First off, there’s the fact that the Bible specifically says that Judas himself bought the land.
Secondly, Judas flings down the money and goes off and hangs himself. we know from the Book of Acts that he died on Blood Field, after he bought it. Does it make sense that the Elders, who were in the middle of arranging Jesus’ death, would have been able to purchase the land before Judas got there and hung himself?
At first glance, you bring up a valid point. However, with deeper study, your argument falls short.
The word used by Matthew for “bought” is
agorazo, However it does not imply ownership but rather the act of buying
Compare how Luke uses it in Luke 22:36
He said to them, "But now one who has a money bag should take it, and likewise a sack, and one who does not have a sword should sell (
poleo) his cloak and buy (
agorazo) one.
Poleo can mean “sell” but it’s primary meaning has to do with trading and bartering. Therefore the translation of “buy” (and “sell”) is made according to context.
How does this mean anything with regard to Judas? Note the word Luke (also the author of Acts) uses in Acts 1:18
It is
ktaomai, which means to “get, acquire, obtain, possess, provide, purchase.”
This word has the connotations of ownership that
agorazo does not. Matthew says that the priests transacted business for the obtaining of the field, but they did not thereby have possession of the field. The money they used was Judas’ and the field was bought in his name; the field was
technically and
legally his.
By ancient thinking, it was ritually unclean – though even today a charity may refuse money if it is gained by ill-gotten means. Now it follows that when they transacted the business of the field for the temple, to avoid association with ritual uncleanness, the priests would have to have bought it in the name of Judas Iscariot, the one whose blood money it was. The property and transaction records available to the public and probably consulted by Luke would reflect that Judas bought the field – or else Luke is indeed aware of what transpired and is using just the right verb to make the point.
So it could very well read:
Acts 1:18
“He obtained a parcel of land with the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out.”
Also, it could be that the Jews bought the land
after Judas died there. The land became defiled by his corpse. Hence it would become perfectly suited to become a full-time cemetery. In this ancient collectivist society, the gossip would readily get around as to where and how Judas died and it would not be a burden for the decision to be made to purchase the field in Judas’ name to turn into a cemetery.
