Aceldama

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The field of blood. It was very properly called so, because it was purchased with the thirty pieces of silver, which the traitor Judas received of the chief priests for Christ's blood. ( Matthew 27:8;  Acts 1:19.) It lay to the south of mount Zion, not far from the pool of Siloam. The name given it of Aceldama, is rather Syriac than Hebrew; and compounded of Achel, (from Chakel)field, and Damah, blood. This memorable ground is said to be shewn to travellers, even to the present day. Wherefore it was called the potter's field, is not so easy to say: unless, like our church-yards, some neighbouring potter dried his earthen pans there, as people now dry their clothes, after washing, in our church-yards. An old monk, called Drutmar, relates, that in his days, there was an hospital built in this charnel house for strangers, where the pilgrims, going to, and from, the Holy Land, used to lodge.

It is blessed to observe, how the Lord in his providence overruled events, at the crucifixion of Jesus, that his holy body should not have been thrown into this, or any other Aceldama, as a common malefactor. The Mishna reports, that it was not allowed, for any among the Jews who died by the common hands of justice, to be buried in the sepulchre of their fathers, except their flesh was first consumed. Now as the Lord Jesus, being considered by the law as a criminal, ( John 18:30) was thus liable to have been cast out with the common dead; what an overruling power must it have been, to prompt the minds of the honourable counsellor, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews, to have begged the forfeited body from Pilate!

And there was another providence, directing all this to the accomplishment of the purpose intended; in that the request was so well timed before the chief priests could influence Pilate's mind to refuse; and Pilate's mind so guided by the Lord, to grant the request before that he had power to deliberate. Had the Sanhedrim foreseen such a thing, no doubt they would have been beforehand with Joseph and Nicodemus, and prevailed upon the governor to deny. But He that had predicted Jesus should make "his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death," ( Isaiah 53:9) took care not only that a new sepulchre, suited to the infinite dignity of his person, should be prepared; but all the steps leading to the accomplishment of placing his holy body there, should make way, so as to answer all the important purposes of that prophecy.

As the holy body of Jesus was not to see corruption, but to arise the third day from the dead; this new sepulchre, wherein never man had laid, not only corresponded to the dignity of his person, but served to identify that person, as an article of faith to the believer; that it was Jesus, the very Lord of life and glory, whom the disciples placed there, that arose the third day, as he had promised, from the dead. Thus confirming the faith by circumstances, which, considering the difficulties with which the thing itself was surrounded, and the little probability that one dying, as the Lord Jesus did, under the hands of the Roman government, as a common felon, should make "his grave with the wicked, and with the rich, in his death:" nothing but the over-ruling and determinate counsel and foreknowledge of Jehovah could have contrived; nor any less than the same sovereign power could have accomplished. Here, as in a thousand instances beside, we may well cry out, "O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom, and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" ( Romans 11:33.)

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

"the field of blood." So called because it was bought with the price of blood, according to  Matthew 27:6-8; and because it was the scene of retribution in kind, the blood which Judas caused to be shed being avenged by his own blood, according to  Acts 1:19;  Revelation 16:6. The purchase of the field was begun by Judas, and was completed after Judas' death by the priests, who would not take the price of blood from Judas but used the pieces of silver to pay for the field. He did not pay the money ( Matthew 27:5), but had agreed to pay it, with a view of securing "a habitation" to himself and his wife and children ( Psalms 109:9;  Psalms 69:25). Stung with remorse he brought again the 30 pieces of silver, went to the field, hanged himself, and, the cord breaking, his bowels gushed out.

Thus there is no discrepancy between  Matthew 27:8 and  Acts 1:19. Substantial unity amidst circumstantial variety is the strongest mark of truth; for it. proves the absence of collusion in the writers. (Bengel.) Or probably Peter's words ( Acts 1:18) are in irony. All he purchased with the reward of iniquity was the bloody field of his burial. What was bought with his money Peter speaks of as bought by him. The field originally belonged to a potter, and had become useless to him when its clay was exhausted. Jerome says it was still shown S. of mount Zion, where even now there is a bed of white clay. Matthew ( Matthew 27:9) quotes Jeremiah's prophecy as herein fulfilled.  Zechariah 11:12-13 is the nearest approach to the quotation, but not verbatim. Probably  Jeremiah 18:1-2 and  Jeremiah 32:6-12 are the ultimate basis on which Zechariah's more detailed prophecy rests, and Jeremiah is therefore referred to by Matthew.

The field of blood is now shown on the steep S. face of the ravine of Hinnom, on a narrow level terrace, half way up, near its E. end; now Hak-Ed-Damm . The chalk favors decomposition; and much of it for this reason, and for its celebrity, was taken away by the empress Helena and others, for sarcophagic cemeteries. A large square edifice, half excavated in the rock, and half massive masonry, stands on the steep bank facing the pool of Siloam, as a charnel house 20 feet deep, the bottom covered with moldering bones. "The potter" represents God's absolute power over the clay framed by His own hand: so appropriate in the case of Judas, "the son of perdition," of whom Jesus says, "It had been good for that man if he had not been born"; given over to a reprobate mind and its awful doom. This is the point of  Jeremiah 18:6, which is therefore referred to by Matthew ( Isaiah 30:14;  Isaiah 45:9;  Romans 9:20-21).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The word Ἀκελδαμα, 'field of blood,' is Aramaic expressed in Greek letters, the word being differently spelt in different MSS. The field was bought with the money paid to Judas for betraying his Lord but which he in despair could not keep. In that sense he bought the field,  Acts 1:18,19; whereas it was really purchased by the chief priests,  Matthew 27:6-8; cf.  Zechariah 11:12 . The traditional spot is on the slope of the hill south of Jerusalem, where there is a ruined structure, long used as a charnel-house. It is some 20 feet deep, with a few decaying bones at the bottom. Tradition says that the bodies were thrown into it, and that the soil possessed the power to consume them in 24 hours. Shiploads of the earth were carried away to form European burial grounds in the time of the Crusades. The soil cretaceous would favour the decomposition of the bodies.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Aceldama ( A-Sĕl'Da-Mah ), Field Of Blood.  Acts 1:19. A field said to have been intended for the burial of strangers, which the chief priests bought with the money returned by Judas, as the price of the Saviour's blood.  Matthew 27:6-8. It was just without the wall of Jerusalem, south of Mount Zion, and is supposed to have been originally called the Potter's Field, because it furnished a sort of clay suitable for potter's ware. The "field of blood" is now shown on the steep southern face of the valley or ravine of Hinnom. It was believed in the middle ages that the soil of this place had the power of rapidly consuming bodies buried in it, and in consequence of this, or of the sanctity of the spot, great quantities of the earth were taken away.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Field of blood, a small field south of Jerusalem, which the priest purchased with the thirty pieces of silver that Judas had received as the price of our Savior's blood,  Matthew 27:8;  Acts 1:19 . Pretending that it was not lawful to appropriate this money to sacred uses, because it was the price of blood, they purchased with it the so- called potter's field, to be a burying-place for strangers. Judas is said,  Acts 1:8 , to have purchased the field, because it was bought with his money. Tradition points out this field on the steep side of the hill of Evil Counsel overhanging the valley of Hinnom on the south. It appears to have been used, since the time of he crusaders, as a sepulchre for pilgrims, and subsequently by the Armenians. At present it is not thus used.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Acel'dama. (The Field Of Blood). (Akeldama in the Revised Version), the name given by the Jews of Jerusalem to a field near Jerusalem purchased by Judas with the money which he received for the betrayal of Christ , and so called from his violent death therein.  Acts 1:19. The "field of blood" is now shown on the steep southern face of the valley or ravine of Hinnom, "southwest of the supposed pool of Siloam."

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

a piece of ground without the south wall of Jerusalem, on the other side of the brook Siloam. It was called the Potter's Field, because an earth or clay was dug in it of which pottery was made. It was likewise called the Fuller's Field, because cloth was dried in it. But it having been afterward bought with the money by which the high priest and ruler of the Jews purchased the blood of Jesus, it was called Aceldama, or the Field of Blood.

King James Dictionary

ACEL'DAMA, n.

A field said to have laid south of Jerusalem, the same as the potters field, purchased with the bribe which Judas took for betraying his master, and therefore called the field of blood. It was appropriated to the interment of strangers.

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) The potter's field, said to have lain south of Jerusalem, purchased with the bribe which Judas took for betraying his Master, and therefore called the field of blood. Fig.: A field of bloodshed.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Acts 1:19 Matthew 27:7Judas

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Matthew 27:7,8 Acts 1:19

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ACELDAMA . See Akeldama.

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

See Akeldama.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( Ἀκελδαμά , from the Syro-Chaldaic חקִל דְּמָא , Chakal' Dema', Field Of The Blood, as it is explained in the text, Ἀγρὸς Αἵματος , see Critica Biblica, 2, 447), the field purchased with the money for which Judas betrayed Christ, and which was appropriated as a place of burial for strangers — that is, such of the numerous visitors at Jerusalem as might die during their stay, while attending the festivals ( Matthew 27:8;  Acts 1:19; the slight discrepancy between these passages has been unduly magnified by Alford, Comment. in loc. post.; see Olshausen,: Comment. 3, 61, Am. ed.). It was previously "a potter's field." The field now shown as Aceldama lies on the slope of the hills beyond the valley of Hinnom, south of Mount Zion. This is obviously the spot which Jerome points out (Onomast. s.v. Acheldamach) as lying on the south (Eusebius, on the north) of Zion, and which has since been mentioned (although with some variation) by almost every one who has described Jerusalem. Sandys describes it (Relation of a Journey, p. 187), and relates the common story that the Empress Helena caused 270 ship-loads of its flesh-consuming mold to be taken to Rome, to form the soil of the Campo Santo, to which the same virtue is ascribed. Castela affirms that great quantities of the wondrous mold were removed by divers Christian princes in the time of the Crusades, and to this source assigns the similar sarcophagic properties claimed not only by the Campo Santo at Rome, but by the cemetery of St. Innocents at Paris, by the cemetery at Naples (Le Sainct Voyage de Hierusalem, 1603, p. 150; also Roger, p. 160), and by that of the Campo Santo at Pisa. This plot seems to have been early set apart by the Latins, as well as by the Crusaders, for a place of burial for pilgrims (Jac. de Vitriaco, p. 64).

The charnel-house is mentioned by Maundeville (Travels, 1822, p. 175, Bohn's ed.) as belonging to the Knights Hospitallers. Sandys shows that, early in the seventeenth century, it was in the possession of the Armenians. Roger (La Terre Saincte, p. 161) states that they bought it for the burial of their own pilgrims, and ascribes the erection of the charnel- house to them. They still possessed it in the time of Maundrell, or, rather, rented it, at a sequin a day, from the Turks. Corpses were still deposited there; and the traveler observes that they were in various stages of decay, from which he conjectures that the grave did not make that quick dispatch with the bodies committed to it which had been reported. "The earth, hereabouts," he observes, "is of a chalky substance; the plot of ground was not above thirty yards long by fifteen wide; and a moiety of it was occupied by the charnel-house, which was twelve yards high" (Journey, p. 136). Richardson (Travels, p. 567) affirms that bodies were thrown in as late as 1818; but Dr. Robinson alleges that it has the appearance of having been for a much longer time abandoned: "The field or plat is not now marked by any boundary to distinguish it from the rest of the hill-side; and the former charnel-house, now a ruin, is all that remains to point out the site . . . . An opening at each end enabled us to look in; but the bottom was empty and dry, excepting a few bones much decayed" (Biblical Researches, 1, 524; comp. Wilde's Shores of the Mediterranean, 1844; Barclay's City of the Great King, p. 207). Its modern name is Hak ed-damm. It is separated by no enclosure; a few venerable olive-trees (see Salzmann's photograph, "Champ du sang") occupy part of it, and the rest is covered by the "charnel-house," a ruined square edifice — half built, half excavated — perhaps originally a church (Pauli, Cod. Diplom. 1, 23), but which the latest conjectures (Schultz, Williams, and Barclay) propose to identify with the tomb of Ananus (Joseph. War, 5, 12, 2). It is said (Kraft, Topogr. p. 193) to contain the graves of several German pilgrims; but the intimation (Ritter, Erdk. 15, 463) that a pottery still exists near this spot does not seem to be borne out by other testimony. (See, on the subject generally, Schlegel, De agro Sanguinis, Hamb. 1705; Worger, Hakeldama, in Meneltici Thesaur. p. 222.) (See Potter'S Field).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Acel´dama (field of blood), the field purchased with the money for which Judas betrayed Christ, and which was appropriated as a place of burial for strangers ( Matthew 27:8;  Acts 1:19). It was previously 'a potter's field.' The field now shown as Aceldama lies on the slope of the hills beyond the valley of Hinnom, south of Mount Zion. Sandys thus writes of it: 'On the south side of this valley, neere where it meeteth with the valley of Jehoshaphat, mounted a good height on the side of the mountain, is Aceldama, or the field of blood, purchased with the restored reward of treason, for a buriall place for strangers. In the midst whereof a large square roome was made by the mother of Constantine; the south side, walled with the naturall rocke; flat at the top, and equall with the upper level; out of which ariseth certaine little cupoloes, open in the midst to let doune the dead bodies. Thorow these we might see the bottome, all couered with bones, and certaine corses but newly let doune, it being now the sepulchre of the Armenians. A greedy graue, and great enough to deuoure the dead of a whole nation. For they say (and I believe it) that the earth thereof within the space of eight and forty houres will consume the flesh that is laid thereon.' He then relates the common story, that the empress referred to, caused 270 ship-loads of this flesh-consuming mould to be taken to Rome, to form the soil of the Campo Santo, to which the same virtue is ascribed. Castela affirms that great quantities of the wondrous mould were removed by divers Christian princes in the time of the Crusades, and to this source assigns the similar sarcophagic properties claimed not only by the Campo Santo at Rome, but by the cemetery of St. Innocents at Paris, by the cemetery at Naples, and, we may add, that of the Campo Santo at Pisa.

The plot of ground originally bought 'to bury strangers in,' seems to have been early set apart by the Latins, as well as by the Crusaders, as a place of burial for pilgrims. In the fourteenth century it belonged to the Knights-Hospitallers. Early in the seventeenth century it was in the possession of the Armenians, who bought it for the burial of their own pilgrims. The erection of the charnel-house is ascribed to them. In the time of Maundrell they rented it at a sequin a day from the Turks. Corpses were still deposited there; and the traveler observes that they were in various stages of decay, from which he conjectures that the grave did not make that quick dispatch with the bodies committed to it which had been reported. 'The earth, hereabouts,' he observes, 'is of a chalky substance; the plot of ground was not above thirty yards long by fifteen wide; and a moiety of it was occupied by the charnel-house, which was twelve yards high.' Richardson affirms that bodies were thrown in as late as 1818; but Dr. Robinson alleges that it has the appearance of having been for a much longer time abandoned: 'The field or plat is not now marked by any boundary to distinguish it from the rest of the hill-side; and the former charnel-house, now a ruin, is all that remains to point out the site…. An opening at each end enabled us to look in; but the bottom was empty and dry, excepting a few bones much decayed.'