Who is…
Judas
Hebrew: Ἰούδας —transliteration: Ioudas —meaning: Judas, Judah / praise
Judas is the Graecized form of the name “Judah.” This is the name of various biblical men and was probably a very common name among the Jews, since it belonged to one of the Israelite patriarchs.
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Judas Iscariot
Judas was the son of Simon Iscariot (John 6:71; 13:2, 26), and was surnamed Iscariot, —meaning: a man of Kerioth (Joshua 15:25).
See: Matthew 26:14-25, 47-50; 27:3-10; Acts 1:16-25.
Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ for the sum of 30 silver coins.
His name is uniformly the last in the list of the apostles, as given in the synoptic (i.e., the first three) Gospels.
The evil of his nature probably gradually unfolded itself till “Satan entered into him” (John 13:27), and he betrayed our Lord (18:3). Afterwards he owned his sin with “an exceeding bitter cry,” and cast the money he had received as the wages of his iniquity down on the floor of the sanctuary, and “departed and went and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5). He perished in his guilt, and “went unto his own place” (Acts 1:25).
An artist’s impression of the scene when Judas Iscariot left the last supper before Christ’s deathThe statement in Acts 1:18 that he “fell headlong and burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out,” is in no way contrary to that in Matthew 27:5.
And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. —Matthew 27:5 KJV
The suicide first hanged himself, perhaps over the valley of Hinnom, “and the rope giving way, or the branch to which he hung breaking, he fell down headlong on his face, and was crushed and mangled on the rocky pavement below.”
Why such a man was chosen to be an apostle we know not, but it is written that “Jesus knew from the beginning who should betray him” (John 6:64).
Nor can any answer be satisfactorily given to the question as to the motives that led Judas to betray his Master.
“Of the motives that have been assigned we need not care to fix on any one as that which simply led him on. Crime is, for the most part, the result of a hundred motives rushing with bewildering fury through the mind of the criminal.” —Matthew G. Easton
Judas Iscariot was replaced by Matthias.
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Judas, a son of Jacob
also known as: Judah
He was a patriarch and was more commonly known as Judah (Matthew 1:2-3).
See: • JUDAH • Tribe of Judah • Kingdom of Judah
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Judas, a brother of Jesus Christ
also known as: Judah, Juda, and Jude
Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? —Matthew 13:55 KJV
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? —Mark 6:3 KJV
He authored the Epistle of Jude.
More information
- Epistle of Jude
- Did Jesus Christ have brothers and sisters?
- Mary, Jesus’ mother—the Bible versus Roman Catholicism
- Who is Mary, the mother of Jesus the Christ
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Judas Barsabas, a Christian teacher
He was sent from Jerusalem to Antioch along with Paul, Barnabas and Silas with the decision of the council (Acts 15:22, 27, 32). He was a “prophet” and a “chief man among the brethren.”
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Judas of Damascus
He was a brave Messianic Jew who hosted the blinded Saul (Paul).
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. —Acts 9:11-12 KJV
“The street called ‘Straight’ in which it was situated is identified with the modern ‘street of bazaars,’ where is still pointed out the so-called ‘house of Judas’” —Matthew G. Easton
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Judas of Galilee
He is the founder of the Zealots and is mentioned only once in the Bible. He started a tax rebellion against Rome. He died and all his followers dispersed (Acts 5:37).
See: Zealots and Simon the Zealot