Traitor

A traitor, in Scripture's usage, is a person who betrays a trust — most often by handing an ally or a master over to those who intend him harm — and the figure who defines the term is Judas Iscariot. The Gospels use the ordinary Greek verb paradidōmi, "to hand over" or "deliver up," for what Judas does (Matthew 26:15–16; Mark 14:10), and Luke uses a blunter noun when he lists "Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor" among the Twelve (Luke 6:16). The word carries no special religious vocabulary; its weight comes entirely from the person and the act it names.

The narratives describe the betrayal as a transaction and a signal. Matthew says Judas went to the chief priests and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?" and that they weighed out thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14–15) — the sum Exodus 21:32 sets as compensation for a slave, and the figure Zechariah 11:12–13 gives to a rejected shepherd. Luke records that Judas came near to kiss Jesus (Luke 22:47), and Matthew has Jesus answer the greeting with "Friend, why are you here?" while the crowd seizes him (Matthew 26:50). Historically, a kiss was an ordinary greeting between teacher and disciple; the Gospels exploit that ordinariness, and the psalm of the friend who "ate my bread" and lifted his heel has long been read alongside it (Psalm 41:9, cited at John 13:18).

The accounts differ in how they frame what moved Judas. Luke states plainly that "Satan entered into Judas" before the agreement was struck (Luke 22:3); John says the devil had already put the intention into his heart (John 13:2) and that Satan entered him at the supper, after which Jesus says, "What you do, do quickly" (John 13:27). None of the Gospels treats this as excusing the act. John's account also places the arrest under Jesus' control rather than Judas's: Jesus goes out to meet the party and identifies himself, and those who came for him draw back and fall to the ground (John 18:4–6). The same verb, paradidōmi, is used elsewhere of God or Christ "handing over" the Son for sins (Romans 4:25; Romans 8:32).

Beyond Judas, Scripture uses the category sparingly but sharply. Paul lists "traitors" among the vices of the last days (2 Timothy 3:4), and Stephen accuses the Jerusalem authorities of being "betrayers and murderers" of the Righteous One (Acts 7:52). Christians have read the figure differently: some traditions emphasize the fulfillment of prophecy and the sovereign hand of God in the betrayal, others stress Judas's unbelief and moral responsibility, and still others point to his remorse and the priests' refusal of the returned silver (Matthew 27:3–6). Whether he is a warning, a tragic instrument, or both is a question the churches answer variously, and the text leaves the tension standing.

AI-generated reference entry, grounded in the passages where this term appears — history and Scripture stated as such, interpretation labeled as interpretation. Not a substitute for the text itself.