The Disciple Who Betrayed Jesus
The New Testament records that Judas was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, in charge of the money bag, who betrayed Jesus to the Jewish council for thirty pieces of silver, using a kiss as the sign to identify him. Afterward, filled with remorse, Judas threw the money back to the chief priests and hanged himself. "The kiss of Judas" and "thirty pieces of silver" remain bywords for betrayal in Western languages. Why he betrayed Jesus is variously read in the New Testament and later theology — one of the most repeatedly discussed figures in Christian history.
Judas went of his own accord to the chief priests and asked, "what will you give me if I hand him over to you?" They gave him thirty pieces of silver — the price of a slave in the Hebrew Bible, by which the New Testament writers hint at the nature of the bargain. From then on Judas watched for a chance to hand Jesus over.
Judas led those who came to seize Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane, having arranged beforehand that "the one I kiss is the man," and stepped forward calling "Rabbi" and kissing Jesus, whereupon the soldiers arrested him. This betrayal completed by an act of intimacy made "the kiss of Judas" a classic image of "outward closeness that is inwardly betrayal."
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
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