Kiss of Judas

According to the Synoptic Gospels, Judas identified Jesus to the soldiers by means of a kiss. This is the kiss of Judas, also known (especially in art) as the Betrayal of Christ, which occurs in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper, and leads directly to the arrest of Jesus by the police force of the Sanhedrin (Kilgallen 271).

More broadly, a Judas kiss may refer to "an act appearing to be an act of friendship, which is in fact harmful to the recipient."

In the New Testament

Both Matthew (26:47–50) and Mark (14:43–45) use the Greek verb kataphilein, which means to kiss firmly, intensely, passionately, tenderly, or warmly. It is the same verb that Plutarch uses to describe a famous kiss that Alexander the Great gave Bagoas. According to Matthew, Jesus responded by saying: "Friend, do what you are here to do." This has caused speculation that Jesus and Judas were actually in agreement with each other and that there was no real betrayal.Luke (22:47–48) presents a very different picture: Jesus sees Judas coming, and stops him by asking: "Judas, are you betraying the son of man with a kiss?" The kiss is apparently not delivered at all. However, Geza Vermes presents a very different view in his book Jesus the Jew: The Aramaic word barnasha—literally "son of man" but meaning "this person"—is used in Rabbinic literature as a humble, self-effacing way to refer to oneself, to the speaker. Interpreted as such, Jesus would have said: "You would use a kiss to betray me?"

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