Judas in Biblical History

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Who is Judas?
JU'DAS
(praise). 1. The patriarch Judah. Matt 1:2-3. 1. The betrayer of Christ. Matt 10:4; Mark 3:19; Luke 6:16. Nothing is known of his early history. His name has been variously interpreted, but best as from Ish Kerioth, "the man of Kerioth," a town of Judah. Josh 15:25. He is called the son of Simon. John 6:71. His executive ability led to his choice as treasurer, but the office stimulated and increased his avarice. John 12:6; John 13:29. This trait is shown very strikingly in his regret over Mary's "waste." It has been suggested that the loss, as he regarded it, of the 300 denarii which the ointment cost may have made him the more willing to accept the 30 shekels (the price of a slave) which he received for the betrayal of Christ. Matt 26:15. The best explanation of the awful crime is that of our Lord: he was under the influence of Satan. John 6:70-71. Judas returned after making the infamous bargain, and mingled again with the disciples. He was present at the paschal supper, though probably not at the institution of the Lord's Supper. His familiarity with the habits of Jesus enabled him to guide the attendant mob directly to the garden of Gethsemane, and there, with the moisture of Jesus' lips still wet upon his own, to give the command, "Take him." Matt 14:43-45. But when the deed was done there came on the reaction. He knew and confessed that he had betrayed "innocent blood." He could not endure the strain of a conscience on the rack. He flung the money to the priests and went and hanged himself, but was not suffered to present an unmangled corpse, for, the rope breaking, his body fell headlong and all his bowels gushed out. Comp. Matt 27:5 with Acts 1:18. The 30 shekels were not put into the treasury, since they were "the price of blood;" accordingly, the priests bought a field with them. Matt 27:7. This is the purchase attributed to Judas himself by Peter. Acts 1:18. Aceldama, where he committed suicide, is shown on the southern slope of the valley of Hinnom. Some have attempted to extenuate his guilt by supposing that he wished to hasten the crisis and to force Christ to set up his kingdom. But our Lord, the most merciful of beings, calls him "the son of perdition," for whom it would have been good "if he had not been born." He is branded in history as the most ungrateful of traitors, although the wisdom of God overruled his treason for the crucifixion of Jesus, whose death is our salvation. 1. The one called Juda in Mark 6:3. 2. A brother of James, and one of the apostles; called also Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus and Jude. Matt 10:3; Mark 3:18: Luke 6:16; John 14:22; Acts 1:13; Matt 13:55. 3. Judas of Galilee, a leader of an insurrection "in the days of taxing" -- i. e. the census -- a.d. 6, and who, according to Gamaliel, was very successful for a time, but was ultimately completely defeated. Acts 5:37. We find in Joscphus an allusion to a man, who is there said to have been born in the city of Gamala in Gaulanitis, and to have been the founder of a new sect, which did not differ from that of the Pharisees save in a fanatical love of liberty and refusal to support the Roman state. 4. The one whose house in Straight Street, Damascus, sheltered Paul during his blindness. Acts 9:11, Acts 9:17. This Judas may have kept an inn; it is unlikely that he was a disciple. 5. Judas, surnamed Barsabas, a "chief man among the brethren," a "prophet," who was chosen along with Paul and Barnabas and Silas to carry the decisions of the council of Jerusalem, a.d. 50, to Antioch. Acts 15:22-33. JUDE was one of the apostles, and the brother of James the Less, Jude 1. He is called "Judas," Matt 13:55; John 14:22; Acts 1:13, and elsewhere "Lebbaeus," Matt 10:3, and "Thaddaeus." Mark 3:18. Epistle of, was written about a.d. 65. The author calls himself "a servant of Christ and a brother of James," who was a brother of Christ and was also called the Just and the bishop of Jerusalem. See James. The epistle is intended to guard believers against prevalent errors, and to urge them to constancy in the faith once delivered to the saints. This is done by a vivid exhibition of the terrors of God's judgments upon the wicked, and by a recurrence to that great principle of our religion, dependence on Christ alone, to keep us from falling. In Jude 9 we read: "Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said. The Lord rebuke thee." This incident is not elsewhere recorded in Scripture, and is probably quoted from the Apocalypse of Moses. In Jude 14 Jude quotes a prophecy of Enoch, the seventh from Adam. There is a striking resemblance between 2 Peter and Jude. Both are warnings against errorists.

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Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'judas' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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