Matthew and Luke on Judas

As is well-known, Matthew and Luke give different accounts concerning the fate of Judas. I’ve discussed this on several occasions. Now I’ll broach the issue from a somewhat different angle.

Unbelievers regard the two accounts as hopelessly contradictory. What are we to make of that allegation?

1.There’s a fairly obvious distinction between the event of death itself (i.e. the process of dying), and subsequent events, such as what happens to the remains of the decedent.

Indeed, unless a corpse is simply left to rot wherever the individual died, there is normally a difference between the way he died, and the disposition of his remains. Those are two distinct events.

2.Apropos (1), Matthew’s focus lies on the suicide of Judas while Luke’s focus lies on the aftermath. At that level there’s no general discrepancy between the two accounts since they’re describing two different events, or–if you prefer–different stages of the same event.

3.The primary bone of contention is whether Mt 27:5 & Lk 1:18 both describe (in contradictory terms) the mode of death, or whether Matthew describes the mode of death while Luke describes the aftermath.

I don’t see that either account, whether considered together or in isolation, creates a presumption one way or the other. So that’s an open question. I don’t think it can be settled on strictly textual grounds.

4.The conventional harmonization suggests that Judas hanged himself on a hillside, but the rope broke or the branch snapped, and his body tumbled into the valley or canyon below.

Unbelievers pour scorn on this harmonization. On the face of it, though, there’s nothing obviously impossible or obviously improbable about that scenario.

The tree could overhang a cliff. There’s no presumption one way or the other regarding the location of the tree on which Judas might hang himself. You can find available trees in many different locations. It had to be some tree somewhere.

As to the branch snapping under the weight, or the noose simply slipping off of the distended branch, I don’t see that this is inherently improbable. How would we calculate the odds one way or the other? We don’t have enough information.

The only reason to reject this out of hand is if you automatically approach Biblical claims with deep suspicion. Of course, that calls for some justification above and beyond the two accounts.

5.However, let’s assume, for the sake of argument, the unlikelihood that this could happen all by itself. Even if you grant that dubious assumption, harmonizing the accounts doesn’t require us to make that assumption.

Someone or something could have helped the body to fall to the ground. For example, feral dogs might well have pulled it down to scavenge the corpse. Unless someone intervened to bury the body, it would be subject to scavengers.

6.Apropos (5), there is also the possibility that he was cut down after he died.

How a body is disposed of is a culturally sensitive issue. If it's the body of a loved one, the surviving friends and family members wish to give the decedent a "decent" burial. Likewise, in a shame culture, even if they don't happen to care for their dead relative, they will also give him a decedent burial to preserve the family honor.

Conversely, the body of a criminal or political opponent may be desecrated to send a message. Likewise, if the decedent was an embarrassment to some second party, his body may be disposed of in a way that avoids drawing undue attention to second party with whom he might be associated, viz. Jimmy Hoffa. That way, he can’t be traced back to the second party.

For all we know, there may well have second parties who had a vested interest in cutting down the body of Judas and, say, tossing it down a valley to prevent an honorable burial or keep it out of sight (until scavengers consumed it).

For example, Judas was a thief (Jn 12:6). Indeed, his greedy proclivities come very much to the fore when he betrays Jesus for money.

But an occupational hazards of theft is making enemies of all the people you cheat. So Judas probably had his share of enemies. Enemies who delighted in desecrating his corpse–if they had a chance.

Take another example: Judas conspired with the priesthood to betray Jesus. But then he went and hanged himself. Would his coconspirators want to leave his corpse up there for everyone to see? Or would they have an incentive to dispose of it in some fashion to deflect attention away from their own complicity? Say, by cutting it down, and letting it fall into a canyon–where they hoped no one would find it. Where scavengers could easily dispose of the incriminating evidence.

Of course, such attempts can also backfire. Scavengers dispose of bodies, but sometimes they also drag a corpse (or body parts) from one place to another.

7.Do I think this explanation is necessary? No. But if an unbeliever says the event couldn’t happen by itself, then it’s easy to imagine various scenarios, based on bits and pieces of information we have, to show how Judas might have had a helping had with his own funeral arrangements (as it were).