Bible people · Start with this story
Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης · The one who betrayed him
Judas Iscariot
The man who made the most destructive choice from the closest place
Scripture does not preserve Judas Iscariot’s first meeting with Jesus. He begins inside the lists of the Twelve and is sent with the others. He later keeps the common purse and shares the table, so the betrayal must be read as the tragic path of a close companion, not the predictable attack of someone introduced as an outsider.
How to read this study
No Bible background is needed. Read from top to bottom: each section tells what happened next, and the line at the end lists the passages or other sources used for that scene.
Words used on this page
New to the Bible? Start with these words.
These short definitions explain how each word is used in this article. You do not need to know them before you begin.
- Gospel
- One of the four New Testament books that tells the story of Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
- Disciple
- A learner and follower. In these pages, it usually means someone who followed Jesus.
- Jew / Jewish
- A member of the Jewish people. Depending on context, the word can refer to shared ancestry, peoplehood, religion, or culture.
When the Twelve are appointed and sent
No first meeting; he begins in the same list as the others
The Gospels do not tell where Judas first met Jesus. The secure beginning is that his name appears when Jesus appoints the Twelve and that he is sent with them.
Knowing the ending does not turn this opening into an infiltration scene. The narrative begins with Judas inside the community.
ReferencesMark 3:13–19 · 6:7–13 · Luke 6:12–16
Jesus’ public ministry and the final meal
He keeps the purse and sits at the same table
John presents Judas as keeper of the common purse and also accuses him of stealing from it. He is not a distant observer; the group entrusts part of its shared life to him.
At the final meal, even after Jesus announces a betrayal, the disciples do not immediately identify Judas. The years of closeness are real, which makes the choice that follows more disturbing.
ReferencesJohn 12:4–6 · 13:21–30
The night in Gethsemane
A kiss becomes an arrest signal
Judas arranges to hand Jesus over and leads a crowd into the garden at night. The signal identifying the man to seize is a kiss.
A sign of closeness becomes a weapon. The Gospels speak in different ways about money, evil, desire, and choice; no single amateur diagnosis can explain Judas completely.
ReferencesMatthew 26:14–16, 47–50 · Luke 22:1–6, 47–48 · John 13:21–30
The silver and the empty place
He regrets it, but cannot reverse the story
Matthew says Judas sees Jesus condemned, returns the silver, and dies by suicide. Acts tells the field and death with different narrative details.
The accounts should not be forced into false precision. What remains is money, death, and an empty place in the community. Judas’s tragedy must never become a weapon against the Jewish people; Jesus and all the Twelve were Jewish.
ReferencesMatthew 27:3–10 · Acts 1:15–26
