Matthew 27:3-4

[SaraLee]

3 "When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 "I have sinned, he said, for I have betrayed innocent blood."

Was Judas forgiven by God after he acknowledged his sin and repented? I thought that God forgives all sins except blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

SaraLee

 

[TheOrthodoxOne]

3 "When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 "I have sinned, he said, for I have betrayed innocent blood."

Was Judas forgiven by God after he acknowledged his sin and repented? I thought that God forgives all sins except blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

SaraLee

The scriptures seem to indicate that Judas was not forgiven.

 

[mrscplus]

God does offer forgiveness, no where in scripture does it tell us that Judas asked for it. Remorse is not the same as repentance.

 

[sandman]

Out & out specifically I don’t see where the Word states he was forgiven

BUT …with the understanding of biblical culture, and according to what is written, there is no doubt that he was forgiven….

 

[SaraLee]

Thanks for your reponses. After doing a bit more research on the verse, different versions write of this event in different ways. The King James version indicates that indeed Judas was not only remorseful but repentant:

"3Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that."

SaraLee

 

[JTLauder]

I've never done a word study on "repentance" but a quick word search through Strong's on Blue Letter Bible clearly gives us the answer.

In Matthew 27:3, the original Greek word translated into the English "repent" or "remorse" is "[SIZE=-1]metamellomai" (Strong's G3338).

We look up this Greek word and compare it with other Greek words that are translated to "repent" in the English, and we see there are 2 different Greek words typically used for the word "repent".

One of those words, is the one used in Mat 27:3:
[/SIZE]"[SIZE=-1]metamellomai" (Strong's G3338).

The other one is: "[/SIZE]metanoeō" (Strong's G3340). This Greek word is used in places like in Matthew 3:2 "And saying, Repent ye [G3340]: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand", and in Acts 2:38 "...Repent [G3340] , and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins..."

Both Greek words are derived from 2 root words. One of those root words are the same in both G3338 and G3340: "meta" (G3326) which is a preposition referring to "hereafter" or "afterward" etc.
So both Greek "repent" words means it something happens afterward.

The second root word in G3338 (the word used in Mat 27:3) is: "melei" (G3199) which is a verb which mean "to care about".

Compare that to the second root word in G3340: "noeō" (G3539), which is a verb meaning "to perceive with the mind, to understand, to have understanding" or "to think upon, heed, ponder, consider".

The difference between the two Greek words is clarified from the Blue Letter Bible reference:
The distinction often given between these is; [G3338] refers to an emotional change, [G3340] to an change of choice, [G3338] has reference to particulars, [G3340] to the entire life, [G3338] signifies nothing but regret even amounting to remorse, [G3340] that reversal of moral purpose known as repentance

To sum up, the Greek word for "repented/remorse" in Mat 27:3 is that Judas regretted [G3338] what he did, not that he had a change of heart about it. Therefore the "repentance" [G3340] for the forgiveness of sins was not realized.

 

[SaraLee]

That was a very indepth explaination of the difference in word roots and the meaning of those particular words according to the Greek language. I have to say that it can get very confusing and I have to wonder why the Bible translations are not able to interpret the meaning of words/scripture closer to their proper meaning. It gets even more complicated when scholars can not agree which language the original scriptures were written in...Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic such is the case with Matthew. I don't mean to drag the Bible down, just expressing regret that it is not easier to understand scripture as-it-is read outright. I wonder why God would make it so hard to understand but that is another topic. Thanks again for the work you did in explaination of the root word repent.

SaraLee

 

[DesertScroll]

There is also another verse in John:

While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. John 17:12

The one destined to be lost, in the footnotes (nrsv) the greek is "except the son of destruction".

Now compare to a verse in 2 Thess:

Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 2 Thess 2:3

The one destined for destruction, in the footnotes again the greek is "the son of destruction".

I would have to say Judas did not repent and rely on Jesus. He seemed to want Jesus to be something else and so made up his own righteousness and not the righteousness from God.

 

[mystery4]

SaraLee

My understanding is that Bible leads us to believe that Judas was not forgiven. That is because we are given a contrast between Peter and Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus, and Peter denied him. And we are told that Peter, "wept bitterly". Both of them admitted their wrong and repented. One repented because of how he had let Jesus down, the other repented because he hated the results of his sin.

2 Corinthians 7 tells us there are two types of repentance. One is godly which leads to God's forgiveness, the other is not.

10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.

Hope this has helped somewhat.

 

[sandman]

Wouldn’t the contrast be ….. not who repented …. but who repented and then was able to keep going ….essentially to rise above the sin, and walk.
Peter was able to rise above and forgive himself, Judas was not, and was grieved to the point of committing suicide.

There are a few reasons I believe that Judas was forgiven by Christ, but I need to explain more of the death Judas; if that is acceptable to the OP….I just don’t want to sidetrack this thread.

 

[JTLauder]

That was a very indepth explaination of the difference in word roots and the meaning of those particular words according to the Greek language. I have to say that it can get very confusing and I have to wonder why the Bible translations are not able to interpret the meaning of words/scripture closer to their proper meaning. It gets even more complicated when scholars can not agree which language the original scriptures were written in...Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic such is the case with Matthew. I don't mean to drag the Bible down, just expressing regret that it is not easier to understand scripture as-it-is read outright. I wonder why God would make it so hard to understand but that is another topic. Thanks again for the work you did in explaination of the root word repent.

SaraLee

Translation is a VERY hard thing to do for any language. It's hard enough with modern languages, but trying to translate an ancient language into a modern poses even more difficulty with not only literal translations but taking into account cultural and vernacular nuances.

Just use an online translator like Babelfish to try it out for yourself. Translate a complex sentence into another language, then send that translation back though to English, and don't be surprised if the re-translation back to English is different from your original text.

A good example is in Chinese, people often greet each other by saying, "Have you eaten rice, yet?"
Translate that to American English, and people would give you a strange look and think why is the person asking me about rice?
But in Chinese, the phrase is properly and figuratively translated to mean "Have you eaten yet?".

Take another example, how would you translate "Raining cats and dogs" in another language, or even 2000 years from now? Do you translate it literally to mean cats and dogs are falling from the sky, or do you translate it figuratively that it's raining really hard so it's understood but you lose the actual word translation?

Now imagine trying to make decisions like that for the entire Bible which you people will be reading and studying on how to live their lives.

 

[JTLauder]

Just use an online translator like Babelfish to try it out for yourself. Translate a complex sentence into another language, then send that translation back though to English, and don't be surprised if the re-translation back to English is different from your original text.

Just to demonstrate an example, I put "Raining cats and dogs" through Babelfish and translated it to Korean. And then put the Korean translation back to English and I get: "The cat and the dog elegy it comes" -- The meaning has become totally lost; there's nothing there at all about rain.

Interestingly, I do the same thing but through Chinese this time and the re-translated English is: "Next torrential downpour"

 

[SaraLee]

Indeed, difficult if not impossible sometimes to accurately translate a foreign language into one's own, yet less expressions that have passed out of usage by the time translations take place. That point is well taken and has been evident to me ever since I started going to church and listening to the minister(s) work at explaining the correct meaning of scripture and it continues on today. At one point I decided to simply read the Bible and take what I could gleam from it but still, there is always this tug of war that goes on when wanting to know exactly what this or that means not only with specific words but also with statements that do not seem to jive. Our Bible study this week was about Judas. Reading in Matthew it says Judas hung himself. Then turning to Acts it says nothing about a hanging but rather that Judas fell and his gut burst open. How to make both statements jive? It was suggested that, well, perhaps after he hung himself the rope broke and he fell and his gut opened up. It could have happened that way but did it? To many it makes a difference if he committed suicide or died from an accident. Some facts do come nicely together when doing the research needed, as the points you brought forth certainly make sense yet I often wonder if the most relevant truths that Jesus wants held deep in our hearts are not in the details but rather in a much broader sense.

SaraLee

 

[JTLauder]

Our Bible study this week was about Judas. Reading in Matthew it says Judas hung himself. Then turning to Acts it says nothing about a hanging but rather that Judas fell and his gut burst open. How to make both statements jive? It was suggested that, well, perhaps after he hung himself the rope broke and he fell and his gut opened up. It could have happened that way but did it? To many it makes a difference if he committed suicide or died from an accident. Some facts do come nicely together when doing the research needed, as the points you brought forth certainly make sense yet I often wonder if the most relevant truths that Jesus wants held deep in our hearts are not in the details but rather in a much broader sense.

Yeah, that's a good one. I've heard those interpretations to explain the differences. However, since there isn't a single account that details the entire scene, but it can still be said that the different accounts do not necessarily contradict one another. Matthew only records that Judas hanged himself, but not what happened afterwards--it didn't say someone untied him down or what happened to his body. And Acts says Judas fell, but fell from what or where? They both could have happened but only one part of it was recorded in different books.

It's like the different genealogical lines outlined in Matthew and Luke. They may be different, but that doesn't mean that only one is right and the other wrong. They are just different parts of the same story.

 

[SonicBOOM]

3 "When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 "I have sinned, he said, for I have betrayed innocent blood."

Was Judas forgiven by God after he acknowledged his sin and repented? I thought that God forgives all sins except blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

SaraLee

Judas didn't exactly go to God though. Judas may have felt bad but he didn't really make amends. Instead he killed himself in order to escape it. I beleive if he would've waited until Jesus reserected and went to Jesus himself, Jesus would've said "that's ok, your actions, though bad, worked for the greatest good". I beleive if he would've waited and went to Jesus himself than he would've been numbered among the great apostles. After-all Peter does something almost just as bad, he openly denies that he ever knew Jesus right in the open. I don't think people relize how bad of an act this really is. Here's Jesus, dying for Peter's future freedom, and Peter can't even muster the courege to admit he even knows him, not to mention that he was one of Jesus 3 closest freinds! Peter however... doesn't run away and he doesn't try to escape. Instead he goes to Jesus

 

[sandman]

Our Bible study this week was about Judas. Reading in Matthew it says Judas hung himself. Then turning to Acts it says nothing about a hanging but rather that Judas fell and his gut burst open. How to make both statements jive? It was suggested that, well, perhaps after he hung himself the rope broke and he fell and his gut opened up. It could have happened that way but did it? To many it makes a difference if he committed suicide or died from an accident. Some facts do come nicely together when doing the research needed, as the points you brought forth certainly make sense yet I often wonder if the most relevant truths that Jesus wants held deep in our hearts are not in the details but rather in a much broader sense.

​

The first chapter of Acts gives the account of Jesus giving instruction to His apostles. By following the pronouns, it is clearly apparent when Judas left to commit suicide.

Acts 1:1 The former treaties [scrolls of Luke] have I made O theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.

2. Until the day in which He was taken up after that He through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He {Jesus} had chosen:

[Luke 6:13-16]
13: And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
14: Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
15: Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes,
16: And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.

3. To whom He shewed himself alive after his passion [death] by many infallible proofs, being seen of them [the 12 apostles whom he had chosen] forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

4. And being assembled together with them commanded them {the 12} that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father which saith he, ye have heard of me.

5. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

6. When they [the 12] therefore were come together they [the 12] asked of Him, saying, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom if Israel?”

7. And He said unto them, [the 12] “it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.

8. But ye shall receive power after [or, when] that the holy ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Judaea, and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

9. And when He had spoken these things, while they [the 12] beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

10. And while they [the 12] looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel.
11.Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which was taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Sometime between verse 10 and verse 11, Judas Iscariot left to commit suicide. {We know this by following the pronouns from verse three to verse 10, speaking of the apostles whom Jesus had chosen in verse two.
In verse eleven it changes from “them” to “ye men of Galilee”, Judas Iscariot was the only non-Galilean, {he was from Kerioth, a town in Judea.} We don’t know the time span between the two verses, it could have two minute …5 minutes… the Bible doesn’t say, but it obviously was enough time for Judas to walk away.
Even after seeing Jesus at least three times, and having been forgiven by the Lord, it must have been too much for him to cope with. Through his agonizing grief he opened himself up to being possessed with the spirit of suicide, impaling himself on a sharp instrument, possibly sword, or a sharp stake.
Some misunderstanding as to the death of Judas has been caused from the scripture in Matthew 27:5. This account has been used to place the death of Judas much earlier than it actually occurred. This would contradict the records of Judas being present after the resurrection in ……..

I Corinthains 15:7
After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

Luke 24:33-36
33: And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven {minus Thomas} gathered together, and them that were with them,
34: Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
35: And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
36: And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

And John 20:19-24
19: Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
20: And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
21: Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22: And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
23: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
24: But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came

In addition to the fact that if Judas did kill himself before the ascension, wouldn’t Jesus be the likely candidate to select a new apostle? And if he did commit suicide prior to the ascension…. and Christ did not feel it necessary to replace him ….why would Peter think it necessary???


Matthew 27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

The word translated hanged himself in the King James version is apanchomai from the Greek word apanchô it is used only once in the New Testament. In classic literature it means to “strangle” or “to choke” and is used figuratively to mean “to choke with anger” or “grief” 1. The Expositor’s Greek Testament suggests that apanchô points to death by grief rather than literal choking.2. This is correct only to the extent that Judas did not die immediately in Matthew 27, but he was extremely grieved over the betrayal. This figurative usage is also verified in the classical writings Aristophanes 3.

This seems to be what this word hanged himself suggest, and would fit with the emotional torment and grief that Judas would be going through.
But we can be certain of two things; we know that the Word does not contradict itself, and that Judas only literally died one time; after Jesus ascended.

1. Henry G. Liddell and Robert Scott. A Greek – English Lexicon, rev. by Henry S. Jones {1843; 9th ed., Oxford Press} 1940 p. 174
2. W. Robertson Nicoll , The Expositor’s Greek Testament, 6 vols. {London Hodder and Stoughton, 1897} 1: 323
3. Aristophanes Vespae 686

 

[BrotherDave]

Hello SaraLee,

No, Judas was not forgiven. He ended his life by committing suicide; this in itself tells us he was not a child of God. Since the Bible is absolutely true I believe the rope broke and his body must have landed on something that would have cut him open. This is an ugly picture, but being punished in Hell forevermore is not to be taken lightly.

As has been mentioned Judas did not eternally repent. He felt bad but God must be at work in a person to truly repent such as was the case in Nineveh (Jonah3) or the publican (Luke 18) for example. In Matt 26:25 Jesus says that it would have been better if his betrayer had never been born. In Acts 1:16 Peter reminds everyone that the scripture David had recorded about Judas had to be fulfilled (Psalm 41:9, Psalm 69, Psalm 109:5). These scripture support the belief that Judas was not saved.

God looks at person’s heart (I Thess 2:4) and only God can make someone’s heart clean (Proverbs 20.9). Mans heart is wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Even though Judas was used by God, Judas was not forgiven. God only forgives the sins of his people who He chose before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4-13, I Thess 1:4, II Thess 2:13). God does not forgive everyone (Rom 9:15, Rom 9:21). In fact He warns us that there are many who enter into destruction (Matt 7:13).

The whole message of this event is that wickedness brings death and true repentance comes from deep within a person’s heart after God saves them if he intends to (Phil 2:13). Judas cared more for money (he was the one concerned about the money wasted when the woman poured expensive ointment on Christ).

In Christ’s service,
Dave

 

[marvmax]

SaraLee;
As you can see there doesn't seem to be a single answer here, as is often the case with the Bible. I fall on the "I hope he was forgiven side." I can't do a better explanation that what Sandman did in his excellent post (By the way thanks Sandman). I've also heard that Judas wanted to compel Jesus to take a more active stance, to be the Messiah that a firebrand like Judas wanted. He might have thought that turning Jesus in would cause him to rise up and lead the political restoration that Judas and the other Zealots were desiring. When he realized what he had done he was overwhelmed with remorse.

I've been told that we shouldn't judge those who commit suicide too harshly because no one really can understand the depths of despair that can lead one to take their own life.

 

[SaraLee]

Thanks again to all who researched and personal comments on this subject. As you said marvmax there isn't one pat answer and the answers raise even more questions.
I checked out babelfish.... Thanks for the suggestion.

SaraLee

 

[ToxicReboMan]

I would have to say it is inconclusive from Scripture. We don't know we can only speculate. The question we are really asking here is...Is Judas Iscariot destined for hell? I don't think it is healthy to say that he is going to hell, because nobody really knows that.