Aceldama

Biblical Text

In Acts 1:18-19, Peter recounts the death of Judas Iscariot before Matthias is chosen. According to the text, Judas purchased a field with "the reward of iniquity," and there, "falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst." This became known to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and in their own tongue they called the field "Aceldama." The Korean Revised Korean Version follows the name with the explanation that it means "field of blood."

Matthew 27:3-10 does not use the name "Aceldama" but calls the same field "the field of blood." Here Judas casts down the thirty pieces of silver in the temple and goes and hangs himself. The chief priests judged that the money could not be put into the treasury because "it is the price of blood." They therefore used it to buy "the potter's field, to bury strangers in," and the text records that for this reason the field "was called, The field of blood, unto this day." Matthew presents this event as the fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.

Background

"Aceldama" is a Greek transliteration of an Aramaic expression meaning "field of blood"; Aramaic was the everyday language of Palestine at the time. This is why Acts adds the phrase "in their proper tongue."

Scripture does not give the field's exact location. A tradition handed down from the early church places it on the southern slope of the Valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem. Today an Orthodox monastery stands on the site, and ancient rock-cut tombs remain in the surrounding area. In the Middle Ages the site reportedly served as a burial ground for pilgrims. Whether this traditional site is the field described in the biblical text, however, has not been archaeologically confirmed.

Significance within Scripture as a Whole

The passage Matthew cites closely resembles Zechariah 11:12-13, in which thirty pieces of silver are cast to the potter. Matthew, however, attributes these words to Jeremiah. The Book of Jeremiah contains related scenes: Jeremiah takes a potter's earthen bottle to the valley of the son of Hinnom and proclaims judgment (Jeremiah 19), and he buys a field (Jeremiah 32). In the Old Testament, the Valley of Hinnom was a place of Molech worship and of judgment. Many interpreters therefore hold that Matthew connected the prophetic tradition surrounding this valley with the account of betrayal and blood money.

Interpretation and Issues

• Relationship between the two accounts: The two texts differ on who bought the field (Judas or the chief priests), how Judas died (by hanging or by falling headlong), and why the field received its name (because of the blood money or because of Judas's blood). Those who emphasize biblical inerrancy harmonize the two accounts: the purchase made by the chief priests with Judas's money is described as Judas's own purchase, and Judas's body fell and burst open after he had hanged himself. Historical-critical scholars, by contrast, regard the passages as recording two distinct traditions.
• The attribution to "Jeremiah": One explanation holds that Matthew combined material from Zechariah and Jeremiah and cited the name of the better-known prophet. Another holds that he used the name because Jeremiah stood first in a collection of the prophetic books.
• Accounts outside the text: Stories such as the claim that Judas's body swelled up until he died are preserved only in second-century literary tradition and do not appear in the biblical text. Some interpreters read the purchase of a burial ground for strangers with blood money as a symbol of the blood of Christ and the salvation of the Gentiles. This is a homiletical application rather than something the text states directly.

In the Korean Church

In Korean churches, Aceldama is mentioned chiefly in sermons during Holy Week that address Judas Iscariot's betrayal and its outcome. It is also presented as a stop, together with the Valley of Hinnom, on Holy Land pilgrimage itineraries in Israel.