Abstract

The article derives Judas’s nickname ’Iskariṓt from the Hebrew/Aramaic verb sāqar/se qar, and the noun ’ōṯ/’ôṯ, and interprets it as the “one who saw/gaze upon a sign”, gaze, see”, and the noun sēmeîon correlates with the term ’ōṯ/’ôṯ, “sign”). The ex hypothesi “positive” character of Judas’s nickname possibly explains the evangelists’ renunciation of its interpretation. As an alternative etymology of Judas’s nickname ’Iskariṓt, one can derive it from the Hebrew/Aramaic verb šāqar/še qar ”, “to betray” [the latter meaning is attested in Samaritan Aramaic]) and the same noun ’ōṯ/’ôṯ: the “one who slandered/resp. betrayed a sign”, i.e. the one who brought false evidence against Jesus. In Jn. 6:70, Jesus himself defines Judas with the term diábolos; this word can be interpreted as “slanderer”, “accuser”.