Traitor

A traitor is the betrayer — the man whose hand is at the table with the one he hands over. The term is filed under Judas Iscariot, the disciple who became the type of the betrayer of Christ, with a side-pointer to TREASON for the wider catalog of treacherous acts. The material gathers around three movements: the older laments and wisdom that name the wound of the trusted friend; the long pattern of treachery in Israel's history (and especially in the Maccabean wars); and the gospel sequence in which Judas conspires, eats, signals with a kiss, and leads the arresting party to the garden.

The Wound of the Trusted Friend

Before any narrative names a traitor, the Psalter and the wisdom writers describe the shape of the wound. The pain is not the enemy's attack but the intimate's reversal. "Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, Who ate of my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me" (Ps 41:9). The same complaint sharpens in Ps 55:12: "For it is not an enemy who reproached me; Or I could have borne it: It is not one who hated me who magnified himself against me; Or I would have hid myself from him."

The wisdom literature treats the betrayer as a recognizable type. A friend's wounds are faithful, but "the kisses of an enemy are profuse" (Pr 27:6). Sirach catalogues the same figure at length: the whisperer "will turn good to evil; And he will set a conspiracy for your pleasant things" (Sir 11:31); the adversary tarries with his lips while his heart "considers deep pits" (Sir 12:16); when the moment comes "he will take hold of your heel" (Sir 12:17), and "with much whispering, he will change his face" (Sir 12:18). As long as the treacherous man profits, "he will deceive you" (Sir 13:7). The betrayal of a secret is grouped with reproach, arrogance, and the deceitful blow as a wound that drives every friend away (Sir 22:22). Sirach also pronounces against the wider community: "From a family of betrayers, [a city] will be desolate" (Sir 16:4).

Micah names treachery at the household scale: "a man's enemies are the men of his own house" (Mi 7:6). One Davidic line — "Let his days be few; [And] let another take his office" (Ps 109:8) — reads as the imprecation later attached to the traitor's vacated place; another, "So they weighed for my wages thirty [shekels] of silver" (Zec 11:12), supplies the price-tag image.

A Pattern of Treachery in Israel's History

Treachery in the Old Testament is rarely the one-off act of a stranger; it is repeatedly the tactic of someone who has access. Delilah, having worn the secret out of Samson, "sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart" (Jg 16:18), and afterward "made him sleep on her knees" while a man came and shaved off the seven locks (Jg 16:19). Saul, professing to give his daughter Merab to David, plots the gift as a trap — "Don't let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him" (1Sa 18:17).

The Davidic court itself runs on betrayals. Joab takes Abner aside into the gate "to speak with him quietly" and strikes him in the body (2Sa 3:27). Rechab and Baanah enter the house of Ish-bosheth as though to fetch wheat, strike him, and escape (2Sa 4:6). David himself writes a letter that betrays Uriah, instructing Joab to "set⁺ Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire⁺ from him, that he may be struck, and die" (2Sa 11:15). Absalom, planning the murder of Amnon, commands his attendants to strike when Amnon's heart "is merry with wine" (2Sa 13:28). The treacherous kiss is already an established gesture: Absalom takes hold of every approaching suppliant "and kissed him" while stealing the hearts of Israel (2Sa 15:5), and Joab takes Amasa "by the beard with his right hand to kiss him" (2Sa 20:9) — and then "Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he struck him with it in the body, and shed out his insides to the ground" (2Sa 20:10).

The pattern continues in the later kingdom and post-exilic memory. Jezebel writes "letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal" to engineer Naboth's death (1Ki 21:8). Sanballat and Geshem invite Nehemiah to a meeting "in [one of] the villages in the plain of Ono" while planning to do him mischief (Ne 6:2). Haman uses the king's ear to slander an entire people (Es 3:8).

Treachery in the Maccabean Wars

In 1 Maccabees the language of treachery, deceit, and broken oaths is nearly the dominant idiom of the wars themselves. Antiochus' general speaks "peaceful words in deceit" to the city before falling on it "with a great slaughter" (1Ma 1:30). The king himself, having sworn an oath to spare Mount Zion, "broke the oath that he had taken, and gave commandment to throw down the wall round about" (1Ma 6:62). Wicked men within Israel join the besiegers (1Ma 6:21) and accuse Judas Maccabeus and his brothers to the king (1Ma 7:6). Bacchides and Nicanor send messengers to Judas "with peaceful words deceitfully" (1Ma 7:10) and "deceitfully with friendly words" (1Ma 7:27).

The Hellenistic kings treat treachery as policy. The king of Egypt seeks to take Alexander's kingdom "by deceit" (1Ma 11:1); pestilent men of Israel travel to King Demetrius to denounce Jonathan (1Ma 11:21); courtiers tell the king lies "to make him odious" (1Ma 11:5); Ptolemy "devised evil designs against Alexander" (1Ma 11:8) and then "slandered him, because he coveted his kingdom" (1Ma 11:11). Zabdiel the Arabian "took off Alexander's head, and sent it to Ptolemy" (1Ma 11:17). The king "falsified all whatsoever he had said, and alienated himself from Jonathan" (1Ma 11:53). The generals of Demetrius come "treacherously to Kedesh" (1Ma 11:63).

Tryphon's career is the long exhibit. He conceives a design to make himself king (1Ma 12:39); detains Jonathan in Ptolemais — "those of Ptolemais shut the gates of the city, and took him: and all those who came in with him they slew with the sword" (1Ma 12:48); writes Simon that he detains Jonathan over money (1Ma 13:15); and Simon, who "knew that he spoke deceitfully to him" (1Ma 13:17), nevertheless sends the hundred talents and the children — "and he lied, and did not let Jonathan go" (1Ma 13:19). Eventually Tryphon "treacherously slew" the young king Antiochus (1Ma 13:31). Even after Simon receives the leadership "in the place of Judas" (1Ma 13:8), the cycle continues: Antiochus VII speaks of "certain treacherous men" who have usurped the kingdom (1Ma 15:3) and demands that "any treacherous men" who fled be delivered up (1Ma 15:21); he then breaks all the covenant he had made with Simon (1Ma 15:27). Finally Simon's own son-in-law Ptolemy son of Abubus "plotted treachery against Simon and his sons, to destroy them" (1Ma 16:13), receives them "deceitfully into a little fortress that is called Dok" (1Ma 16:15), and "committed a great treachery, and rendered evil for good" (1Ma 16:17). Jonathan's own troops also forsake him (1Ma 15:12).

This long Maccabean catalog gives the gospel narrative its immediate historical idiom. Treachery from inside the household, the peace-speech that masks an ambush, and the kiss that signals the blow are all already a pattern when Judas takes thirty shekels.

The Twelve and the Name "Judas"

The name Judas in the gospels carries more than one bearer, and the texts work to distinguish them. The Twelve include "Judas [the son] of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor" (Lu 6:16). Jesus has a brother named Judas (Mr 6:3). At the Last Supper a different Judas speaks: "Judas (not Iscariot) says to him, Lord, and what has come to pass that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" (Jn 14:22). Mark's apostle list places "Thaddaeus" among the Twelve (Mr 3:18). Beyond the apostolic circle, 1 Maccabees centers on Judas called Maccabeus, the third son of Mattathias (1Ma 2:2-5; 1Ma 2:66; 1Ma 3:1; 1Ma 4:3; 1Ma 5:3; 1Ma 7:23; 1Ma 8:17; 1Ma 9:18). The umbrella catches all of these to keep the name disambiguated; the gospel material reserves the title "traitor" for Judas Iscariot.

The traitor is named in the apostolic lists exactly as such: Judas Iscariot, "who became a traitor" (Lu 6:16). John adds the financial characterization at the anointing in Bethany — "But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, that should deliver him up, says, Why wasn't this ointment sold for 300 denarii, and given to the poor?" — adding, "this he said, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and having the bag took away what was put in it" (Jn 12:4-6). Earlier still, Jesus had said of him, "Did not I choose you⁺ the twelve, and one of you⁺ is the devil?" (Jn 6:70).

The Conspiracy

The synoptic and Johannine accounts converge on a satanic prompting followed by a transaction with the priests. Luke: "And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went away, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might deliver him to them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. And he consented, and sought opportunity to deliver him to them in the absence of the multitude" (Lu 22:3-6). Mark records the same approach: "And Judas Iscariot, he who was one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests, that he might deliver him to them" (Mr 14:10), and "they, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently deliver him [to them]" (Mr 14:11). John's parallel locates the prompting at the table itself: "during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas [the son] of Simon Iscariot, to deliver him up" (Jn 13:2).

The Last Supper

At the supper Jesus discloses the betrayer without naming him. He is "troubled in the spirit, and testified, and said, Truly, truly, I say to you⁺, that one of you⁺ will deliver me up" (Jn 13:21). Luke gives the table-side announcement: "But look, the hand of him who delivers me up is with me on the table" (Lu 22:21), with the woe attached: "For the Son of Man indeed goes, as it has been determined: but woe to that man through whom he is delivered up!" (Lu 22:22). The disciples "began to question among themselves, which of them it might be that should participate in this thing" (Lu 22:23).

John identifies the betrayer to the beloved disciple by the sop: "Jesus answers, It is he, for whom I will dip the sop, and give it him. So when he had dipped the sop, he takes and gives it to Judas, [the son] of Simon Iscariot" (Jn 13:26). What follows is sharp: "And after the sop, then Satan entered into him. Jesus therefore says to him, What you do, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spoke this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus said to him, Buy what things we have need of for the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor" (Jn 13:27-29). "He then having received the sop went out right away: and it was night" (Jn 13:30).

The Kiss and the Arrest

The arrest scene draws the Old Testament treacherous-kiss pattern (Absalom, Joab and Amasa) into one act. Mark sets it up: "Now he that delivered him up had given them a token, saying, Whomever I will kiss, that is he; take him, and lead him away safely" (Mr 14:44). Then "immediately, while he yet spoke, comes Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders" (Mr 14:43); "when he came, immediately he came to him, and says, Rabbi; and kissed him" (Mr 14:45).

Luke's account confronts the gesture directly: "While he yet spoke, look, a multitude, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them; and he drew near to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, do you deliver up the Son of Man with a kiss?" (Lu 22:47-48).

John, who has not narrated a kiss, narrates the arresting party itself: "Now Judas also, who delivered him up, knew the place: for Jesus often resorted there with his disciples. Judas then, having received the battalion [of soldiers], and attendants from the chief priests and from the Pharisees, comes there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon him, went forth, and says to them, Whom do you⁺ seek? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. He says to them, I am [he]. And Judas also, who delivered him up, was standing with them. When therefore he said to them, I am [he], they went backward, and fell to the ground. Again therefore he asked them, Whom do you⁺ seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I told you⁺ that I am [he]; if therefore you⁺ seek me, let these go their way" (Jn 18:2-8).

The traitor is last seen here, standing with the cohort he led to the garden. The earlier laments name his shape; the wisdom writers warn of his face; the histories from Delilah through Tryphon line the path behind him; and the gospel scene makes the long pattern personal.