TRV
Translation
King James Version
And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
Complete Jewish Bible
Hurling the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, he left; then he went off and hanged himself.
Berean Standard Bible
So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
American Standard Version
And he cast down the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.
World English Bible Messianic
He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself.
Geneva Bible (1599)
And when hee had cast downe the siluer pieces in the Temple, hee departed, and went, and hanged himselfe.
Young's Literal Translation
and having cast down the silverlings in the sanctuary, he departed, and having gone away, he did strangle himself.
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Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers . Public domain.
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Pseudo-Augustine (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hil. Quæst. V. et N. Test. q. 94.) Since the Chief Priests were employed about the murder of the Lord from the morning to the ninth hour, how is this proved that before the crucifixion Judas returned them the money he had received, and said to them in the temple, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood? Whereas it is manifest that the Chief Priests and Elders were never in the temple before the Lord's crucifixion, seeing that when He was hanging on the Cross they were there to insult Him. Nor indeed can this be proved hence, because it is related before the Lord's Passion, for many things which were manifestly done before, are related after, that, and the reverse. It might have been done after the ninth hour, when Judas, seeing the Saviour dead and the veil of the temple rent, the earthquake, the bursting of the rocks, and the elements terrified, was seized with fear and sorrow thereupon. But after the ninth hour the Chief Priests and Elders were occupied, as I suppose, in the celebration of the Passover; and on the Sabbath, the Law would not have allowed him to bring money. Therefore it is to me as yet unproved on what day or at what time Judas ended his life by hanging.
Papias of Hierapolis (as quoted by Apollinaris of Laodicea, AD 382)AD 130
Catenae Graecorum patrum in Novum Testamentum (AD 1844)
Judas did not die by hanging, but lived on, having been cut down before he was suffocated. And the acts of the apostles show this, that falling head long he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. This fact is related more clearly by Papias, the disciple of John, and the fourth book of the Expositions of the Oracles of the Lord as follows:
Judas walked about in this world a terrible example of impiety; his flesh swollen to such an extent that, where hay wagon can pass with ease, he was not able to pass, no, not even the mass of his head merely. They say that his eyelids swelled to such an extent that he could not see the light at all, while as for his eyes they were not visible even by a physician looking through an instrument, so far have they sunk from the surface.
His genitals appeared entirely disfigured, nauseous and large. When he carried himself about discharge and worms flowed from his entire body through his private areas only, on account of his outrages. After many agonies and punishments, he died in his own place. And on account of this the place is desolate and uninhabited even now. And to this day no one is able to go by that place, except if they block their noses with their hands. Such judgment was spread through his body and upon the earth.
Origen of Alexandria (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 253
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
But when the Devil leaves any one, he watches his time for return, and having taken it, he leads him into a second sin, and then watches for opportunity for a third deceit. (1 Cor. 5:1.) So the man who had married his father's wife afterwards repented him of this sin, but again the Devil resolved so to augment this very sorrow of repentance, that his sorrow being made too abundant might swallow up the sorrower. Something like this took place in Judas, who after his repentance did not preserve his own heart, but received that more abundant sorrow supplied to him by the Devil, who sought to swallow him up, as it follows, And he went out, and hanged himself. But had he desired and looked for place and time for repentance, he would perhaps have found Him who has said, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. (Ezek. 33:11.) Or, perhaps, he desired to die before his Master on His way to death, and to meet Him with a disembodied spirit, that by confession and deprecation he might obtain mercy; and did not see that it is not fitting that a servant of God should dismiss himself from life, but should wait God's sentence.
Apostolic ConstitutionsAD 380
Apostolic Constitutions (Book VII), Section 1, II
"You shall not steal:" [Exodus 20:15] for Achan, when he had stolen in Israel at Jericho, was stoned to death; [Joshua 7:1] and Gehazi, who stole, and told a lie, inherited the leprosy of Naaman; [2 Kings 5:27] and Judas, who stole the poor's money, betrayed the Lord of glory to the Jews, [John 12:6] and repented, and hanged himself, and burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out; [Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:18] and Ananias, and Sapphira his wife, who stole their own goods, and "tempted the Spirit of the Lord," were immediately, at the sentence of Peter our fellow-apostle, struck dead. [Acts 5:1-11]
John ChrysostomAD 407
Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 85
For because they were desirous to put Him to death, but were not able themselves because of the feast, they lead Him to the governor.
But mark, I pray thee, how the act was forced on, so as to take place at the feast. For so was it typified from the first.
This was a charge both against him, and against these men; against him, not because he repented, but because he did so, late, and slowly, and became self-condemned (for that he delivered Him up, he himself confessed); and against them, for that having the power to reverse it, they repented not.
But mark, when it is that he feels remorse. When his sin was completed, and had received an accomplishment. For the devil is like this; he suffers not those that are not watchful to see the evil before this, lest he whom he has taken, should repent. At least, when Jesus was saying so many things, he was not influenced, but when his offense was completed, then repentance came upon him; and not then profitably. For to condemn it, and to throw down the pieces of silver, and not to regard the Jewish people, were all acceptable things; but to hang himself, this again was unpardonable, and a work of an evil spirit. For the devil led him out of his repentance too soon, so that he should reap no fruit from thence; and carries him off, by a most disgraceful death, and one manifest to all, having persuaded him to destroy himself.
But mark, I pray thee, the truth shining forth on every side, even by what the adversaries both do and suffer. For indeed even the very end of the traitor stops the mouths of them that had condemned Him, and suffers them not to have so much as any shadow of an excuse that is surely shameless. For what could they have to say, when the traitor is shown to pass such a sentence on himself.
He brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests, and saith, I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
For neither could he bear his conscience scourging him. But mark, I pray thee, the Jews too suffering the same things. For these men also, when they ought to have been amended by what they suffered, do not stop, until they have completed their sin. For his sin had been completed, for it was a betrayal; but theirs not yet. But when they too had accomplished theirs, and had nailed Him to the cross then they also are troubled.
Hear, ye covetous, consider what befell him; how he at the same time lost the money, and committed the sin, and destroyed his own soul. Such is the tyranny of covetousness. He enjoyed not the money, neither the present life, nor that to come, but lost all at once, and having got a bad character even with those very men, so hanged himself.
John Chrysostom (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 407
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hom. lxxxiv.) They did not put Him to death in secret, because they sought to destroy His reputation, and the wonder with which He was regarded by many. For this reason they were minded to put Him to death openly before all, and therefore they led Him to the governor.
Observe that he repents only when his sin is finished and complete; for so the Devil suffers not those who are not watchful to see the evil before they bring it to an end.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Matthew
(Verse 5.) But they said: What is that to us? You see. And throwing the silver coins into the temple, he left: and going away, he hanged himself. It availed him nothing to have repented, by which he could not correct his crime. If at any time a brother sins against his brother, so that he is able to amend what he has sinned, it can be forgiven to him. But if his works remain, repentance is taken up in vain with words. This is what is said in the psalm concerning the same most unfortunate Judas: Let his prayer be turned into sin (Psalm 108:7); so that he not only could not correct the wickedness of his betrayal, but also added the crime of his own homicide to the former sin. Here's what the Apostle says in his second Epistle to the Corinthians: 'So that on the contrary ye should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.' (2 Corinthians 2:7)
Jerome (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 420
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Observe the evil zeal of the Chief Priests; they watched the whole night with a view to this murder. And they gave Him up to Pilate bound, for such was their practice to send bound to the judge any whom they had sentenced to death.
Judas, when he saw that the Lord was condemned to death, returned the money to the Priests, as though it had been in his power to change the minds of His persecutors.
JeromeAD 420
COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.27.5
It profits nothing to do an act of penance which is incapable of correcting the sin. If a man sins against his brother in such a way that the wrong he committed can be amended, it is possible for him to be forgiven. If the consequences of his sin remain in force, however, in vain does he attempt to do penance. The psalmist applies this truth to our most miserable Judas when he says, “Let his prayer be counted as sin.” Not only was Judas unable to repair the damage of his sinful betrayal, but he even continued to compound the evil of that initial crime by committing suicide. Of such things the apostle speaks in his second epistle to the Corinthians: “Let not a brother be overwhelmed by greater sorrow.”
JeromeAD 420
COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.27.4
The weight of Judas’s impiety overshadowed the magnitude of his avarice. Seeing the Lord condemned to death, he brought the money to the priests as if it were in his power to change the sentence of Christ’s persecutors. Although he would change his mind eventually, he could not change the consequence of his first decision. Yet if he sins who betrays innocent blood, how much more do they sin who purchase innocent blood and provoke a disciple by offering a reward for his apostasy. Those who deny the apostle’s free will and attempt instead to explain Judas’s betrayal by attributing to him an evil nature will need also to explain how a person of evil nature can repent.
Leo the Great (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 461
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(Serm. 52, 5.) When he says, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood, he persists in his wicked treachery, seeing that amid the last struggles of death he believed not Jesus to be the Son of God, but merely man of our rank; for had he not thus denied His omnipotence, he would have obtained His mercy.
Remigius of Rheims (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 533
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
But they said, What is that to us? that is to say, What is it to us that He is righteous? See thou to it, i. e. to thy own deed what will come of it. Though some would read these in one1, What must we think of you, when you confess that the man whom yourself have betrayed is innocent?
Rabanus Maurus (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 856
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Though it should be observed that they did not now first bind Him, but before, when they first laid hands upon Him in the garden, as John relates. (John 18:12.)
He hung himself, to show that he was hateful to both heaven and earth.
Theophylact of OhridAD 1107
Judas began to have second thoughts and he repented, but it was not a good repentance. To pass judgement against oneself is good, but to hang oneself is of the devil; for Judas was not able to endure the thought of the reproaches that would later be heaped upon him and so he fled from this life, when he ought instead to have wept and reconciled himself to Him Whom he had betrayed. Some say that Judas in his greed believed that he himself could gain the silver by betraying Christ, without Christ actually being slain, as He would escape from the Jews as He had done on many occasions. But when Judas saw that Jesus had been condemned and already sentenced to die, he repented that the affair had not turned out as he had planned. Whereupon he hanged himself thinking to precede Jesus into hades and there to plead for his own salvation. Nevertheless, know that while he did put his neck into the noose and hanged himself from a tree, the tree bent and he survived, as God wanted to save his life, either so that he could gain the silver by betraying Christ, without Christ actually being slain, as He would escape from the Jews as He had done on many occasions. But when Judas saw that Jesus had been condemned and already sentenced to die, he repented that the affair had not turned out as he had planned. Whereupon he hanged himself thinking to precede Jesus into hades and there to plead for his own salvation. Nevertheless, know that while he did put his neck into the noose and hanged himself from a tree, the tree bent and he survived, as God wanted to save his life, either so that he could repent, or to make an example of him and to shame him. They say that Judas later became so bloated from dropsy that he could not pass through an opening that a wagon could easily pass through; and then falling face forward he burst asunder, or ruptured, as Luke says in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:18).
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
The tragic and desperate end of Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, is recorded. Overwhelmed by guilt after Jesus' condemnation, Judas attempts to return the thirty pieces of silver he received for his treachery to the chief priests and elders in the temple. When his offer is rejected and his confession of sin dismissed, he casts the money down in the sacred space and, consumed by despair, departs to take his own life by hanging.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Matthew employs several powerful literary devices in this concise verse. Symbolism is prominent, as the "pieces of silver" symbolize not only the price of betrayal but also the crushing weight of guilt and the futility of ill-gotten gain. Their rejection by the priests and Judas's forceful casting of them down underscore their transformation from a desired acquisition to a cursed burden. There is also a profound Irony in the priests' refusal of the "blood money" for the temple treasury, as they meticulously adhere to ritual purity laws while simultaneously being morally complicit in the shedding of innocent blood. This highlights their hypocrisy. The stark, declarative statement of Judas's suicide provides a chilling Climax to his narrative arc, serving as a grim fulfillment of the consequences of his choices.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Matthew 27:5 presents a stark and sobering theological truth regarding the nature of sin and its consequences, particularly when unchecked by true repentance and faith in divine mercy. Judas's despair, leading to self-destruction, stands in profound contrast to the path of Peter, who also grievously denied Christ but found restoration through repentance and the grace of God. While both experienced deep regret for their actions, Judas's sorrow was a "worldly sorrow" that produced death, lacking the hope and turning to God that characterize true, "godly sorrow" leading to salvation. This verse serves as a powerful warning against succumbing to despair, emphasizing the critical importance of seeking God's forgiveness, which is always available through Christ for those who genuinely repent.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
The tragic end of Judas Iscariot in Matthew 27:5 serves as a potent and timeless warning for all believers. It underscores the devastating power of unchecked guilt and despair, reminding us that while sin's consequences are real and painful, the ultimate danger lies in refusing to turn to God's boundless mercy and forgiveness. Unlike Judas, who allowed his remorse to consume him, we are called to embrace a godly sorrow that leads to repentance and genuine transformation. This verse challenges us to consider how we respond to our own failures and sins. Do we wallow in self-condemnation, or do we, like Peter, turn back to the Lord, trusting in the sufficiency of His grace and the atoning power of His sacrifice? It is a call to remember that no sin is too great for God's forgiveness when met with humble confession and faith.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did Judas hang himself?
Answer: Judas hanged himself because he was overwhelmed by immense guilt and despair after betraying Jesus. When he saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized by remorse and tried to return the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, admitting he had "sinned by betraying innocent blood" (Matthew 27:3-4). Their dismissive response, "What is that to us? Look to it yourself," left him without any hope or avenue for resolution. This profound sense of having committed an unforgivable act, coupled with the rejection from the religious authorities, led him to an act of ultimate self-destruction. His sorrow was a "worldly sorrow" that, as 2 Corinthians 7:10 describes, "produces death," rather than the godly sorrow that leads to repentance and salvation.
What is the significance of the "pieces of silver" in this verse?
Answer: The "pieces of silver" (thirty shekels) are profoundly significant. They represent the price of betrayal, the illicit gain Judas received for handing over Jesus (Matthew 26:15). In Matthew 27:5, these pieces of silver become a symbol of Judas's crushing guilt. His act of casting them down in the temple signifies his desperate repudiation of the sin and the money, which had become a heavy burden rather than a benefit. The priests' subsequent refusal to put the money into the temple treasury because it was "blood money" (Matthew 27:6) highlights their hypocrisy, as they were meticulous about ritual purity while orchestrating an unjust execution. Furthermore, the use of this money to buy the potter's field (Matthew 27:7-10) fulfills Old Testament prophecy concerning the price of the betrayed shepherd (Zechariah 11:12-13).
How does Matthew's account of Judas's death compare to the account in Acts?
Answer: Matthew's account in Matthew 27:5 states simply that Judas "went and hanged himself." The Book of Acts provides additional, gruesome details about the physical outcome of Judas's death. Acts 1:18 states, "Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out." These accounts are not contradictory but complementary. Matthew focuses on the intentional act of suicide (hanging), driven by despair. Acts describes the horrific physical result, perhaps implying that the rope broke, or that his body remained hanging for some time before falling, leading to its gruesome state. Both accounts agree on the tragic and ignominious end of Judas Iscariot.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The tragic narrative of Judas Iscariot in Matthew 27:5 serves as a profound counterpoint to the redemptive work of Christ. Judas's despair, leading to self-destruction, underscores the devastating consequences of sin when it is not brought to the light of God's grace. His inability to find hope, even after witnessing Jesus' innocence, highlights the human condition's desperate need for a Savior. In stark contrast, Jesus, the innocent one betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, willingly went to the cross, not to escape His fate, but to bear the sins of the world. His ultimate sacrifice on Calvary offers the very forgiveness and hope that Judas tragically failed to grasp. While Judas succumbed to the "worldly sorrow that produces death" (2 Corinthians 7:10), Christ's resurrection proclaims the triumph over sin and death, offering "godly sorrow that leads to repentance and salvation" to all who believe. The "blood money" that defiled the temple and led to Judas's end is powerfully contrasted with the precious blood of Christ, which cleanses and redeems, offering eternal life and true peace to those who confess their sins and trust in Him (1 John 1:9). Judas's story, therefore, ultimately points to the absolute necessity and profound sufficiency of Christ's atoning work as the only source of true hope and deliverance from the power of sin and despair.