How did Judas die? Mat 27:5 says he hanged himself. Acts 1:18 say he burst open and his insides spilled out..

Question

Has old Mathew screwed up again?

Boy, I really had to roll my pant legs up on some of these answers............can you reference any of your answers? Geez.......

preachershoe......says you! .......you and the others are doing a lot of guessing and assuming aren't you. I, at least gave you references.

preacher shoe........you have the typical everyday counter. They always want others to consider this and consider that. You folks do everything but add another verse. Face it sir, either Matthew or Paul blew it......nuf said.

preacher shoe........you have the typical everyday counter. They always want others to consider this and consider that. You folks do everything but add another verse. Face it sir, either Matthew or Paul blew it......nuf said.

Answer 1

According to Matthew 27:5, Judas hanged himself. But Acts 1:18 says, “pitching head foremost he noisily burst in his midst and all his intestines were poured out.” Matthew seems to deal with the mode of the attempted suicide, while Acts describes the result. Combining the two accounts, it appears that Judas tried to hang himself over some cliff, but the rope or tree limb broke so that he plunged down and burst open on the rocks below. The topography around Jerusalem makes such an event conceivable.

Answer 2

How did Judas Iscariot die? Matthew 27:5 states that Judas hanged himself, whereas Acts 1:18 says that “pitching head foremost he noisily burst in his midst and all his intestines were poured out.” While Matthew seems to deal with the mode of the attempted suicide, Acts describes the results. Judas apparently tied a rope to the branch of a tree, put a noose around his neck, and tried to hang himself by jumping off a cliff. It seems that either the rope or the tree limb broke so that he plunged downward and burst open on the rocks below. The topography around Jerusalem makes such a conclusion reasonable.

Answer 3

If the field was remote (or if for some other reason no one cut him down), his body could have bloated and burst. Or left for a longer time, the head could detach from the body, and the body fall and burst.

So both accounts could be correct.

To witnesses arriving late at the scene, the spilled guts would be the most memorable.

Gross. But you asked.

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PS
Your "debunk the Bible program" isn't going very well. People are finding easy solutions to your "contradictions". I suspect that a rather bright 7 year old could solve your "inconsistencies".

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To answer your "updated" question directed at me-
I'm sorry but you don't have any idea of what you are talking about. To say that a manuscript is unreliable, you would have to show an inconsistency that no one can explain.

On the other end, it is impossible for us to know every detail about people and events mentioned in the books of the Bible or any other ancient account. We know what the manuscript tells us and what other sources tell us, but we can't know everything. We are not "assuming." We are showing *possilble* solutions to your "inconsistencies." If anyone can find even one solution, then you have not proven the manuscript is unreliable.

By the way-
You would expect the reports of different independent witnesses to vary. It does not mean that they are "wrong." In fact, different points of view are evidence that the accounts are reliable. Witnesses with exactly the same story told the same way with the same details are suspect. The supposed witnesses probably got together and rehearsed their story. So different details and points of view in the Gospels helps to show that they are the real thing.

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Apologetics Press :: Alleged Discrepancies

Did Judas Die Twice?
by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Through the years, the description of Judas Iscariot’s death has been one of the most popular alleged Bible contradictions. It seems as if every skeptical book or Web site that questions the integrity of the Bible lists Judas’ death as one of the most obvious inconsistencies in Scripture. Whereas Matthew records that Judas “went and hanged himself” after betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (27:5), Luke records that “falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out” (Acts 1:18). Because Matthew only mentions Judas being hanged, while Luke mentions Judas falling headlong and bursting open at his midsection, a “real” contradiction supposedly is staring us in the face.

The truth of the matter is, however, like the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection (and many other Bible events) these two verses simply supplement each other. It is not an either/or scenario. Judas, indeed, “hanged himself,” and sometime later, his body fell headfirst, causing his midsection to burst open.

What would cause his “stomach” or midsection to split open? Consider the following. When a person dies, the body begins to decompose. If left to itself (and not acted upon by the attempt to preserve the body, e.g., embalming), bacteria soon begin to break down various tissues. As a result, gases are released within the body, which in turn cause it to swell. A few years ago, the news media reported how a 50-ton sperm whale had beached itself on the shores of Taiwan and died. While on its way to being transported through a Taiwanese city to a particular research center, the swollen whale literally exploded and soaked pedestrians and motorists in blood and entrails. According to one Taiwanese scientist, “Because of the natural decomposing process, a lot of gases accumulated, and when the pressure build-up was too great, the whale’s belly exploded” (“Whale Explodes...,” 2004). In light of such events, it certainly is not difficult to imagine that a dead human body, which may have been swelling for a number of days, could have fallen a short distance (from wherever it was hanging), and easily burst open when striking the ground.

Matthew 27:5 and Acts 1:18 cannot be accepted as legitimately contradicting each other if it is possible for both to be true—and it certainly is scientifically and logistically possible for both incidents to have occurred. Consider a brawl in which two men are fighting to the death. The larger man strikes the undersized man in the throat, crushing his larynx. For nearly 60 seconds, the wounded man stumbles around trying to breathe, but to no avail. He then goes limp, falls to the ground, and strikes his head on the cement, having died from asphyxia. When the police come to the scene and ask witnesses what happened, one person will likely declare, “James struck John and killed him.” Another person may say, “John suffocated,” while another might add, “Falling headfirst, John busted his skull on the ground, causing part of his brain to ooze out onto the concrete.” Are the witnesses’ statements contradictory? No. They are supplementary. Likewise, neither of the statements concerning the death of Judas is contradictory. Simply put, one does not exclude the other.

According to ancient tradition, Judas hanged himself above the Valley of Hinnom on the edge of a cliff. Eventually the rope snapped (or was cut or untied), thus causing his body to fall headfirst into the field below, as Luke described. Matthew does not deny that Judas fell and had his entrails gush out, and Luke does not deny that Judas hanged himself. In short, Matthew records the method in which Judas attempted his death. Luke reports the end result.
REFERENCES

“Whale Explodes in Taiwanese City” (2004), BBC News, January 29, [On-line], URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3437455.stm.

Answer 4

it could be both. he hanged himself after wards falling down and his gut burst. you have to remember the new testament was written from a few witnesses. each saw different events at different times from different perspectives. other things stood out in their minds more than the other witness. it's almost like a puzzle... also take into consideration it was written in Greek and some of the meaning is lost in the translation...

Answer 5

I think when he hung himself his bowels and urine came out. This is very common in hangings and other forms of death, people lose control of their body functions.
Plus, his stomach could have also burst open from the injuries. Not sure how but your body will do strange things during death.

Answer 6

The details of how and where are unimportant. What IS important is the fact that he did not have the courage to approach Jesus and to ask for forgiveness. Peter didn't ask for forgiveness after denying Jesus 3 times but he didn't cut himself off, either. Tradition says that this is why Jesus asked Peter 3 times, "Do you love me?" -- once for each time that Peter denied him.

Answer 7

No they are both correct. Judas hung himself and the rope broke and he fell headlong into the field of blood and his guts burst forth.

Answer 8

He hung himself, he bloated, the rope broke & he burst open & his insides spilled out.

Answer 9

After hanging to death the custom was to run the body through to make sure it was dead. He will have hung and also spilled his guts. No-one got it wrong.

Answer 10

Both occurred.
Judas hung himself. The rope broke and he died a very shameful death by everyone seeing him spattered on the rocks below.
Just as he deserved.