Matthew 27:4

27:4 an innocent man: Jesus’ innocence is a dominant theme in the narrative of his suffering (see 23:35; 26:55-56, 59-60; 27:18-19, 24; see also Luke 23:47).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 27:4. Ἥμαρτον, I have sinned) Thus also the damned will feel in hell.[1171]—αἷμα ἀθῶον, innocent blood) Miserably involved in his own darkness, he no longer acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah.—τί πρὸς ἡμᾶς, what is that to us?) See how they dismiss, without remark, the question as to the innocence of their Victim.[1172]—σὺ ὄψει, see thou to that) The ungodly, though associating in the commission of a crime, desert their associates when it has been accomplished:[1173] the godly, though not taking part in the crime, endeavour, after its commission, to save the sinner’s soul. Comp. Mat 27:24.

[1171] And O that the friends of Christ, moved by faith, love, and hope, would confess the truth as openly as men in despair are wont at times to do, when they feel that they have now no longer any opportunity of earning merit in the eyes of the world!—Harm., p. 542.

[1172] In the original, “Vide, quam transiliant τὸ innocentem;” literally, “See how they leap over the ‘innocent;’ ” referring to the words of Judas, “INNOCENT blood.”—(I. B.)

[1173] But still punishment at last awaits all severally, according to the part which each took in the deed.—V. g.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_27:4 Ἥ μαρτον παραδούς] see on Mat_26:12.

αἷμα ἀθῷον] εἰς τὸ χυθῆναι, Euthymius Zigabenus; comp. Deu_27:25; 1Ma_1:37; 2Ma_1:8; Phalar. ep. 40; Heliod. viii. 10.

τί πρὸς ἡμᾶς] sc. ἐστι; what is it as regards us? i.e. what matters it to us? we are in no way called upon to concern ourselves about what thou hast done. Comp. Joh_21:22 f.; the words are also frequently used in this sense by Greek authors.

σὺ ὄψῃ] Thou wilt see to it thyself, thou wilt have to consider for thyself what is now to be done by thee; comp. Mat_27:24; Act_18:15; 1Sa_25:17; 4Ma_9:1. Impii in facto consortes, post factum deserunt, Bengel.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 27:4 . ἥμαρτον , I sinned, I did wrong. παραδοὺς α . ἀ . explains how. The sinning and the betraying are one, therefore the participle does not point to an act antecedent to that of the main verb. αἷμα ἀθῶον , innocent blood, for the blood of an innocent person. So in Deu 27:25 . Palairet cites examples to prove that Greek writers used αἷμα as = ἄνθρωπος . τί πρὸς ἡμᾶς : that is not our concern. σὺ ὄψει , look thou to that = “tu videris,” a Latinism. The sentiment itself a Cainism . “Ad modum Caini loquuntur vera progenies Caini” (Grotius).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood--What a testimony this to Jesus! Judas had been with Him in all circumstances for three years; his post, as treasurer to Him and the Twelve (Joh 12:6), gave him peculiar opportunity of watching the spirit, disposition, and habits of his Master; while his covetous nature and thievish practices would incline him to dark and suspicious, rather than frank and generous, interpretations of all that He said and did. If, then, he could have fastened on one questionable feature in all that he had so long witnessed, we may be sure that no such speech as this would ever have escaped his lips, nor would he have been so stung with remorse as not to be able to keep the money and survive his crime.

And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that--"Guilty or innocent is nothing to us: We have Him now--begone!" Was ever speech more hellish uttered?

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. Innocent blood.] αιμα αθωον, a Hebraism, for an innocent man. But instead of αθωον, innocent, two ancient MSS., Syriac, Vulgate, Sahidic, Armenian, and all the Itala; Origen, Cyprian, Lucifer, Ambrose, Leo, read δικαιον, righteous, or just.

What is that to us?] What is it? - A great deal. You should immediately go and reverse the sentence you have pronounced, and liberate the innocent person. But this would have been justice, and that would have been a stranger at their tribunal.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) I have sinned in that I have betrayed.—More accurately, I sinned in betraying.

What is that to us?—We instinctively feel, as we read these words, that deep as was the guilt of Judas, that of those who thus mocked him was deeper still. Speaking after the manner of men, we may say that a word of sympathy and true counsel might have saved him even then. His confession was as the germ of repentance, but this repulse drove him back upon despair, and he had not the courage or the faith to turn to the great Absolver; and so his life closed as in a blackness of darkness; and if we ask the question, Is there any hope? We dare not answer. Possibly there mingled with his agony, as has been suggested by one at least of the great teachers of the Church (Origen, Horn. in Matt. 35), some confused thought that in the world of the dead, behind the veil, he might meet his Lord and confess his guilt to Him.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. I have sinned in that I have betrayed] Rather, I sinned in betraying.

the innocent blood] “the” should be omitted.

see thou (to that)] Lit., thou shalt see, it shall be thy concern. “Impii in facto consortes, post factum deserunt.” (Bengel.)

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Saying, I have sinned,.... Here was a confession, and yet no true repentance; for he confessed, but not to the right persons; not to God, nor Christ, but to the chief priests and elders; nor over the head of the antitypical scape goat, not seeking to Christ for pardon and cleansing, nor did he confess and forsake sin, but went on adding sin to sin, and so found no mercy. The same confession was made by a like hardened wretch, Pharaoh, Exo 9:27. He proceeds and points out the evil he had committed:

in that I have betrayed innocent blood, or "righteous blood"; so the Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel read, and some copies; that is, have betrayed an innocent and righteous person, and been the occasion of his blood being about to be shed, and of his dying wrongfully. So God, in his all-wise providence, ordered it, that a testimony should be bore to the innocence of Christ, from the mouth of this vile wretch that betrayed him; to cut off the argument from the Jews, that one of his own disciples knew him to be a wicked man, and as such delivered him into their hands: for though Judas might not believe in him as the Messiah, and the Son of God, at least had no true faith in him, as such; yet he knew, and believed in his own conscience, that he was a good man, and a righteous and innocent one: and what he here says is a testimony of Christ's innocence, and what his conscience obliged him to; and shows the terrors that now encompassed him about; and might have been a warning to the Jews to have stopped all further proceedings against him; but instead of that,

they said, what is that to us? see thou to that: signifying, that if he had sinned, he must answer for it himself; it was no concern of theirs; nor should they form their sentiments of Christ according to his: they knew that he was a blasphemer, and deserving of death; and whatever opinion he had of him, it had no weight with them, who should proceed against him as an evildoer, let him think or say what he would to the contrary; and suggest, that he knew otherwise than what he said: so the Syriac and Persic versions render it, "thou knowest", and the Arabic, "thou knowest better".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

Ver. 4. I have sinned, &c.] Here was contrition, confession, restitution (most men go not so far, that yet profess large hopes of heaven); there was wanting that transmentation, conversion, obedience of faith that should have completed his repentance. He died in the birth, as that foolish child Ephraim. He confessed to men, and not to God; and by his confession he sought no more than to ease his heart, as drunkards by vomiting rid their stomachs. So Latemus of Louvain confessed, inter horrendos mugitus, se contra conscientiam adversatum esse veritati, roaring and crying out, that against his conscience he had persecuted the truth of God. {a} In trouble of mind, all will out. Conscience, like Samson’s wife, conceals not the riddle: like Futvia, a whorish woman, who declared all the secrets of her foolish lover Cneius, a noble Roman. Sallust. in Bel. Catil.

What is that to us? See thou to that] Miserable comforters, physicians of no value. "To him that is afflicted pity should be showed from his friend: but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty," Job 6:14. The devil and his imps love to bring men into the briers, and there leave them; as familiar devils forsake their witches, when they have brought them once into fetters. Thus the old Bethelite, that had been at pains to fetch back the prophet, would not go back with him. Thus the Papists burnt Cranmer recanting, and the present prelates cast off their great anti-Sabbatarian, White, when they had served their turns on him. David, when he was hunted from Samuel the prophet, fled to Abimelech the priest, as one that knew that justice and compassion should dwell in those breasts that are consecrated to God. But Judas met with no such matter in the priests of his time. Those mischievous men left him, when they had led him to his bane.

{a} Melancth. in Chronic.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I have sinned - I have been guilty. I have done wrong.

In that I have betrayed the innocent blood - That is, in betraying an innocent being to death. Blood is put here for “life,” or for the “man.” The meaning is, that he knew and felt that Jesus was innocent. This confession is a remarkable proof that Jesus was innocent. Judas had been with him for three years. He had seen him in public and private; he had heard his public teaching and his private views; he had seen him in all circumstances; and if he had done anything evil, or advanced anything against the Roman emperor, Judas was competent to testify it. Had he known any such thing he would have stated it. His testimony, being a disciple of Jesus, would have been to the chief priests far more valuable than that of any other man; and he might not only have escaped the horrors of a troubled conscience and an awful death, but have looked for an ample reward. That he did not make such a charge that he fully and frankly confessed that Jesus was innocent - and that he gave up the ill-gotten price of treason, is full proof that, in the belief of Judas, the Saviour was free from crime, and even the suspicion of crime.

What is that to us? - This form of speaking denoted that they had nothing to do with his remorse of conscience, and his belief that Jesus was innocent. They had secured what they wanted - the person of Jesus - and they cared little now for the feelings of the traitor. So all wicked men who make use of the agency of others for the accomplishment of crime or the gratification of passion care little for the effect on the instrument. They will soon cast him off and despise him, and in thousands of instances the instruments of villainy and the panders to the pleasures of others are abandoned to remorse, wretchedness, crime, and death.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. What is that to us? — So unsympathizing are Satan and his agents to the victims they have ruined. He probably stood at the railing between the court of Israel and the court of the priests. (See Temple Plan.) The priests in their own court may have been arranging matters for the passover festivals. Judas flung the money probably over the railing upon the pavement at the feet of the priests.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I have sinned. He confesses his sin, indeed, yet not to God, but to the partners and instigators of his crime, and this, not with godly sorrow, but in self-disgust and vexation of spirit that could not be repressed. His was the sorrow that worketh death. (2Co_7:10) In that I have betrayed the innocent blood (aima aywon , or, according to some manuscripts, aima dikaion , but in either case without the article). By speaking of "blood," he showed that he knew the murder was certain. Judas seems to have had no faith in Christ"s Divinity, but he had perfect assurance of his holiness and innocence, and felt, and endeavoured to make the rulers feel, that an iniquitous sentence had been passed, and that a guiltless person was condemned to death. This consideration added to the bitterness of his regret. But he obtained no comfort from the hardened and unfeeling priests. They had gotten what they had desired. The question of Christ"s moral guilt or innocence was nothing to them; equally indifferent to them was the fierce remorse of Judas. What is that to us? Ti pro ; See thou to that (su oqei , tu videris, equivalent to "that is your concern," as in ver. 24). A more unfeeling, nay, fiendish answer could not have been given. It threw the wretched man back on himself, left him alone with his remorse, the blackness of his night unrelieved by any ray of human sympathy. In their own obduracy and impenitence they scorn the weakness of their miserable tool. As Bengel well moralizes, "Impii in facto consortes, post factum deserunt; pii, in facto non consortes, postea medentur." To sympathize with repentance is the duty and the privilege of the Christian; to deride and scoff at the returning sinner is devilish. It is profitable to contrast the sincere repentance of Peter after his fall with the remorse of the despairing Judas.

HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Ver. 4. Judas"s confession.

The wretched traitor got no satisfaction out of his crime. No sooner had he committed it than he was horrified at the enormity of the deed. Covetous as he was, he could not hold the blood money, and he flung it down as though the very touch of it burnt his fingers. It is not often that the revulsion from an act of wickedness follows so swiftly. Very probably Judas was aghast at the consequence of his treason, never having imagined that it would issue fatally, he may have aimed at forcing the hand of Jesus, assuming that, at the last his Master would exert miraculous powers and claim his Christly rights. If so, the man was grievously mistaken, and the discovery of his deadly error appalled him. Then a great darkness fell upon him, and the madness of suicide took possession of him. He seems to stand alone in the enormity of his crime, but his very despair shows him to be human, and his confession almost gives us a glimmer of hope that even in this miserable man there is a possibility of better things.

I THE TRAITOR CONFESSED HIS SIN. He knew that he had acted vilely, and his accomplices, who were glad to use him as their tool, had no pity for such a scoundrel But it is something that he was brought to own himself a sinner. The vilest sinner is the man who tries to hide his sin, who plays the hypocrite before men, and who even endeavours to excuse himself in his own conscience by sophistical arguments. There are sins, however, whose scarlet hue so blazes in the sunlight that the rankest hypocrite does not attempt to deny them. Confession is good, but it is not repentance, much less is it regeneration.

II JUDAS OWNED THE INNOCENCE OF CHRIST. He knew it was innocent blood that he had betrayed. It is striking to notice how many of the leading actors in the murder of Christ testify to his merits. Pilate could find no fault in him. The centurion at the cross acknowledged him as a Son of God. Even the traitor is constrained by his own conscience to own his treason and to vindicate the innocence of his Master. Many men have a fair appearance in the distance, but they will not bear too close a scrutiny. But those who knew Jesus most intimately, and those who examined him in the most critical moments, were able to discover no flaw in his perfect character.

III CONFESSION OF SIN AND A RECOGNITION OF THE MERITS OF CHRIST ARE NOT SUFFICIENT FOR SALVATION. In Judas there were the beginnings of better things. But alas! they ended in despair and death. If we only see our sin and Christ"s goodness, we may well shrink from entertaining any hope for ourselves. We need to go a step further. Judas never fled to Christ"s cross; therefore he ran to his own gallows. The only deliverance from the tyranny and the doom of sin is to be found in the redemption which Christ has wrought on the cross. Even the murderers of the innocent Saviour come within the scope of his wonderful grace. There would be hope for a Judas, if Judas would but turn from his awful sin in real repentance to Christ as even his Saviour. W.F.A.

HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 4. The uselessness of remorse.

"I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood." There are various estimates of the character and motives of Judas Iscariot. Dr. A. Maclaren does not give sufficient scriptural reason for crediting him with mistaken zeal, and the intention of forcing Christ to act. He says, "Judas was simply a man of a low, earthly nature, who became a follower of Christ, thinking that ha was to prove a Messiah of the vulgar type, or another Judas Maccabaeus. He was not attracted by Christ"s character and teaching. As the true nature of Christ"s work and kingdom became more obvious, he became more weary of him and it His burst of confession does not sound like the words of a man who had been actuated by motives of mistaken affection." The word "repented," found in ver. 3, is the word which merely means "regret," a simple change of feeling; it does not suggest humbled feeling, or sense of sin. A man may be vexed at the results of his conduct without any recognition of the sin and shame of his conduct. Two of the apostolic band openly failed in those hours of strain. Penitence and remorse are illustrated in their two cases. Peter, through penitence, found recovery. Judas, through remorse, found doom. Penitence is useful. Remorse is useless.

I REMORSE IS BUT THE SHAME OF HAVING FAILED. The word means "to bite back." It may be illustrated by biting one"s lips through vexation. It involves shrinking from the results of having failed. It is the annoyance of having, miscalculated; it is the feeling of being convicted of stupidity; it is the regret of seeing a scheme fall about us in ruins because we made a false move. It may include some reset at the mischief we have made for others, without doing any good to ourselves. But there is no sense of the sin and shame of the thing done. The seeming confession, "I have sinned," does but lightly pass the lips. Judas would have done it again, if he could have been sure of succeeding the second time. Remorse includes no self-revelation, no humbled feeling. There is anger with one"s self, but not shame or humility. So there is no chance of betterment for a man while his feeling keeps mere remorse.

II REMORSE KEEPS A MAN AWAY FROM GOD. You cannot take remorse to God. You never want to do so. It drives you away from him. Judas never offered a prayer to God; never thought of pardon for his offence. Remorse made him hopeless and desperate. He took the life that seemed worthless. Penitence always moves towards God; it seeks him. There is in it prayer and hope. God is the All-merciful One. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They said, what is that to us? - How easily could they digest innocent blood! And yet they had a conscience! It is not lawful (say they) to put it into the treasury - But very lawful to slay the innocent!

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

sinned

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. The Jewish law demanded that if new testimony was offered after condemnation the case should again be heard. Perhaps Judas thought his testimony to the innocence of Christ might, under the circumstances, be heard. What is that to us? No words could more emphatically declare the utter disregard of the Jewish rulers to justice. They concerned themselves not in the slightest concerning the innocence or guilt of Christ; they cared only to procure his death.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

4. ὄψῃ has far higher authority than ὄψει. The Ionic termination of 2nd person in -ῃ was the usual form in late Attic, but the older termination in -ει was retained in three verbs—βούλει—οἴει—ὄψει, even after -ῃ became common in other instances, hence the variation in the MSS.

4. ἀθῷον, ‘innocent,’ here and Mat 27:24 only in N.T., der. from θωὴ (Homeric), ‘a penalty:’ σοὶ δέ, γέρον, θωὴν ἐπιθήσομεν, Od. II. 192. In the classics it is used (1) absolutely, ἀθῷον ἐᾶν, ‘free from penalty,’ or (2) with a genitive, ἀθῷος πληγῶν, Aristoph. Nub. 1413. In the LXX., after the Hebrew idiom, it is constructed with ἀπὸ as in Mat 27:24. The expression αἷμα ἀθῷον occurs Psa 94:21, and is frequent in Jeremiah; cp. the expression νίψομαι ἐν ἀθῴοις τὰς χεῖράς μου, Psa 25:6.

ὄψῃ. ‘Thou shalt see,’ it shall be thy concern. Cp. τάδε μὲν θεὸς ὄψεται, Soph. Phil. 839, ‘This shall be the care of heaven.’ Bengel’s comment is: ‘Impii in facto consortes post factum deserunt.’ For the form ὄψῃ see critical notes.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(P) 4. I sinned when I betrayed righteous blood.]

(P) And they said, What is that to us? Thou shalt see (to that).]

4. δίκαιον] B2 mg L a b c d g1 q S1 “blood of the righteous”; ἀθῷον, א A B* al.

ὄψει] U Γ; ὄψῃ, א A B al; “thou shalt know,” S1.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.