The story of another traitor is detailed in 2 Samuel 17:23, “When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. Theory 2: Other commentators believe Matthew merely referred to a general death of dishonor and not specifically the act involving a tree and a noose when he wrote, “went and hanged himself.”

This point of view believes Judas hung himself, but because of the belief that his body was unclean and impure, he was left to hang there long enough to decompose and fall to the ground, thereby causing the eruption of “all his bowels.”

Theory 1: Some Bible scholars say the accounts don’t conflict but are two events occurring in sequence. Did he hang himself or fall headlong? Are the two biblical accounts conflicting or can they be reconciled? Then he went away and hanged himself” ( Matthew 27:5).Īnother controversy about the accounts of Judas’ death is how he died. “So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. “What is that to us?” they replied in verse 4. Judas confessed, but the chief priests and elders didn’t care. Judas saw the result of his actions and “was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest and elders,” ( Matthew 27:3). The account for Judas’s death in Matthew 27 began when Jesus was led away to the cross. In referring to the expensive perfumes Mary used to anoint the feet of Jesus, Judas said, “‘Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it” ( John 12: 5-6). John wrote greed was the root of Judas’s actions. Many accounts believe the betrayal was based not on financial gain, but because of a worry that Jesus would become ruler of Judea.

Matthew 26:14-15 wrote that Judas “went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?’ And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.” Have encouragement delivered straight to your inbox! Judas Betrays Jesus Theories about the reasons for Judas’ actions and the circumstances surrounding his death are numerous. As one of the trusted disciples, he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, then Judas killed himself. Judas Iscariot is one of the most infamous characters found in all the Bible.

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