Inquiry:
How did Judas Iscariot die? Acts 1:18 says he fell and his bowels gushed out. Matthew 27:5-7 says he hanged himself. Also, did he purchase the field (Acts 1:18) or did the chief priests buy it (Matthew 27:5-7)? Is there a contradiction?
Response:
Luke indicates Judas purchased the field (Acts 1:18) while Matthew reveals it was the chief priests who bought it (Matthew 27:5-7). This is not contradiction, but a difference of perspective. Indeed, the chief priests conducted the transaction for the field, however, it was not with their money. Nor would they have claimed it to be their money. It was blood money (Matthew 27:6), they could not put it back in the treasury nor would they want to take possession of it themselves, so they disposed of it by purchasing the field. Was it their field? No, for it was not their money. They didn’t want the money or the field. It was purchased with Judas’ money, and thus his field.
Regarding the manner of death, Judas went out and hung himself (Acts 1:18). However, while hanging in the tree, it seems the limb he used to hang himself broke, but the end was not him surviving, but rather, he was impaled by the broken limb or something else sharp below, thus his bowels (insides) gushing out.
There is no contradiction.
This article is a response to Skeptic’s Annotated Bible
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