[1] See especially Wellhausen, _De gentibus et familiis Judaeorum_
(Göttingen, 1869), the articles on the relative proper names in the
_Ency. Bib._, and E. Meyer, _Die Israeliten u. ihre Nachbarstämme_,
pp. 299-471 (much valuable matter).
[2] For the principle of the Levirate illustrated in Gen. xxxviii.,
see RUTH. Lagarde (_Orientalia_, ii.) ingeniously conjectured that
the chapter typified the suppression of Phoenician (viz. Tamar, the
date-palm) and the old Canaanite elements (Zerah = _indigena_) by the
younger Israelite invaders (Perez = "branch"). For other discussions,
apart from commentaries on Genesis, see B. Luther in Meyer, _op.
cit._, pp. 200 sqq.
JUDAS ISCARIOT ([Greek: Ioudas Iskariôtês] or [Greek: Iskariôth]), in
the Bible, the son of Simon Iscariot (John vi. 71, xiii. 26), and one of
the twelve apostles. He is always enumerated last with the special
mention of the fact that he was the betrayer of Jesus. If the generally
accepted explanation of his surname ("man of Kerioth"; see Josh. xv. 25)
be correct, he was the only original member of the apostolic band who
was not a Galilean. The circumstances which led to his admission into
the apostolic circle are not stated; while the motives by which he was
actuated in enabling the Jewish authorities to arrest Jesus without
tumult have been variously analysed by scholars. According to some (as
De Quincey in his famous _Essay_) the sole object of Judas was to place
Jesus in a position in which He should be compelled to make what had
seemed to His followers the too tardy display of His Messianic power:
according to others (and this view seems more in harmony with the Gospel
narratives) Judas was an avaricious and dishonest man, who had already
abused the confidence placed in him (John xii. 6), and who was now
concerned only with furthering his own ends.
As regards the effects of his subsequent remorse and the use to which
his ill-gotten gains were put, the strikingly apparent discrepancies
between the narratives of Matt. xxvii. 3, 10 and Acts i. 18, 19 have
attracted the attention of biblical scholars, ever since Papias, in his
fourth book, of which a fragment has been preserved, discussed the
subject. The simplest explanation is that they represent different
traditions, the Gospel narrative being composed with more special
reference to prophetic fulfilments, and being probably nearer the truth
than the short explanatory note inserted by the author of the Acts (see
Bernard, _Expositor_, June 1904, p. 422 seq.). In ecclesiastical legend
and in sacred art Judas Iscariot is generally treated as the very
incarnation of treachery, ingratitude and impiety. The Middle Ages,
after their fashion, supplied the lacunae in what they deemed his too
meagre biography. According to the common form of their story, he
belonged to the tribe of Reuben.[1] Before he was born his mother
Cyborea had a dream that he was destined to murder his father, commit
incest with his mother, and sell his God. The attempts made by her and
her husband to avert this curse simply led to its accomplishment. At his
birth Judas was enclosed in a chest and flung into the sea; picked up on
a foreign shore, he was educated at the court until a murder committed
in a moment of passion compelled his flight. Coming to Judaea, he
entered the service of Pontius Pilate as page, and during this period
committed the first two of the crimes which had been expressly foretold.
Learning the secret of his birth, he, full of remorse, sought the
prophet who, he had heard, had power on earth to forgive sins. He was
accepted as a disciple and promoted to a position of trust, where
avarice, the only vice in which he had hitherto been unpractised,
gradually took possession of his soul, and led to the complete
fulfilment of his evil destiny. This Judas legend, as given by Jacobus
de Voragine, obtained no small popularity; and it is to be found in
various shapes in every important literature of Europe.
For the history of its genesis and its diffusion the reader may
consult D'Ancona, _La leggenda di Vergogna e la leggenda di Giuda_
(1869), and papers by W. Creizenach in Paul and Braune's _Beitr. zur
Gesch. der deutschen Sprache und Litteratur_, vol. ii. (1875), and
Victor Diederich in _Russiche Revue_ (1880). Cholevius, in his
_Geschichte der deutschen Poesie nach ihren antiken Elementen_ (1854),
pointed out the connexion of the legend with the Oedipus story.
According to Daub (_Judas Ischariot, oder Betrachtungen über das Böse
im Verhältniss zum Guten_, 1816, 1818) Judas was "an incarnation of
the devil," to whom "mercy and blessedness are alike impossible."
The popular hatred of Judas has found strange symbolical expression in
various parts of Christendom. In Corfu, for instance, the people at a
given signal on Easter Eve throw vast quantities of crockery from
their windows and roofs into the streets, and thus execute an
imaginary stoning of Judas (see Kirkwall, _Ionian Islands_, ii. 47).
At one time (according to Mustoxidi, _Delle cose corciresi_) the
tradition prevailed that the traitor's house and country villa existed
in the island, and that his descendants were to be found among the
local Jews.
Details in regard to some Judas legends and superstitions are given in
_Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, v., vi. and vii.; 3rd series, vii.;
4th series, i.; 5th series, vi. See also a paper by Professor Rendel
Harris entitled "Did Judas really commit suicide?" in the _American
Journal of Philology_ (July 1900). Matthew Arnold's poem "St Brandan"
gives fine expression to the old story that, on account of an act of
charity done to a leper at Joppa, Judas was allowed an hour's respite
from hell once a year. (G. Mi.)