ISCARIOT

(Is·carʹi·ot).

The designation for the traitor apostle Judas (and his father Simon) that sets him apart from the other apostle also named Judas. (Matt. 10:4; Luke 6:16; John 6:71) If “Iscariot” means, as is most commonly thought, “man of Kerioth,” then it likely identifies Simon and his son as being from the Judean town of Kerioth-hezron.—Josh. 15:25.

Another view is based on the rendering “Scariot,” the term as it is found in several Syriac versions. This term purportedly has to do with leather. Hence, some commentators theorize that perhaps the container in which Judas kept the apostles’ funds was leather or leather covered, or that perhaps both Judas and his father Simon had been workers in leather.—John 12:6.