‘Judas’, a name that generates confusion

Holy Week can be a good occasion to clarify something that sometimes generates confusion: every time the name “Judas” appears in writing, are we facing a reference to the one that betrayed Jesus?

The answer to this question may be important, first, not to unnecessarily satanize the original Hebrew name (it has a rich biblical tradition), and, secondly, to better understand the group of friends who accompanied Jesus of Nazareth.

It is true that, in general, the name “Judas” spontaneously evokes the worst of the human being – this is transmitted by the Christian tradition; But it is also true that it is not always or has been so.

In languages ​​such as Spanish, where the original name – Jewish – has nothing more than a translation, the trend is that: to identify the name only with the decline of the traitorous apostle, even more so when, unlike languages ​​such as English, it lacks distinctions in the translations of the name (Judas y Jude) To establish differences.

Consequently, it is worth saying that “Judas”, in Greek Judahit is a name that comes from the Hebrew “Judah” (יהודה, Yahû’dâh), and has a very beautiful meaning: “Yahveh is praised.”

In the Old Testament “Judas” or “Judah” was, to begin with, the name of one of the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel, which is why the region where said tribe was established is called Judea.

For Jesus’ time, Judas was already a fairly common name among the Jews; and his prestige had grown because of characters such as Judas Macabeo, the famous warrior who fought for the recovery of the Jewish cult in the so -called second temple, during the revolt of the Maccabees (second century BC) immortalized in the MACABEOS BOOKS I y II.

JUDAS

In the gospels two Judas appear: Judas, the Iscarioote, who delivered Jesus, and Judas Tadeo, who, carrying the same name, followed the footsteps of the teacher and reached holiness, even suffering from martyrdom.

These two characters, so different because of the outcome of their lives, had things in common in addition to the name, and from there, perhaps, the origin of the misunderstandings. Both were called by Jesus to follow him and, therefore, belonged to his closest circle, that of the twelve apostles.

Both listened directly to the teacher and witnessed their miracles -they also worked them in their name. Both, consequently, are mentioned in the gospels, and it is the evangelists themselves who introduce key distinctions to avoid confusing them.

Judas Isarioote is usually called “Iscariot”, while in the case of the saint, he is dispensed with the “Judas” and is called only “Tadeo.”

Despite that effort, in many areas, and for several centuries, the mere mention of the name Judas ended up dulling the “good Judas” to San Judas Tadeo, patron of the impossible.

Definitely, if we return to the initial question, we are not always in front of Judas himself when that name appears in writing, as can be seen below.

San Judas Tadeo

The evangelists Mateo and Marcos simply call him “Tadeo” (see: Mt 10, 3 and Mc 3, 18), while Lucas refers to him as “Judas de Santiago”, both in his Gospel as in the Acts of the Apostles.

On the other hand, Saint John, he places him at the Last Supper when he asks Jesus: “Lord, what happened to make yourself and not the world? (Jn 14, 22).

The specialists and the tradition agree that Judas Tadeo was the brother of Santiago the youngest and cousin of Jesus. He was the son of Alfeo, brother of San José, and Alfeo was married to María de Cleofás, sister of the Virgin Mary; Hence the physical resemblance between Tadeo and Jesus, and that iconography has underlined that throughout history (it is usually represented with an image of Christ in the chest).

San Judas Tadeo is attributed one of the New Testament letters, Epistle of San Judas. In verse 1 of that text, San Judas calls himself “Server of Jesus Christ and brother of Santiago” (see: Jds 1,1).

Judas Iscariot

Pope Benedict XVI once said: “Only the name of Judas raises among Christians an instinctive reaction of reprobation and condemnation” (General audienceOctober 18, 2006). Little or nothing is known about your life before forming the group of twelve, it is not clear the origin of the “iscarioote” epithet. Aspects that contrast with what the Gospels show us once it was “one of the twelve” (Mt 26, 14. 47; Mc 14, 10. 20; Jn 6, 71), because it was, and still ended up turning its back on the teacher.

Judas Iscariot was in charge of money (Jn 12, 6; 13, 29) that he had to administer for the poor. Already in this commission he showed his bad entrails because the money was stolen-Saint John calls him “thief” (Jn 12, 6)-and complained about the supposed waste of the perfumes and oils with which the sinful woman anointed the feet of Jesus (Lk 7, 37-39).

Why Judas Iscariot ended up betraying Jesus? There are few answers that usually occur: he felt disappointed to see that Jesus did not exercise political leadership, he wanted to force the Lord to lead the liberation of his people from the Romans, he wanted 13, 2); Or as San Lucas says: “Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, who was the number of twelve” (Lk 22, 3).

Again Benedict XVI comes out of the difficulty in focusing on the nuclear: “In this way – the pontiff said relying on the evangelists -, goes beyond historical motivations and what happened is explained based on the personal responsibility of Judas, which miserably yielded to a temptation of the evil one.”

Consequently, the fundamental thing is to recognize that beyond the name, inevitably discredited by the weight of the betrayal of the Iscarioote, the important thing is in the attitude of the human being in front of the Lord Jesus.