AKELDAMA

(A·kelʹda·ma) [Field of Blood].

The name applied by the Jews to the plot of land, the purchase of which resulted from “the wages for unrighteousness” paid to Judas Iscariot for his betrayal of Christ Jesus. (Ac 1:18, 19) It has been identified as the Haqq ed-Dumm (meaning “Price of Blood”) on the S side of the Valley of Hinnom, on the “Hill of Evil Counsel,” which is a level plot of land a short distance up the slope. Upon this spot are ruins of a charnel house. A little to the SE is the Minzar Haqal Demaʼ (Akeldama Monastery) erected over the remains of cave tombs.

The statement at Acts 1:18 that Judas “purchased a field” indicates that he furnished the means for purchasing the field, or was the occasion of doing so. The record at Matthew 27:3-10 shows that the priests used the 30 pieces of silver (if shekels, $66) thrown into the temple by Judas to make the actual purchase and that this “Field of Blood” was previously a potter’s field and was obtained by the priests “to bury strangers.” (See POTTER’S FIELD.) The suggested location has been used as a burial site from early centuries.

Why does Matthew attribute the prophecy of Zechariah 11:12, 13 to Jeremiah?

The fulfillment of prophecy recorded by Matthew is based on “what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.” Jeremiah was at times listed as first of the “Latter Prophets,” and this section of prophecies therefore included not only Jeremiah’s writings but also those of Zechariah. (Compare Lu 24:44.) The quotation made by Matthew appears to be drawn principally from Zechariah 11:12, 13, but paraphrased by Matthew and applied to the circumstances fulfilling it, this under inspiration by God’s spirit. As a potter’s field the land would be considered as worn out and of little value, worth only the price of a slave.