# So it turns out that Judas didn't betray Jesus after all... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 6, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605 "2006-04-06T18:01:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/1 "2006-04-06T18:01:49Z")
According to [this](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/04/0406_060406_judas.html), biblical scholars have uncovered the long lost Gospel of Judas. > [@](#): > > Biblical accounts suggest that Jesus foresaw and allowed Judas’s betrayal. > > As told in the New Testament Gospels, Judas betrayed Jesus for “30 pieces of silver,” identifying him with a kiss in front of Roman soldiers. Later the guilt-ridden Judas returns the bribe and commits suicide, according to the Bible. > > The Gospel of Judas, however, gives a very different account. > > The text begins by announcing that it is the “secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week, three days before he celebrated Passover.” > > It goes on to describe Judas as Jesus’ closest friend, someone who understands Christ’s true message and is singled out for special status among Jesus’ disciples. > > In the key passage Jesus tells Judas, “‘you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.’” I have no idea what this will mean to Christianity in general, but I seriously doubt this will be treated as anything other than another piece of apocrypha. Still, it’s neat and I’d really like to read it someday. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/2 "2006-04-06T18:05:13Z")
But…this changes EVERYTHING! :eek: I can’t see anyone getting their knickers in a twist about this. I found myself looking at the Bible with a jaded eye the minute I found out that some people had decided waaaaay back what to leave in and what to take out. That alone took away it’s trustedess\* as a source. \*not to be confused with truthiness. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/3 "2006-04-06T18:08:09Z")
I look forward to reading it as well, and I have no illusions that this will be little more then a historical curiosity to the church(except for some churches, who will no doubt find it heretical). ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/4 "2006-04-06T18:09:04Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > \*not to be confused with truthiness. 🙂 Never heard of “lying by omission?” Or telling “half-truths?” Face it, the hand of man has corrupted the book. _Dianetics_, now that’s pure and good. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/5 "2006-04-06T18:11:45Z")
Maybe Judas will be the next trendy name for parents to give to their children! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/6 "2006-04-06T18:12:01Z")
Hee. Thanks for the chuckle. I prefer the beams of knowledge I receive on days when the barometer drops a bit. Never let me down yet! (need maniacal smiley here) ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/7 "2006-04-06T18:17:47Z")
I’ve already heard, before this, that the word translated as ‘betray’ is translated as another way elsewhere in the bible - something like ‘turned over.’ So some people already feel like the gospels say not that Judas betrayed Jesus, but that he was the go-between who arranged for a peaceful transfer of Jesus to the authorities, and that Jesus had assented to it. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/8 "2006-04-06T18:22:23Z")
My favourite part: the document apparently was left moldering in a safe-deposit box in Hicksville, NY for over a decade. Ancient Coptic Gospels found in a safe-deposit box in a town called Hicksville. _Hicksville_. It’s like a Clive Cussler novel. ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/9 "2006-04-06T18:40:49Z")
This theory was explored in detail in the movie “The Last Tempation of Christ”. Their take was that Judas was the only one who loved and understood Jesus enough to be able to betray him, in order to fulfill god’s will. There is a very touching scene in the movie where Jesus tells Judas that he has the harder job out of the two of them. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/10 "2006-04-06T18:45:32Z")
My understanding was that Judas committed suicide shortly after the crucifixion. If so, then where does this gospel come from? Surely he wouldn’t have had time to get all this written down before his death. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/11 "2006-04-06T18:51:02Z")
It’s always been my understanding that 30 pieces of silver 1- wasn’t a lot of money (at least not enough to convince you to betray somebody you loved) 2- was a requirement to accept when turning basically “state’s evidence” and that Judas did not betray Christ for the money but for personal reasons. Re: Hicksville, NY- I _knew_ we should have looked there! These things are always in the last place you look. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/12 "2006-04-06T18:52:42Z")
So does this mean that Judas gets out of hell kinda like those prisoners released due to DNA evidence? ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/13 "2006-04-06T18:55:38Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Never heard of “lying by omission?” Or telling “half-truths?” > > Face it, the hand of man has corrupted the book. > _Dianetics_, now that’s pure and good. The article states they found the text in the seventies – I’m pretty sure the bible was written well before that . ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/14 "2006-04-06T18:56:40Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > My understanding was that Judas committed suicide shortly after the crucifixion. If so, then where does this gospel come from? Surely he wouldn’t have had time to get all this written down before his death. None of the gospels were written by the apostles whom they are named after. They are the stories as told in the tradition of … ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/15 "2006-04-06T19:02:47Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > None of the gospels were written by the apostles whom they are named after. They are the stories as told in the tradition of … Granted, but did Judas have time to tell these stories, given the short interval between Jesus’ death and his own? And, given his unpopularity, who would have willingly carried the banner for him after his death? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/16 "2006-04-06T19:39:08Z")
> [@Omegaman](#): > > The article states they found the text in the seventies – I’m pretty sure the bible was written well before that . Not the _Judas_ book … which was found during the height of Bigfoot/Yeti/Loch Ness Monster/Disco hysteria era … but the rest of the selective compilation into which the ancient and unadulterated _Judas_ will in all likelihood not be inserted. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/17 "2006-04-06T19:49:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > So does this mean that Judas gets out of hell kinda like those prisoners released due to DNA evidence? Not just from Hell, but from the jaws of Satan himself, at least according to Dante’s Divine Comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/18 "2006-04-06T20:17:57Z")
The Gospel of Judas is usually dated around the mid 2nd Century (It’s mentioned in Irenaeus’ _Against Heresies_ c. 180 CE, so it has to have been written before then). I wouldn’t put any stock in it having any authentic history in it. The 2nd and 3rd Centuries abounded in gospels attributed to this or that apostle. Various competing sects were trying to establish apostolic authorities for their respective doctrines. The Gospel of Judas may have been produced by a subset of Gnostics called [Cainites](http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9018563), who espoused some of the more interesting “heresies” of the period. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/19 "2006-04-06T21:47:31Z")
Jorge Luis Borges wrote a story called “Three Versions of Judas” which postulates that Judas, not Jesus, was the actual son of God, and goes into quite a bit of logical depth on the subject. It’s fascinating (if you like Borges, as I most definitely do). **Revtim** sent me a copy of it a few years ago, and now I can’t seem to find it, or I’d provide some more detail. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605/20 "2006-04-06T22:23:55Z")
**Diogenes the Cynic** , thanks for the info - I’d known that there was at least one apochraphyl Book of Judas. I can’t get excited about this discovery, since it seems unlikely to be new. (I seem to recall hearing, too, about the Book of Barabbas - the murderer released instead of Jesus, according to the Passion.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-that-judas-didnt-betray-jesus-after-all/351605.md?page=2)