He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself.
World English Bible
Matthew 27:5
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
Show this verse in
WEB ▾
Show this verse in
-
Showing
WEB World English Bible Public Domain ✓ - Modern English
- BSB Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
- LSV Literal Standard Version A modern, highly literal translation (2020) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- ULB Unlocked Literal Bible An open-licensed literal translation produced for translators · CC BY-SA 4.0
- WMB World Messianic Bible The World English Bible with Hebrew names and Messianic-Jewish terms · Public Domain
- FBV Free Bible Version A modern translation in contemporary English from the original languages · CC BY-SA 4.0
- BBE Bible in Basic English A 20th-century translation using a simple, limited vocabulary · Public Domain
- ULT unfoldingWord Literal Text unfoldingWord's open-licensed literal translation, the successor to the ULB · CC BY-SA 4.0
- MSB Majority Standard Bible A modern translation of the Majority/Byzantine text — the Berean counterpart to the critical-text BSB · Public Domain
- TCENT Text-Critical English New Testament A modern reasoned-eclectic New Testament (2022) · CC BY 4.0
- F35 Family 35 New Testament Wilbur Pickering's Byzantine-priority New Testament, with text-critical commentary notes · CC BY-SA 4.0
- OJB Orthodox Jewish Bible A Messianic-Jewish English Bible using transliterated Hebrew names and terms · CC BY 4.0
- Historic editions
- KJV King James Version Public Domain
- ASV American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
- GNV Geneva Bible (1599) The Reformation-era study Bible that preceded the King James · Public Domain
- DRA Douay-Rheims (1899) An English Catholic translation from the Latin Vulgate · Public Domain
- YLT Young's Literal Translation An extremely literal 19th-century rendering · Public Domain
- DBY Darby Bible A literal 19th-century translation by J. N. Darby · Public Domain
- WBT Webster's Bible Noah Webster's 1833 modernization of the King James Version · Public Domain
- TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534) The pioneering early-modern English New Testament (New Testament only) · Public Domain
- JPS JPS Tanakh (1917) An early Jewish English translation of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament only) · Public Domain
- RV Revised Version (1885) The 1885 British revision of the King James Version; parent of the American Standard Version · Public Domain
- LEESER Isaac Leeser Tanakh (1853) The first Jewish English translation of the Hebrew Bible (1853, Old Testament only) · Public Domain
- KJVCP KJV Cambridge Paragraph Bible David Norton's critical Cambridge edition of the King James Version, set in paragraphs · Public Domain
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (3)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
-
How did Judas die?
Matthew 27:5 has Judas return the silver, throw it down in the temple, and go hang himself — a tidy suicide-by-hanging. Acts 1:18 has Judas buy a field with the blood money, fall headlong in it, and burst open with his bowels gushing out — a graphic falling-apart death with no hanging mentioned.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
Historical detail
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
-
How many disciples did Jesus appear to in his first post resurrection appearance?
John 20:24 says Thomas was absent when Jesus first appeared to the group, so with Judas already dead (Matthew 27:5) the count is ten. Matthew 28:16-17, Mark 16:14, and Luke 24:33-37 all say 'the eleven' were present.
Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.
Parallel accounts (distinct sources)
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
-
What did Judas do with the silver?
Matthew 27:5 has Judas throw the thirty pieces of silver down in the temple and then hang himself; the priests use the money to buy the Potter's Field. Acts 1:18 says Judas himself bought a field with the reward of iniquity and then fell headlong, bursting open with his bowels gushing out.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
Historical detail
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Other verses examined for the same kind of question or claim
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
Cite this page
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Matthew 27:5 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/matthew/27/5?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).