endure and conquer godlessness, abandonment, and death in an "eternal super-
kenosis
In Christian theology, ''kenosis'' () is the 'self-emptying' of Jesus. The word () is used in Philippians 2:7: " made himself nothing" ( NIV), or " eemptied himself" ( NRSV), using the verb form (), meaning "to empty".
The exact meaning vari ...
".
Role in apocrypha
Judas has been a figure of great interest to esoteric groups, such as many
Gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
sects.
Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
records the beliefs of one Gnostic sect, the
Cainite
The Cainites, or Cainians (Greek: Καϊνοί ''Kainoi'', Καϊανοί ''Kaianoi''),The name is variously written; Καϊνοί (Hippol. ''Ref''. viii. 20; Theodoret, ''Haer. Fab''. i. 15); Caini (Praedest. ''Cod''.); Καϊανισταί (Cle ...
s, who believed that Judas was an instrument of the Sophia, Divine Wisdom, thus earning the hatred of the
Demiurge
In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the demiurge () is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. The Gnostics adopted the term ''demiurge''. Al ...
. His betrayal of Jesus thus was a victory over the materialist world. The Cainites later split into two groups, disagreeing over the ultimate significance of Jesus in their cosmology.
Infancy Gospel of Thomas
The ''Infancy Gospel of Thomas'' is a biographical gospel about the childhood of Jesus, believed to date at the latest to the second century.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is generally considered to be Gnostic in origin because of references ...
. However, it adds many of its own tales, probably from local legends, including one of Judas. This pseudepigraphic work tells how Judas, as a boy, was
possessed
Possessed may refer to:
Possession
* Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else
** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body
*** ...
by
Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
, who caused him to bite himself or anyone else present. In one of these attacks, Judas bit the young Jesus in the side; and, by touching Him, Satan was exorcised. It further states that the side which Judas supposedly bit was the same side that was pierced by the
Holy Lance
The Holy Lance, also known as the Lance of Longinus (named after Saint Longinus), the Spear of Destiny, or the Holy Spear, is the lance that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross during his crucifixion.
Biblical references
The l ...
at the
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
.
Gospel of Judas
During the 1970s, a
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...
codex
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
(book) was discovered near Beni Masah,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. It appeared to be a 3rd- or 4th-century-AD copy of a 2nd-century original, relating a series of conversations in which Jesus and Judas interact and discuss the nature of the universe from a Gnostic viewpoint. The discovery was given dramatic international exposure in April 2006 when the US ''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' magazine published a feature article entitled "The Gospel of Judas" with images of the fragile codex and analytical commentary by relevant experts and interested observers (but not a comprehensive translation). The article's introduction stated: "An ancient text lost for 1,700 years says Christ's betrayer was his truest disciple." The article points to some evidence that the original document was extant in the 2nd century: "Around A.D. 180,
Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
, Bishop of Lyon in what was then Roman Gaul, wrote a massive treatise called ''
Against Heresies
''Against Heresies'' (Ancient Greek: Ἔλεγχος καὶ ἀνατροπὴ τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, ''Elenchos kai anatropē tēs pseudōnymou gnōseōs'', "On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis"), some ...
''
n which he attacked
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
a 'fictitious history,' which 'they style the Gospel of Judas.'"
Before the magazine's edition was circulated, other news media gave exposure to the story, abridging and selectively reporting it.
In December 2007,
April DeConick
April D. DeConick is the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Rice University in Houston, Texas. She came to Rice University as a full professor in 2006, after receiving tenure at Illinois Wesleyan ...
asserted that the ''National Geographic''s translation is badly flawed: "For example, in one instance the ''National Geographic'' transcription refers to Judas as a 'daimon,' which the society's experts have translated as 'spirit.' However, the universally accepted word for 'spirit' is 'pneuma'—in Gnostic literature "daimon" is always taken to mean 'demon.'" The National Geographic Society responded that "Virtually all issues April D. DeConick raises about translation choices are addressed in footnotes in both the popular and critical editions." In a later review of the issues and relevant publications, critic
Joan Acocella
Joan Acocella (née Ross, born 1945) is an American journalist who is a staff writer for ''The New Yorker''. She has written books on dance, literature, and psychology.
Education and career
Acocella received her B.A. in English in 1966 from the ...
questioned whether ulterior intentions had not begun to supersede historical analysis, e.g., whether publication of The Gospel of Judas could be an attempt to roll back ancient anti-semitic imputations. She concluded that the ongoing clash between scriptural fundamentalism and attempts at revision were childish because of the unreliability of the sources. Therefore, she argued, "People interpret, and cheat. The answer is not to fix the Bible but to fix ourselves." Other scholars have questioned the initial translation and interpretation of the Gospel of Judas by the ''National Geographic'' team of experts.
Gospel of Barnabas
According to
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
copies (the earliest copies from the 15th century) of the
Gospel of Barnabas
The Gospel of Barnabas is a non-canonical, pseudepigraphical gospel reportedly written by the early Christian disciple Barnabas, who (in this work) is one of the apostles of Jesus. It is about the same length as the four canonical gospels combi ...
it was Judas, not Jesus, who was crucified on the cross. This work states that Judas's appearance was transformed to that of Jesus', when the former, out of betrayal, led the Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus who by then was ascended to the heavens. This transformation of appearance was so identical that the masses, followers of Christ, and even the Mother of Jesus, Mary, initially thought that the one arrested and crucified was Jesus himself. The gospel then mentions that after three days since burial, Judas' body was stolen from his grave, and then the rumors spread of Jesus being risen from the dead. When Jesus was informed in the third heaven about what happened, he prayed to God to be sent back to the earth, and descended and gathered his mother, disciples, and followers, and told them the truth of what happened. He then ascended back to the heavens, and will come back at the end of times as a just king.
This Gospel is considered by the majority of Christians to be late and pseudepigraphical; however, some academics suggest that it may contain some remnants of an earlier apocryphal work (perhaps Gnostic, Ebionite or
Diatessaron
The ''Diatessaron'' ( syr, ܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ ܕܡܚܠܛܐ, Ewangeliyôn Damhalltê; c. 160–175 AD) is the most prominent early gospel harmony, and was created by Tatian, an Assyrian early Christian apologist and ascetic. Tatian sought to comb ...
ic), redacted to bring it more in line with Islamic doctrine. Some Muslims consider the surviving versions as transmitting a suppressed apostolic original. Some Islamic organizations cite it in support of the Islamic view of Jesus.
Representations and symbolism
Although the sanctification of the instruments of the
Passion of Jesus
In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ.
Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...
(the so-called ''
Arma Christi
Arma Christi ("weapons of Christ"), or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with the Passion of Jesus Christ in Christian symbolism and art. They are seen as arms in the sense of heraldry, and also as the weapons Christ ...
''), that slowly accrued over the course of the Middle Ages in Christian symbolism and art, also included the head and lips of Judas, the term ''Judas'' has entered many languages as a synonym for ''betrayer'', and Judas has become the archetype of the traitor in Western art and literature. Judas is given some role in virtually all literature telling the Passion story, and appears in numerous modern novels and movies.
In the
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
hymns of
Holy Wednesday
In Christianity, Holy Wednesday commemorates the Bargain of Judas as a clandestine spy among the disciples. It is also called Spy Wednesday, or Good Wednesday (in Western Christianity), and Great and Holy Wednesday (in Eastern Christianity).
I ...
(the Wednesday before
Pascha
Pascha (or other similar spellings) may refer to:
* Passover, the Aramaic spelling of the Hebrew word ''Pesach''
**Pesach seder,_the_festive_meal_beginning_the_14th_and_ending_on_the_15th_of_Nisan
*Easter.html" ;"title="san in the Hebrew c ..., t ...
), Judas is contrasted with the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive
perfume
Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...
and washed his feet with her tears. According to the
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
, Judas protested at this apparent extravagance, suggesting that the money spent on it should have been given to the poor. After this, Judas went to the chief priests and offered to betray Jesus for money. The hymns of Holy Wednesday contrast these two figures, encouraging believers to avoid the example of the fallen disciple and instead to imitate Mary's example of repentance. Also, Wednesday is observed as a day of fasting from meat, dairy products, and olive oil throughout the year in memory of the betrayal of Judas. The prayers of preparation for receiving the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
also make mention of Judas's betrayal: "I will not reveal your mysteries to your enemies, neither like Judas will I betray you with a kiss, but like the thief on the cross I will confess you."
Judas Iscariot is often shown with
red hair
Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...
in
Spanish culture
The culture of ''Spain'' is based on a variety of historical influences, primarily based on the culture of ancient Rome, Spain being a prominent part of the Greco-Roman world for centuries, the very name of Spain comes from the name that the Rom ...
Bentley's Miscellany
''Bentley's Miscellany'' was an English literary magazine started by Richard Bentley. It was published between 1836 and 1868.
Contributors
Already a successful publisher of novels, Bentley began the journal in 1836 and invited Charles Dickens ...
'', July 1851. ''
The eclectic magazine of foreign literature, science, and art
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
Letters from Spain
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
* Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
'',
Joseph Blanco White
Joseph Blanco White, born José María Blanco y Crespo (11 July 1775 – 20 May 1841), was an Anglo-Spanish political thinker, theologian, and poet.
Life
Blanco White was born in Seville, Spain. He had Irish ancestry and was the son of the mer ...
,
H. Colburn
H is the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet.
H may also refer to:
Musical symbols
* H number, Harry Halbreich reference mechanism for music by Honegger and Martinů
* H, B (musical note)
* H, B major
People
* H. (noble) (died after 127 ...
, 1825.
and by
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
.Judas colour in p. 473 of ''A glossary: or, Collection of words, phrases, names, and allusions to customs, proverbs, etc., which have been thought to require illustration, in the words of English authors, particularly
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, and his contemporaries,'' Volumen 1.
Robert Nares
Robert Nares (9 June 1753, York – 23 March 1829) was an English clergyman, philologist and author.
Life
He was born at York in 1753, the son of James Nares (1715–1783), organist of York Minster and educated at Westminster School and Ch ...
,
James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps
James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (born James Orchard Halliwell; 21 June 1820 – 3 January 1889) was an English Shakespearean scholar, antiquarian, and a collector of English nursery rhymes and fairy tales.
Life
The son of Thomas Halliwell, h ...
, Thomas Wright. J. R. Smith, 1859 The practice is comparable to the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
portrayal of Jews with red hair, which was then regarded as a negative trait and which may have been used to correlate Judas Iscariot with contemporary Jews.
In paintings depicting the Last Supper, Judas is occasionally depicted with a dark-colored halo (contrasting with the lighter halos of the other apostles) to signify his former status as an apostle. More commonly, however, he is the only one at the table without one. In some church
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows he is also depicted with a dark halo such as in one of the windows of the
Church of St John the Baptist, Yeovil
The Church of St John the Baptist in Yeovil, Somerset, is a Church of England parish church.
The church was built in the late 14th century, but was reconstructed in the 1850s. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building. The tower, whic ...
.
Art and literature
Judas is the subject of one of the oldest surviving English ballads, which dates from the 13th century. In the ballad, the blame for the betrayal of Christ is placed on Judas's sister. In
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
's ''
Inferno
Inferno may refer to:
* Hell, an afterlife place of suffering
* Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire
Film
* ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film
* Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker
* Inferno (1973 fi ...
'', Judas is condemned to the lowest circle of
Hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
: the Ninth Circle of Traitors, also known as the frozen lake,
Cocytus
Cocytus or Kokytos ( grc, Κωκυτός, literally "lamentation") is the river of wailing in the underworld in Greek mythology. Cocytus flows into the river Acheron, on the other side of which lies Hades, the underworld, the mythological abo ...
. He is one of three sinners deemed evil enough to be doomed to an eternity of being chewed in the mouths of the triple-headed
Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
(the others being
Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
). Dante writes that Judas—having committed the ultimate act of treachery by betraying the Son of God Himself—is trapped in the jaws of Satan's central head, said to be the most vicious Satan's three heads, by his(Judas's) head, leaving Judas's back to be raked by the fallen angel's claws. In art, one of the most famous depictions of Judas Iscariot and his kiss of betrayal of Jesus is ''
The Taking of Christ
''The Taking of Christ'' ( it, Presa di Cristo nell'orto or Cattura di Cristo) is a painting, of the arrest of Jesus, by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Originally commissioned by the Roman nobleman Ciria ...
'', by Italian Baroque artist
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...
, done in 1602.
In ''Memoirs of Judas'' (1867) by
Ferdinando Petruccelli della Gattina
Ferdinando Petruccelli della Gattina (August 28, 1815 - March 29, 1890) was an Italian journalist, patriot and politician.
Considered one of the greatest journalists of the 19th century and a pioneer of modern journalism, he is mostly remembered ...
, he is seen as a leader of the Jewish revolt against the rule of Romans.
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
's
oratorio
An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...
, '' The Apostles'', depicts Judas as wanting to force Jesus to declare his divinity and establish the kingdom on earth. In ''Trial of Christ in Seven Stages'' (1909) by
John Brayshaw Kaye
John Brayshaw Kaye (June 10, 1841 – March 29, 1909) was an English-born American poet, lawyer and politician.
Life and works
John Brayshaw Kaye was born in Yorkshire, England, June 10, 1841, the fifth child and the fourth son of Abram and M ...
, the author did not accept the idea that Judas intended to betray Christ, and the poem is a defence of Judas, in which he adds his own vision to the biblical account of the story of the trial before the
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ap ...
and
Caiaphas
Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD), known simply as Caiaphas (; grc-x-koine, Καϊάφας, Kaïáphas ) in the New Testament, was the Jewish high priest who, according to the gospels, organized a plot to kill Jesus. He famous ...
Charles Wells Moulton
Charles Wells Moulton (1859–1913) was an American poet, critic, editor, and publisher. He was the founding editor of ''The Magazine of Poetry and Literary Review'', and the publisher of ''A Woman of the Century
A, or a, is the first Lett ...
, Buffalo, New York
In
Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...
's novel ''
The Master and Margarita
''The Master and Margarita'' (russian: Мастер и Маргарита) is a novel by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐf ...
'', Judas is paid by the high priest of Judaea to testify against Jesus, who had been inciting trouble among the people of Jerusalem. After authorizing the crucifixion, Pilate suffers an agony of regret and turns his anger on Judas, ordering him assassinated. The
story within a story
A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...
appears as a counter-revolutionary novel in the context of Moscow in the 1920s–1930s. " Tres versiones de Judas" (
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
title: "Three Versions of Judas") is a short story by Argentine writer and poet
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...
; it was included in Borges' anthology ''
Ficciones
' (in English: "Fictions") is a collection of short stories by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges, originally written and published in Spanish between 1941 and 1956. Thirteen stories from ''Ficciones'' were first published by New Direc ...
'', published in 1944, and revolves around the main character's doubts about the canonical story of Judas who instead creates three alternative versions. On April 17, 1945, the radio program '' Inner Sanctum'' broadcast the story "The Judas Clock", in which the cursed title object, a 16th-century Italian marble
longcase clock
A grandfather clock (also a longcase clock, tall-case clock, grandfather's clock, or floor clock) is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are common ...
, is unable to run without the thirty silver coins of Judas being placed in its hollow weights. The episode's main character, played by
Berry Kroeger
Berry Kroeger (October 16, 1912 – January 4, 1991) was an American film, television and stage actor.
Career
Kroeger was born in San Antonio, Texas. He got his acting start on radio as an announcer on ''Suspense'' and as an actor, playing fo ...
, recites the fate of Judas from Matthew 27:5 (King James version) at the episode's conclusion.
The 1971 novel ''I, Judas'' by
Taylor Caldwell
Janet Miriam Caldwell (September 7, 1900August 30, 1985) was a British-born American novelist and prolific author of popular fiction under the pen names Taylor Caldwell, Marcus Holland and Max Reiner. She was also known by a variation of her mar ...
and
Jess Stearn
Jess Stearn (April 26, 1914 – March 27, 2002) was an American journalist and author of more than thirty books, nine of which were bestsellers.
Early life
Stearn was born in Syracuse, New York to David Stearn, a rabbi. He graduated from Syracus ...
() was one of the first published novels to portray Judas in a more sympathetic light. In the 1977 television miniseries ''
Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
'', Judas was famously portrayed by
Ian McShane
Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (20 ...
, in a critically acclaimed performance. He is portrayed as being torn between personal loyalty to his Rabbi and social loyalty to the Sanhedrin. Ultimately he is "seduced" into betraying Jesus by the temple scribe Zerah, the fictional character who acts as the series' lead villain.
In
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
Nikos Kazantzakis
Nikos Kazantzakis ( el, ; 2 March ( OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greek writer. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years.
Kazantzakis's no ...
, Judas' only motivation in betraying Jesus to the Romans was to help him accomplish his mission by mutual agreement, making Judas the catalyst for the event later interpreted as bringing about humanity's salvation. In the film ''
Dracula 2000
''Dracula 2000'' (also known internationally as ''Dracula 2001'') is a 2000 American gothic film, gothic horror film co-written and directed by Patrick Lussier and produced by Joel Soisson and Wes Craven (executive producer), and starring Gerard ...
'', Dracula (played by Gerard Butler) is revealed in this version to be Judas. God punishes Judas, not only for betraying Jesus, but attempting suicide at dawn, by turning him into the first vampire, and making him vulnerable to silver for taking 30 pieces of silver as payment for his betrayal, and his suicide attempt at dawn also tries to explain a vampire's violent reaction to sunlight. In ''
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
''The Last Days of Judas Iscariot'' is a play by American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis first staged Off-Broadway at The Public Theater on March 2, 2005, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Plot summary
''The Last Days of Judas Iscariot'' tells ...
'' (2005), a critically acclaimed play by
Stephen Adly Guirgis
Stephen Adly Guirgis is a Pulitzer Prize Winning American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and a former co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company.Blake, Leslie (Hoban)"Comin' Uptown" ''Theater ...
, Judas is given a trial in Purgatory. In
C. K. Stead
Christian Karlson "Karl" Stead (born 17 October 1932) is a New Zealand writer whose works include novels, poetry, short stories, and literary criticism. He is one of New Zealand's most well-known and internationally celebrated writers.
Early l ...
's 2006 novel ''My Name Was Judas'', Judas, who was then known as Idas of Sidon, recounts the story of Jesus as recalled by him some forty years later.
In the epic miniseries ''
The Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
'', Judas is portrayed by actor Joe Wredden.
In September 2017,
Boom Studios
Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
Origins
In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Holly ...
announced a four-issue comic, ''Judas'', written by
Jeff Loveness
Jeff Loveness is an American screenwriter, television producer, actor, and comic book writer who has worked on the television series ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' and ''Rick and Morty,'' as well as the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films '' Ant-M ...
and Jakub Rebelka. In March 2018,
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
's ''
15 Minute Drama
''15 Minute Drama'', previously known as ''Woman's Hour Drama'', was a BBC Radio 4 Arts and Drama production strand that was broadcast between 1998 and 2021. It consisted of 15-minute episodes, broadcast every weekday 10:45–11:00 am (i.e. ...
'' broadcast ''Judas'', written by Lucy Gannon, in 5 episodes with
Damien Molony
Damien Molony (born 21 February 1984) is an Irish actor. He is best known for his television roles as Hal Yorke in BBC Three's '' Being Human'', DC Albert Flight in the BBC's ''Ripper Street'', DS Jack Weston in Channel 5's '' Suspects'', Jon ...
in the title role. In the March 2018 film ''
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...
'', written by
Helen Edmundson
Helen Edmundson (born 1964) is a British playwright, screenwriter and producer. She has won awards and critical acclaim both for her original writing and for her adaptations of various literary classics for the stage and screen.
Early life
Edm ...
, Judas is played by
Tahar Rahim
Tahar Rahim (born 4 July 1981) is a Franco-Algerian actor. He is known for his starring role as Malik El Djebena in the 2009 award-winning French movie '' A Prophet'' by Jacques Audiard, FBI Agent Ali Soufan in '' The Looming Tower'', Judas in ...
.
Judas is a lead role in
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
and
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...
's ''
Jesus Christ Superstar
''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...
''. The rock opera depicts Judas as somewhat of a tragic figure who is dissatisfied with the direction in which Jesus is steering his disciples. Various actors and singers who have played the role include:
Murray Head
Murray Seafield St George Head (born 5 March 1946) is an English actor and singer. Head has appeared in a number of films, including a starring role as the character Bob Elkin in the Oscar-nominated 1971 film ''Sunday Bloody Sunday''. As a mus ...
(original concept album),
Ben Vereen
Benjamin Augustus Vereen (born October 10, 1946) is an American actor, dancer and singer. Vereen gained prominence for his performances in the original Broadway productions of the musicals '' Jesus Christ Superstar'', for which he received a T ...
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who.
Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...
(1996
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
production),
Zubin Varla
Zubin Varla (born 1970) is a British actor and singer. He played the role of Judas in the 1996 West End revival of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', alongside Steve Balsamo (Jesus), Joanna Ampil (Mary Magdalene), and David Burt (Pilate). This produc ...
(1996 London revival),
Jérôme Pradon
Jérôme Pradon (born 3 June 1964) is a French actor and singer who has performed in the West End, in Paris and in various other places around the world. He was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France.
Theatre
In 1991, Pradon ...
(2000 film adaptation based on the 1996 revival),
Tony Vincent
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
(2000 Broadway revival),
Corey Glover
Corey Glover (born November 6, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the rock band Living Colour and has toured as the vocalist for the funk band Galactic. As an actor, he played Francis in the 1986 war movi ...
(2006 "new" A.D. tour), Tim Minchin (2012 Arena Tour), and
Brandon Victor Dixon
Brandon Victor Dixon (born September 23, 1981) is an American actor, singer and theatrical producer. As a musical theatre actor, he is known for Tony Award-nominated Broadway performances as Harpo in the 2005 musical ''The Color Purple'' and Eub ...
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
released a single entitled "Judas" from her 2011 album ''Born This Way'' in 2011.
In
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
, one of the
Phantom Stranger
The Phantom Stranger is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, of unspecified paranormal origins, who battles mysterious and occult forces, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in an ...
's possible origins is that he is Judas. After his suicide, he is judged by the Circle of Eternity and is sent back to Earth as an eternal agent of God. The thirty silver pieces he received for betraying Jesus is formed into the signature necklace he wears, and his deeds cause pieces to fall off, bringing him closer towards redemption.
The American band
Walk the Moon
Walk the Moon (stylized as WALK THE MOON) is an American Rock music, rock band based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lead singer Nicholas Petricca started the band in 2006, while a student at Kenyon College, deriving the band's name from the song "Walki ...
Three Versions of Judas
"Three versions of Judas" (original Spanish title: "Tres versiones de Judas") is a short story by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges. It was included in Borges' anthology, ''Ficciones'', published in 1944. Like several other Borges stor ...
"
*
Judas goat
A Judas goat is a trained goat used in general animal herding. The Judas goat is trained to associate with sheep or cattle, leading them to a specific destination. In stockyards, a Judas goat will lead sheep to slaughter, while its own life is s ...
Burning of Judas
The burning of Judas is an Easter-time ritual that originated in European Christian communities where an effigy of Judas Iscariot is burned. Other related mistreatment of Judas effigies include hanging, flogging, and exploding with fireworks. A ...
Jewish Encyclopedia
''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...