In vain did Judas look for pity from his partners in guilt; the unfeeling answer of the Priests was, "What is that to us? see thou to that." Had Judas repented truly, he would, like Peter, have gone out and wept bitterly, and sought forgiveness of his Lord; but, unable to bear the feeling of remorse which lay heavy upon his heart, he committed a crime for which there is no repentance: "he departed, and went and hanged himself, and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." What may be the exact meaning of this passage, it is difficult to say; but it is certain that Judas perished in some remarkable and dreadful manner. After Judas had departed from the Council, leaving the money behind, "the Chief Priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood." The Jews considered it unlawful to put into the treasury of the temple, any money which had been got by taking away life. The executioners, whose duty it was to put criminals to death, were not allowed to make any offering to the treasury, because the money that they gained was looked upon as the price of blood. These Priests, who were ready to break a positive commandment by putting an innocent person to death, would not break the Law in a small matter. The fact is, that by this time the religion of the Jews had become a mere form: they made a great fuss about observing ceremonies and customs, which required no self-denial; but they did not care to obey the Will of God, when it interfered with their own wishes and inclinations. They had had no scruple in buying the life of an innocent man, but they would not put the price of his blood into the treasury. So "they took counsel," or consulted together, as to what should be done with the silver pieces, "and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in." By "strangers" was probably meant Jews, who came from distant parts of the country, or from some of the nations through which Jews were scattered: these people had, of course, no burial-place of their own in Jerusalem, and therefore this field was bought, in order that any foreign Jews, who died in the city, might be buried there. The potter's field lay to the S.E. of Jerusalem, on the other side of the brook Gihon. From this time, this field was called "Aceldama," a Hebrew word, meaning the Field of Blood: now the Christians in those parts call it "the holy field." This buying of the field, was foretold 457 years before, in the time of Ezra. "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me."