Put the thought into the
heart of Judas involves
at least two problems. First, the verb rendered put the thought into the heart is literally “had thrown into the
heart,” and there is a question as to whose heart is intended. Some Greek
manuscripts read “the heart of Judas,” but others have “Judas” in the
nominative case and so may translated literally “had thrown into the heart that
Judas would betray him.” The reading of the genitive case (“the heart of
Judas”) is obviously the easier reading, and it is much more likely that
scribes would have changed the nominative to the genitive than the other way
around. But the translator, after solving the textual problem, is still faced
with the problem of ambiguity in the Greek text. What is meant by the phrase
“had thrown into the heart that Judas should betray him”? Whose heart is
intended? Segond and Zür understand
the heart to be that of the Devil himself, but most translators apparently
understand it to be the heart of Judas.
Put the thought … into the
heart of Judas is often
expressed idiomatically, for example, “whispered into the ear of Judas” or
“touched Judas with the thought of” or “whispered to the mind of Judas.” The
relation between the Devil and the mind of Judas is essentially causative, and
it is so treated in some languages, for example, “the Devil caused Judas to
think.” In some instances the content of the thought must be expressed in
direct discourse, for example, “the Devil caused Judas to think, I will betray
Jesus.”
Secondly, this sentence presents a textual problem connected with the
phrase rendered Judas, the son of Simon
Iscariot (so also NAB, NEB, GeCL).
Some translations render this “Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son” (RSV, Mft,
Gdsp, Phps, JB, Segond, Zür). The evidence is not conclusive,
but elsewhere (6:71 and 13:26) “Iscariot” is connected with Simon, the father
of Judas, and so the UBS Committee
prefers the reading adopted by TEV.
Because of the awkwardness of the appositional phrase the son of Simon Iscariot, it may be necessary in some languages to
make this expression into a complete sentence, for example, “Judas was the son
of Simon Iscariot.” (Barclay Moon Newman and Eugene Albert
Nida, A Handbook on the Gospel of John
[UBS Handbook Series; New York: United Bible Societies, 1993], 429)
