Question:

Why was the field called the field of blood (Matthew 27:8)? Is it because it was bought with blood money or because Judas died there?

Answer:

Because the Bible does not answer this question, we are left to make reasonable speculations. First of all, it is almost certainly not called this because Judas died there for the simple reason that Judas did not die there. There is no evidence that Judas hung himself in the field which was bought with the blood money he got for betraying Jesus. Besides, because he hung himself, there was no blood spilled at his death. When his body was cut down a couple of days later, the blood would already have congealed much sooner, so no blood was shed. It is a good guess that the field became known as the field of blood because it was paid for using the betrayal money given to Judas. In fact, I would say with some confidence that this is how it acquired the name. I say this because it was known as the Potter’s field up until the time Jesus was killed, and it had become known as the field of blood by the time the gospels were written down. It seems very unlikely to have acquired this name for any other reason. I cannot prove this, but believe it is a very likely explanation of the facts. John Oakes