Judas tree: see redbud.

Judas of Galilee, fl. A.D. 6, a leader of the Zealots, a radical revolutionary Jewish sect. He raised an insurrection against the taxation census of Cyrenius (A.D. 6) on the grounds that no one but God was Israel's master, and he was killed. He is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.

Judas Maccabeus: see Maccabees, Jewish family.

Judas Iscariot, Jesus' betrayer, possibly from the village of Kerioth, the only Judaean disciple among the Twelve, and, according to the Gospel of St. John, their treasurer. Judas went to the chief priests and offered to betray Jesus, for which he was paid the sum of 30 pieces of silver. After the Last Supper he led an armed band to Gethsemane and there identified Jesus to the soldiers by kissing him. Later, according to the Gospel of St. Matthew, he repented of this act of betrayal and killed himself. The blood money went to buy a potter's field, Aceldama.

Judas Barsabas, in the New Testament, missionary apostle.

Judas, in the Bible. 1 See Jude, Saint. 2 Judas Maccabeus: see Maccabees. 3 See Judas Iscariot. 4 See Judah 1 (of which Judas is the Greek form). 5 In the Acts of the Apostles, owner of a house in Damascus where St. Paul went after his conversion. 6 See Judas Barsabas. 7 In the Gospels, "brother" of Jesus.

(died 161/160 BC) Leader of a Jewish rebellion against the Syrians. The son of an aged priest who took to the mountains in rebellion when Antiochus IV Ephiphanes tried to impose the Greek religion on the Jews, Judas became leader of the rebels on his father's death and won a series of victories over the Syrians in 166–164 BC. In 166 he purified the Temple of Jerusalem, an event celebrated at Hanukkah. On Antiochus's death in 164, the Seleucids offered the Jews freedom of worship, but Judas continued the war, hoping to gain political freedom. He was killed soon thereafter, but his brothers carried on the struggle. The history of the dynasty is told in the two books of Maccabees in the Apocrypha.

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(died circa AD 30) Disciple who betrayed Jesus. He was one of the original 12 disciples. Judas made a deal with the Jewish authorities to betray Jesus into their custody; in return for 30 pieces of silver, he brought the armed guard to the Garden of Gethsemane and identified Jesus with a kiss. He later regretted his deed and committed suicide; according to Matthew 27, he returned the money to the priests before hanging himself. His surname may mean “man of Kerioth,” or it may link him to the Sicarii, a band of radical Jewish terrorists.

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