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(jyoo' duhss) Greek transliteration of Hebrew personal name Judah
meaning, “Praise Yahweh.” The proper name Judas was very common in
the time of Christ because it was not only the Greek form of one of
the twelve patriarchs, but it was also made popular by the Jewish
hero Judas Maccabaeus who led the nation in their fight for
independence from Syria in 166 B.C. The New Testament mentions seven
men named Judas. Most of them are only mentioned in passing. 1. One
of Jesus' ancestors (Luke 3:30). 2. A brother of the Lord (Matthew
13:55; Mark 6:3). Acts speaks of five others named Judas. 3. Judas
of Galilee was one of those who led a revolt against the Romans and
died as a result. The exact year of this revolt is uncertain,
perhaps 6 A.D. (Acts 5:37). 4. After his experience on the road to
Damascus Paul went to the house of a man named Judas who lived on
Straight Street. Ananias found him there three days later. 5. Judas,
surnamed Barsabas, was one of those chosen by the Church of
Jerusalem to go with Paul and Barnabas to deliver the letter from
James to the church at Antioch concerning the important matter of
Gentile salvation (Acts 15:22).
6. Jesus' twelve disciples include two named Judas. The first is
always listed after James the son of Alphaeus, and is called the
brother of James (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13). He appears to have been
known also by the name Lebbaeus Thaddaeus
(Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18). His only recorded words are found in John
14:22.
7. The last of these was Judas Iscariot.
All of the Gospels place him at the end of the list of disciples
because of his role as betrayer. Iscariot is an Aramaic word which
means “man of Kerioth”, a town near Hebron. He was the only disciple
from Judea. He acted as treasurer for the disciples but was known as
a miser and a thief (John 12:5-6). He was present at the Last
Supper, during which Jesus predicted his betrayal (Luke 22:21;
Matthew 26:20-21). The price of the betrayal was 30 pieces of
silver, which Judas returned to Jewish leaders; then he went out and
hanged himself. He died in sorrow but without repentance. The money,
which could not be returned to the treasury because it was blood
money, was used to buy a potter's field in Judas' name (Matthew
27:3-10; compare Acts 1:18-19).
Gerald Cowen
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