The purpose of this essay is to identify the criticism that has been directed towards the traditional description of Judas Iscariot as a traitor. After a survey and analysis of the critical revisionists' arguments, a discussion follows regarding the possible effects this may have on future ways of describing Judas Iscariot. Based on the results that have been elucidated, this essay concludes that the traditional description of Judas in recent times has been forced to endure fairly strong criticism. To summarize this criticism, the main argument raised by today’s revisionists consists of linguistic and historical phenomena. According to these Judas Iscariot has been subject to a, according to some, deliberate demonization; where he over time has become portrayed as more blameworthy. This representation has been rejected by the revisionists in favor of an alternative version, which instead emphasizes Judas as a faithful and obedient servant; the one closest to Jesus. Another primary argument from the revisionists' is the misuse of the Greek verb paradidomi. Based on this linguistic argument, Judas should be regarded as a (obedient) servant when he handed over Jesus, rather than a traitor. The motive behind Judas's actions is in this context considered to be good - although this version did not become known and rewarded for the posterity; which probably explains why Judas's negative attributes all the way back since this era are fairly negative, and then developed in the same track. Through this criticism, an alternative interpretation of the historical Judas Iscariot has been introduced. Based on the arguments that have been discussed in this essay, it is possible that we will eventually get to see this alternate interpretation given more legitimacy; but for the time being it seems rather unlikely that something so radically that a paradigm shift is imminent. As this discussion has intensified, combined with the increasing number of discoveries within this field that today are revealed, the revisionist critique, however, has gained more legitimacy - something that probably may proceed for some time to come.

This bachelor thesis in exegetics deals with the image of Judas Iscariot and how and why different depictions of him look different. The purpose of the thesis has been to create a broader and more complex picture of Judas by analysing the different gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, the Greek text and secondary literature. My aim has also been to try to understand the different motives that may lie behind the differences in the various texts. I have also looked at what the image of Judas looks like today, both in society and in popular culture. In my essay, I have concluded that the image of Judas has become a strong metaphor in modern society and culture, both positive and negative. In terms of the four evangelists, I have concluded that the Gospel of Mark is the gospel that portrays Judas in the most neutral way, the Gospel of Matthew that portrays Judas in the most humane and forgiving way, and the Gospel of Luke, Acts and John that portrays Judas most harshly and shows him as the biggest villain. In my paper I argue that this may be due to when the gospels were written and that the image has become worse over time. According to my thesis, this can be explained by eschatological beliefs.

Denna uppsats är en kvalitativ litteraturstudie som ämnar undersöka  framställningen av två bibliska gestalter, Judas Iskariot och Pontus Pilatus, i den populärkulturella TV-serien ”The Bible” och hur framställningen förhåller sig till de bibliska utsagorna. Fokus ligger på hur man karaktäriserat och framställt dem i förhållande till den skuld de tillskrivits i evangelierna för Jesu korsfästelse. Det övergripande syftet med uppsatsen är att utreda vilka konventioner som styr bibliska adaptioner och om det kan finnas ett missionerande syfte med TV-serien. Det hela härleds till Wiktorin (2010) tes om att religionsutövare kan använda populärkulturella framställningar som en del i en missionen och att populärkulturen är en stark pjäs vid förmedling av livsfrågor och grundläggande värderingar. Metoden som använts är en litteraturvetenskaplig metod; narrativanalys och den teoretiska ramen som omgärdar framställningen är adaptiosnteori, enligt McFarlane (1996) och Leitch (2007). Undersökningen visar att de populärkulturella konventionerna ifråga om berättandet och framställning av karaktärerna påverkar framställningen mycket. Processen, att adaptera en karaktär från litterär bibliskkälla till visuellt medium bidrar till att det blir mer komplexa karaktärsbeskrivningar och skuldfrågan blir svårare att förhålla sig till, eftersom det presenteras bakomliggande orsaker till handlingarna som Judas och Pilatus tillskrivs. Vidare kan man också hävda att författarna Downey och Burnett har haft ett missionerande syfte med serien, eftersom de såg skapandet av den som ett kall, en idé given av gud (CBSnews.com). Ytterligare tecken på missionen är att produktionen på något sätt är kopplat till ett företag, eller samfund som har den kristna missionen som huvudsyssla.