Judas Iscariot Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Judas Iscariot (d. April, 29 - 33 AD, Aramaic יהודה איש־קריות Yəhûḏāh ʾΚ-qəriyyôṯ) was one of Jesus's twelve original disciples (compare apostles).
Judas is mentioned only in the Gospels and at the beginning of Acts. According to the account given in the Gospels, he carried the disciples' money box and betrayed Jesus for a bribe of "30 pieces of silver" by pointing him out to arresting Roman soldiers.
Judas Iscariot should not be confused with Jude Thaddeus (St Jude), who was also one of the twelve disciples and a brother of James the Less.
, c.1306. The painting is housed in the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua.]]
After Jesus' arrest by the Roman authorities (but before his execution), the guilt-ridden Judas returned the bribe to the priests and committed suicide. The Gospel of Matthew says he hanged himself; the Acts of the Apostles (1:18), however, says that he "purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out". This field is called Akel Dama or "Field Of Blood." Acts 1 goes on to say that his place among the apostles was filled by Matthias.
Judas has been a figure of great interest to esoteric groups, such as many Gnostic sects, because of the apparent contradiction in the idea of "the betrayal of God". The possibilities seem to be these:
The text of the Gospels suggests that Jesus both foresaw and allowed Judas' betrayal.
Most modern Christians, whether laity, clergy or theologians, still consider Judas a traitor. Indeed the term Judas has entered the language as a synonym for betrayer. However, some scholars have embraced the alternative notion that Judas was merely the negotiator in a prearranged prisoner exchange (following the money-lender riot in the Temple) that gave Jesus to the Roman authorities by mutual agreement, and that Judas' later protrayal as "traitor" was a historical distortion. In his book The Passover Plot, the British theologian Hugh J. Schonfield argued that the crucifixion of Christ was a conscious re-enactment of Biblical prophecy and Judas acted with Jesus' full knowledge and consent in "betraying" his master to the authorities. Schonfield's hypothesis recognizes the fulfillment of prophecy in Judas' recorded actions without acknowledging that the prophecies were really fulfilled in history. This interpretation became well known in the general population by the controverisal film The Last Temptation of Christ.
"Judas" is derived from the common name Judah (Hebrew for "praised"). What "Iscariot" signifies is more mooted, other than its suffix -otes, like English "-ite" or "-ian". No territory "Iscaria" has ever existed.
One etymology derives "Iscariot" from Hebrew איש קריות, `Ish Kerayoth, i.e. "man of Kerayoth", the Judean town (or, more probably, collection of small towns) of Kerayoth, not otherwise related to any person or event in the New Testament, nor mentioned in any document of the period. A difficulty with this interpretation is that it would make Judas a non-Galilean, unlike Jesus and the other disciples (Peter's Galilean accent is particularly mentioned).
A comparable Aramaic derivation, presented for example in Strong's Concordance, is from qirya or qiryah ("city"), making Judas a "man of the city."
In the other, "Iscariot" (Greek Iskaryotes) is represented as a transformation of the Latin Sicarius, or "dagger-man", one of a cadre of assassins among Jewish rebels intent on driving the Romans out of Judea. A fuller description of them is at Sicarii. Aramaic was written without vowels, so such a reading is a commonplace transformation if an Aramaic text (such as the "Q Gospel") is rewritten in Greek. As the early Christian writer Papias of Hierapolis noted, ca 125, "Matthew compiled the sayings (Greek: logia) of the Lord in a Hebrew manner of speech."
Whether Judas actually was a sicariote or even a sympathizer will never be known, but is irrelevant to a term that was pejorative.
In the Eastern Orthodox hymns of Holy Wednesday (the Wednesday before Pascha), Judas is contrasted with the prostitute who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume and washed his feet with her tears. According to the Gospels, Judas protested at this apparent extravagance, suggesting that the money spent on it should have been given to the poor, though his real concern was that he had not been able to embezzle it. 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 the prostitute'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 also make mention of Judas' 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."
Some scholars of the New Testament suggest that the name "Judas" was intended as an attack on the Judaeans or on the Judaean religious establishment held responsible for executing Christ. The English word "Jew" is derived from the Latin Judaeus, which, like the Greek Ιουδαιος (Ioudaios), could also mean "Judaean". In the Gospel of John, the original writer or a later editor may have tried to draw a parallel between Judas, Judaea, and the Judaeans (or Jews) in verses 6:70-7:1, which run like this in the King James Bible:
Over time Judas came to be seen as the archtypal jew. He was said to have red hair, which was proverbially called "Judas-colored", and the ancient stereotype of Jews was that they had red hair too: in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice the Jewish money-lender Shylock is said to have been portrayed with red hair on the Elizabethan stage. Judas's betrayal of Christ for money was also seen as a typical piece of Jewish venality and avarice.
A few modern critics of European culture aver that in paintings and art of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, while the other apostles are portrayed as powerfully built Northern Europeans, Judas was given stereotypically Jewish characteristics. Specific examples of such portrayals, however, are hard to come by.
Judas has become the archetype of the betrayer in Western culture. In Dante's Inferno, he is condemned to the lowest circle of Hell, where he is one of three sinners deemed evil enough that they are doomed to be chewed for eternity in the mouths of the triple-headed Satan. (The others are Brutus and Cassius, who conspired against and assassinated Julius Caesar.)
Jorge Luis Borges' short story Three Versions of Judas gives several interpretations of Judas' story, one of which concludes that Judas is the true savior of humanity.
Some modern works such as Jesus Christ Superstar, The Greatest Story Ever Told and The Last Temptation of Christ also highlight the role of Judas in the Gospel story.
Bob Dylan's song "With God on Our Side", contains the following lines that refer to Judas Iscariot:
See also:
This is an Article on Judas Iscariot. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Judas Iscariot Traditional Christian views
Theological Questions
Irenaeus records the beliefs of one Gnostic sect, the Cainites, who believed that Judas was an instrument of the Sophia, thus earning the hatred of the Demiurge. His betrayal of Jesus thus was a victory over the carnal world. The Cainites later split into two groups, both praising Judas over Jesus Christ, but disagreeing over the significance of Jesus in their cosmology.Philosophical Questions
Judas is also the subject of many philosophical writings, including The Problem of Natural Evil by Bertrand Russell and Three Versions of Judas, a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. They both point out various problematic ideological contradictions with the discrepancy between Judas' actions and his eternal punishment.
The Bible also states that on the cross Christ forgave those that had contributed to his death, saying that they "know not what they do." However Judas seems to have not been included in this pardon.Modern interpretations
Etymology of "Judas Iscariot"
Judas in Hymnography
Judas and Anti-Semitism
In Greek, the earliest extant language of the Gospels, the words Judas -- Jewry -- Jews run like this: Ιουδας (Ioudas) -- Ιουδαια (Ioudaia) -- Ιουδαιοι (Ioudaioi). In Latin, the language of the Catholic Vulgate Bible, they run Judas -- Judaea -- Judaei. Whatever the original intentions of the original writers or editors of the Gospel of John, however, there is little doubt that the similarity between the name "Judas" and the words for "Jew" in various European languages has contributed powerfully to anti-Semitism. In German the same words run Judas -- Judäa -- Jud; in Spanish Judas -- Judea -- judío; and in French Judas -- Judée -- juif. Judas in Art and Literature
The Smashing Pumpkins album Pisces Iscariot derives its title from Judas Iscariot.External links