Thread: Death of Judas

As you may know, in the Bible, two accounts are found of the death of Judas. In one case, we find him hanging, in the other, we find him disembowled.

Now, in medieval thought, or so I have heard, the thought of avarice (Judas aqcuiring the gold of the priests) is linked to hanging, and this his hanging is thus, explanable.

However, it is his disembowlement that fascinates me. His disembowlement linked to treachery?

Mr U

HomoUniversalis: As you may know, in the Bible, two accounts are found of the death of Judas. In one case, we find him hanging, in the other, we find him disembowled.

Now, in medieval thought, or so I have heard, the thought of avarice (Judas aqcuiring the gold of the priests) is linked to hanging, and this his hanging is thus, explanable.

However, it is his disembowlement that fascinates me. His disembowlement linked to treachery?
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M*W: Your theory would apply if Judas was, in fact, a real character, but I don't believe anything written in the Bible should be taken literally. There is a third theory about Judas, however, that he was allegedly crucified next to Jesus and was still alive when he was removed from his cross. The Romans were said to have broken his legs and then threw him off a cliff where he was disemboweled by the impact only to be eaten by wild dogs. That's where the phrase "going to the dogs..." came from.

In all honesty, I think Judas was yet another fictional character of Bible lore.

I am not so much concerned with his existence, but rather by his, apparantly three (forgive my ignorance) ways of death. If hanging is linked to avarice, than are these other deaths also representive of some of his 'sins'? Is disemblowment/eaten by dogs representative of treason?

Mr U

There's a novel by Simon Mawer called The Gospel of Judas in which a first century manuscript is discovered and (rather implausibly) is supposed to have been written by Judas, and contains the statement that he (Judas) saw Jesus corrupted and decayed in the Tomb.

It's not a great novel (it's mainly concerned with a catholic priest losing his faith and having a love affair - *yawn*) but it does press all our buttons: Biblical scholarship, the Gnostic Gospels, New Testament authenticity, etc.