Judas Iscariot
The member of the Twelve who led the temple authorities to Jesus at night and identified him with a kiss. Matthew and Acts give differing accounts of his death.
Judas stands last in each Gospel’s list of the Twelve, always with the note that he betrayed Jesus (Mark 3:19) (Matthew 10:4) (Luke 6:16). John’s Gospel calls him the son of Simon Iscariot and says that he kept the group’s money box and stole from it (John 6:71) (John 12:4–6).
Shortly before the Passover he went to the chief priests and offered to hand Jesus over, and they promised him money (Mark 14:10–11); Matthew gives the sum as thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14–16). Luke and John say that Satan entered into him (Luke 22:3) (John 13:27). He left the supper, brought an armed party to the place where Jesus was praying, and pointed him out with a kiss (John 13:30) (Mark 14:43–46); see Gethsemane and the Arrest.
Two accounts of his death survive. In Matthew he is seized with remorse when Jesus is condemned, throws the silver down in the temple, and hangs himself; the priests use the money to buy a potter’s field as a burial ground (Matthew 27:3–10). In Acts, Peter says that Judas himself bought a field with his reward, fell headlong and burst open (Acts 1:16–19). Both connect his end with a place called the Field of Blood. Matthias was chosen by lot to take his place (Acts 1:21–26).
In the timeline
- c. AD 28–29, estimated dateJesus Appoints the Twelve
From his wider following Jesus chooses twelve men to be with him and to be sent out to preach and heal. Mark, Matthew and Luke list their names from Simon Peter to Judas Iscariot; Acts lists the eleven who remained.
- AD 30 or 33, estimated dateThe Last Supper
On the night before he dies Jesus eats with the twelve in Jerusalem, gives them bread and a cup, calling them his body and his blood of the covenant, and foretells his betrayal. John tells instead how he washed their feet. The Gospels differ on the day.
- AD 30 or 33, estimated dateGethsemane and the Arrest
After the supper Jesus prays in distress at Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives while his disciples sleep. Judas arrives with an armed party and identifies him with a kiss. Jesus is seized and the disciples flee.