How did Judas Iscariot die?
Matthew 27:5 says Judas hanged himself after returning the thirty pieces of silver. Acts 1:18 describes him falling headlong so that his body burst open. Most interpreters read these as complementary details of the same event: the rope or branch gave way after death, causing the fall described in Acts.
The New Testament gives two accounts of Judas's death that are often discussed together. Matthew 27:3-5 states that after Judas saw Jesus condemned, he was seized with remorse, cast the thirty pieces of silver into the temple, "and departed, and went and hanged himself." Acts 1:18-19, in Peter's speech to the assembled believers, describes Judas as having "purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." Rather than a contradiction, most interpreters read these as two details of the same event: Judas hanged himself, likely from a tree on a cliff or ledge above the field purchased with the betrayal money (the "field of blood" mentioned in both accounts, Matthew 27:8 and Acts 1:19), and at some point afterward the rope or branch broke, causing the body to fall onto the rocks below in the gruesome manner Acts describes. The "purchase" language in Acts is understood as Judas's money being used, even though he did not personally buy it - the priests used his returned silver to buy the potter's field (Matthew 27:6-8), which is then attributed to him in Acts by common ancient idiom.
Key Passages
Judas hangs himself
Matthew 27:3-83 Then 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, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potterโs field, to bury strangers in. 8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.
Peter's account in Acts
Acts 1:18-1918 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.
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