JUDAS, THE TRAITOR.

MATT. XXVII. 54. Comp. MARK XV. 39.

"Now, when the centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying: Truly this was the [a] Son of God."

LUKE XXIII. 47.

"Now, when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying: Certainly this was a righteous man."

Note.--The centurion here spoken of is the one who, according to Roman custom, presided over the execution (hence called by Seneca centurio supplicio præpositus; or by Tacitus, exactor mortis). This centurion, the captain in Capernaum (Matt. viii.), and the captain Cornelius at Cæsarea (Acts x.), form a triumvirate of believing Gentile soldiers in the New Testament. The confession, "Truly this (or this man, as Mark has it) was a Son of God" (theou huios), may be taken (with Meyer) in a polytheistic sense, or equivalent to demigod; an interpretation which is supported by the absence of the definite article before huios, and by the parallel passage of Luke, who substitutes dikaios for the theou huios of Matthew and Mark. But Lange and Alford maintain that the centurion used the expression in a Jewish or Christian sense, acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah. It is by no means improbable that he was previously acquainted with the Jewish expectations and the claims of Christ. Compare the remarks in Lange's "Matthew," Am. ed., p. 518.

MATT. XXVII. 3, 4.

"Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again [brought back] the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying: I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood."

Note.--The confession of the despairing traitor--Hemarton paradous haima athoon--may be more concisely and pointedly translated, "I sinned in betraying innocent blood." In connection with the testimony of Pilate, and that of the Sanhedrin, which could prefer no other charge against Jesus than that he had called himself the Messiah, this confession amounts to a complete vindication of the innocence of Jesus. If Judas, from three years' familiar intercourse, had known any thing in the least degree affecting the moral purity of his Master, he would have eagerly availed himself of it for his self-justification, and peace of conscience. Compare the comments in Lange's "Matthew," Am. ed., p. 501 ff.