- NOTE: For similarly named villains, please see Judas Iscariot.
| “ | I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. | „ |
| ~ Judas confessing to betraying Jesus Christ. |
Judas Iscariot, in Hebrew was “Yehuda Ish-Krayot”, is one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ and a major antagonist of the Bible. He was known best for his betrayal of Jesus Christ over thirty pieces of silver. He (depending on the version of the story) later committed suicide due to the guilt of his actions. It is widely believed that he was possessed by Satan, which is presumably what caused Judas' traitorous nature against Christ.
Because of this, the term "Judas" is often used to describe someone traitorous.
History[]
Judas was born to Cyborea and Simon Iscariot. According to the Gospel of John, Judas has been a thief who was pretending to care for the destitute.
The night before the Passover, the Pharisees and the chief priests were looking for a way to kill Jesus because they saw his claim as the Messiah and Son of God as being blasphemous, but unable to do so due to their fear over the people. Judas then came, he told the Sanhedrin chief priests and scribes, who wanted Jesus put to death, that he would hand him over for thirty pieces of silver. After Jesus was arrested and sentenced to death for “blasphemy”, Judas, realizing the atrocity of his betrayal, tried to return the pieces of silver to the chief priests. After they refused, Judas flung the coins into a temple, and killed himself by hanging.
There are two different versions of Judas Iscariot's death in the Bible. The version more widely known is where Judas hangs himself. The other claims that Judas fell, splits formed in his stomach, and his entrails fell out.
His betrayal has become infamous enough for the name Judas to be used as a common term for a traitor of any kind, especially one that betrays a close ally.
Trivia[]
- Due to his betrayal to Jesus Christ, Judas Iscariot is commonly regarded as one of the most infamous traitors in history. Another figure in theology, Cain is also a well-known traitor alongside Judas.
- Despite this, Judas has become a controversial figure in regard to Christ being crucified, because it was Judas' actions that led to Christ being crucified in the first place, thus setting the events of Christ dying for humanity's sins into motion. There are some religious scholars who believe Judas was in fact acting under instruction from Jesus to turn him over to the Pharisees.
- In Dante Alighieri's epic poem, The Inferno, Judas has been labeled among the greatest traitors in history, along with Brutus and Cassius, the murderers of Caesar. All three have been sentenced to the ninth and final circle of Hell: Treachery. Unlike the other traitors, who are frozen in ice, Judas, Brutus, and Cassius are eternally punished by being gnawed upon by the three heads of the Devil. Judas, headfirst in Satan's middle head with his back raked by Satan's claws, suffers the worst punishment of the three.
- Strangely, the innermost round of the treachery circle, Judecca (not counting Cocytus), bears his name.
- The 2nd century Coptic papyrus book known as the Euangelion Ioudas ("Gospel of Judas") that was banned from the Christian Bible and rediscovered within the area near Beni Masah, Egypt in the 1970s, is the historical Gnostic document that describs the story of Jesus's death from the viewpoint of Judas. This Gospel stated that Jesus specifically asked Judas to betray him to the authorities. Also included was a story of a vision of Judas stoned to death by Christ's 11 remaining apostles.
- Though their names are similar, Judas must not be confused with Judah, Joseph's fourth-oldest brother and an ancestor of Jesus.
