The death of Judas in the gospel of Matthew has been widely interpreted in a negative light, perhaps as a result of viewing his suicide through post-Augustinian eyes. The aim of this paper is to propose a new understanding of the death of Judas by examining the valuation of suicide within the context of the honour-shame values of the ancient world. Once this has been accomplished, it is possible to move toward an understanding of Matthew’s motive in recording Judas’ death &, more particularly, in recording it as a suicide. (95 notes)