Was Judas' "betrayal" a mistranslation?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Last night I was watching a documentary series about untold "secrets" of the Bible.  Something that caught my attention is one scholar's belief that the word "betrayal" is a mistranslation of the word "paradidomi," which more accurately translates to simply "hand over."  If this is true, it would follow that Judas, rather than betray Jesus, likely worked with him to make certain that Jesus would be crucified in order to facilitate God's plan for humanity.  However, this theory does not account for the word translated as "traitor" in Luke 6:16, which could have been a mistake by the author of Luke or a copyist's error.

I googled William Klassen's theory for more information, but couldn't find much discussion over it or concurrence by a reputable source.  Is there any plausibility to this claim?

[Zioneer]

Well, there's a Gnostic Book of Judas which explains exactly that.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Well, there's a Gnostic Book of Judas which explains exactly that.

I can't wait to hear Greatest I Am's enlightened commentary of it.

(I can)

[Mopsus]

Have you read "Three Versions of Judas"?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Have you read "Three Versions of Judas"?

No.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Judas's behavior (in the canonical texts) before and after the event isn't consistent with Jesus having colluded in it.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I'm actually pretty hungry right now.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I don't think there's any real doubt that the gospel accounts consider what Judas did to be a betrayal.  They do vary about why he betrayed him.

[DC Al Fine]

Last night I was watching a documentary series about untold "secrets" of the Bible. 

I'm no scholar of Greek, but the way the documentary presents itself makes me skeptical they're providing anything useful or profound. It kind of sounds like those silly ancient aliens docs on the History channel.

Something that caught my attention is one scholar's belief that the word "betrayal" is a mistranslation of the word "paradidomi," which more accurately translates to simply "hand over."  If this is true, it would follow that Judas, rather than betray Jesus, likely worked with him to make certain that Jesus would be crucified in order to facilitate God's plan for humanity.  However, this theory does not account for the word translated as "traitor" in Luke 6:16, which could have been a mistake by the author of Luke or a copyist's error.

One thing we Westerners often forget is that the early Church operated mostly in Greek. Most of the attendees at the Council of Nicea were Greek speakers for example, with Latin speakers. The Greek Christians obviously can't mistranslate when reading words written in their own language, so the issue would have to be a question of misunderstanding the overall text. But if that's the case...

Judas's behavior (in the canonical texts) before and after the event isn't consistent with Jesus having colluded in it.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Judas's behavior (in the canonical texts) before and after the event isn't consistent with Jesus having colluded in it.

That was one of my gripes with his theory, actually.  That and the fact that no serious Biblical scholar I know of has acknowledged let alone considered it.

Last night I was watching a documentary series about untold "secrets" of the Bible.

I'm no scholar of Greek, but the way the documentary presents itself makes me skeptical they're providing anything useful or profound. It kind of sounds like those silly ancient aliens docs on the History channel.

Yeah, the show very much presents itself as sort of a #hottake clip series.  It's not from the History Channel, though the format is reminiscent of the History Channel prior to its mid-2000s devolution.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

One thing we Westerners often forget is that the early Church operated mostly in Greek. Most of the attendees at the Council of Nicea were Greek speakers for example, with Latin speakers. The Greek Christians obviously can't mistranslate when reading words written in their own language, so the issue would have to be a question of misunderstanding the overall text. But if that's the case...
[/quote]

That's important to have in mind.

[Enduro]

There is a book called "Don't Check Your Brains At The Door."

It had a chapter about mistranslations, and explained pretty well why it's unlikely to occur in the Bible. I recommend it.

[The Mikado]

Fun story:

The English word "traitor" comes from the Latin word "traditor," which literally means "one who hands over."

[America Needs R'hllor]

If it was, it might have been the most harmful mistranslation in history.