How did Juda die?

Question

He hanged himself.
"And throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself." (Matthew 27:5)
He fell, and burst open and all his bowels gushed out.
"And falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out." (Acts 1:18)
I was wondering which one was it?

Answer 1

I think most people say he hanged himself. but exploding is so much cooler.

Answer 2

Acts 1:18
Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.

The priests were the ones who purchased "Potter's Field," with the 30 pieces of silver that Judas threw at them before he went and hung himself.

This verse needs to be correlated wth Matthew 27:3-10. The simplest explanation may be found in the principle that, whereas in Acts, Luke records all events (such as the acts of Judas), Matthew distinguishes between what Judas did and what the priests did. Just as the priests were the ones who purchased Potter's Field with Judas's money after his death, so Judas may have fallen only in that he was thrown down upon the rocks of that field. Or the priests who took the 30 pieces of silver and purchased the field fell head long and burst open.

I believe Judas hung himself and the priest who purchased the field with the blood money committed suicide by jumping off a cliff.

Answer 3

Both of them are true. It seems that Judas went and hanged himself. Possibly, he tied a rope around his neck and jumped out a window, off a high wall, or from a tree. The rope may have worked loose and his body fell to the ground, rupturing. He had bought the property where he committed suicide with the money he got from turning Jesus in, so Acts 1:19 says that people called it "the field of blood" after that.

Answer 4

Luke does not write at Acts 1:18 that the fall killed Judas. He merely writes that Judas' body burst open after a fall. Matthew records the fact that Judas died by hanging. In all likelihood, Judas' body remained on the tree until it rotted and the neck separated from the body. When the body hit the ground, it burst open. In such a warm climate, you could expect a dead body to be sufficiently decayed to do this within mere days.

Answer 5

Apparently after Judas hung himself his body was not discovered before it had decayed and the rope broke and it fell causing his bowels to gush out from the body.

Answer 6

Good question! I was always taught that he hanged himself, so I don't know if that was false or the gushing guts was.

Answer 7

Both. He was hung near a cliff. It was possible that he hung himself and the rope broke and his body burst apart while falling off the cliff.

Answer 8

well he hung himself upon a cliff on a tree, the rope broke (guess) he fell off the cliff and he probably hit the sides of the cliff and died. and everyone knows a dead body disembowels itself so he basically crapped and the cliff tore open his stomach and he "exploded"

yay for gore and violence.

Answer 9

Maybe his rope was too long and he fell before he hanged?

Answer 10

The rope broke.