Judas: a fine, strong, belgian wheat beer.

mmmh Judas(tm) 8.5%

my current fav. beer, i'm hoping to wean myself off cheap lager with small, carefully measured (330ml) doses of this stuff.

An amusing fact from history:

Judas (or rather the Hebrew equivalent, Judah) was actually a very popular name in Israel of old, perhaps because of the Judas Maccabeus of Seleud-ass-kicking fame: The Seleucid emperor Antiochus Epiphanes had proclaimed himself to be a god (Zeus, in fact), and he claimed that he - and Zeus - were the same god as that of the Jews, YHWH. Antiochus then erected altars to himself in the Temple and outlawed Judaism. Judas Maccabeus and many of the Jews were understandably irritated, and went on to rebel with the intent of getting medieval on Antiochus' ass.

At any rate, despite dying before the whole matter was settled, Judas Maccabeus has gone down in history as being a spectacular hero (one of the nine worthies, in fact).

Presumably, the name fell out of favor somewhat after the late unpleasantness with that Iscariot fellow. . .


Grave mistakes (errata):

1. Thelady is absolutely correct in her comment about The Temple and syangogues. I have corrected it in my writeup, but in a previous form, it did contain the error she has mentioned.

2. She is also quite right in Judah/Yehuda/Judas being the name of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and hence was probably always a common name. However, after trying to remember where I heard the comment about the popularity of the name Judas, it hit me: it was a passing comment in Asimov's Guide to the Bible, in which he mentions that "It is very likely that the name Judas Maccabeus made the name Judas Judah so popular among Jews in the following centuries." A quick web search has a few other people mentioning this. It seems, therefore, that either A) this is all an urban legend (of the least urban variety) or B) my write up was correct in Judas (Judah) becoming, as I said, a very popular name in Israel in the wake of Judas Maccabeus (but, as I mentioned, flatly wrong in other respects).
lemuru: Er, no. Judas or, in the Hebrew pronounciation, Yehuda, was one of Jacob's sons and thus the progenitor of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Israel, incidentally, was Jacob's nomicker, after having bested an angel of God in a fight).

Judea, the name of the Jewish kingdom in and around the time of both the Maccabean Uprising (which the festival of Hanukkah commemorates) and later until the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans, derives from the same origins - its layout roughly corresponds to the land originally alloted to the tribe of Yehuda after the conquest of the Promissed Land by Joshua.

Synagogues, however, were not in existence until after the destruction of the Temple, except in very remote locations, seeing as the Temple was the be all and end all of Jewish worship at that time. Epiphanes, therefore, erected his statue not in synagogues, but in the Temple itself.

Yehuda is still a popular, if somewhat antiquated, boy's name today.

Judas was also the name of one of Jesus' brothers. He accompanied Jesus back to Nazareth, mentioned in Matthew and Mark. Judas began teaching at the Synagogue, well known by the townspeople.

While it is presumed that Joseph and Mary are the parents of Judas, but some scholars say Judas is a child of one of Joseph's earlier marriages.

Judas was the author of the Epistle of Jude.

Ju"das (?), n.

The disciple who betrayed Christ. Hence: A treacherous person; one who betrays under the semblance of friendship.

--

a.

Treacherous; betraying.

Judas hole, a peephole or secret opening for spying. -- Judas kiss, a deceitful and treacherous kiss. -- Judas tree Bot., a leguminous tree of the genus Cercis, with pretty, rose-colored flowers in clusters along the branches. Judas is said to have hanged himself on a tree of this genus (C. Siliquastrum). C. Canadensis and C. occidentalis are the American species, and are called also redbud.

 

© Webster 1913.

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