The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Judas

I have seen this discussed elsewhere and am interested to see what the great minds here think! We know the Bible is the inerrant Word of God but when considering both the passages below how did Judas die?


Matthew 27:3-10 (NIV)

3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."

5So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

6The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." 7So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. 8That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."

***********************************************************

Acts 1:16-18 (NIV)

16and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus— 17he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."

18(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.

john,

Judas indirectly bought the field when he returned the money to the chief priests and elders who in turn purchased a burial place for foreigners called "Field of Blood."

Matthew writes that Judas "hanged himself" (Matt. 27:5). Apparently during or soon after the hanging his body fell to the ground and was broken and decomposed.


Wes

He hung himself. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> The question is, How are we to understand Peter's recounting of the events as recorded by Luke some several years later with that which is recorded by Matthew? My own understanding is that Matthew's account was written as a historical event and Peter's iteration of the event is more rhetorical (story-telling). But that still doesn't resolve what appears to be a contradiction, does it? A popular and quite feasible explanation is that Judas hung himself and thereafter the rope broke and thus he fell to the ground and his body split, etc. Another explanation similar to that one is that he hung himself by a rope whose length was sufficiently long enough that when he jumped his body was able to reach the ground, but short enough that it broke his neck (hung). Personally, if I had to choose between the two, the former would be my choice.

In His grace,

A couple photos of the Potter's Field/Field of Blood as it is today gives you an idea of the terrain: it's not hard to imagine Judas hanging himself from a tree high on the hillside, his body subsequently falling down the hillside and bursting open.

Is not he "bursting open" the clue. The dead body begins to swell and then burst open when it fell.

John,

I like what I've heard so far, most all conjectures being both faithful to the texts and plausible, and can be quite content in leaving it at that.

I do want to throw another element in the mix, however, and would appreciate help from the Greek-readers here on 2 questions:

1. Is "headlong" here likely to have the primary English meaning of "headfirst"? and
2. Can the "fell headlong" construction allow the implication of "with assistance", as in "[his body was cast down and] fell headlong"?

If yes to both, I would find easier to picture the body being removed--in keeping with the law--from the place of hanging and being unceremoniously hurled--as by a couple men holding each side of a sheet--headfirst over a wall or precipice into the field at the bottom of the hill, than to picture the body somehow inverting itself in mid-air.

To me, this scenario also more easily provides the necessary eyewitnesses for Luke's account. While the hanging and final condition of the body would have been able to be seen for some length of time after the fact, the "falling headlong" could not have lasted much more than 1 second, and would be very unlikely to be directly witnessed. However, a talkative temple guard in later years, perhaps, could have given a direct account of what happened.

That said, this is all speculation, and only 3 things are certain:

a) it happened just the way it was recorded,
b) if we needed to know more, we would! and
c) how undeserved the grace that rescued us from such an end!

Yes, head first would be the primary meaning although it can, in a given context, mean "prone".

and

If you mean by "allow", Is there something in the contruction of pranas genomenos that would imply "assistance", the answer is no. Literally, it is "This man . . . having fallen head first . . . burst . . ."

In His grace,

Pilgrim,

Thanks for clarifying the Greek.