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Akeldama (also known as Akeldamach or Aceldama) translates to “Field of Blood” in Aramaic. The term Akeldama appears once in the New Testament in Acts 1:19 and is the designation for the location where Judas met his end.
Matthew describes this area in Greek as the “potter’s field.” As stated in Matthew 27:7, the priests utilized the money Judas threw in the temple before his suicide to purchase “the potter’s field as a burial site for foreigners. This is why it has been named the Field of Blood to this day.” Matthew also links the events at Akeldama to prophecies from Jeremiah (Matthew 27:9-10). The fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah 11:13 is likewise directly associated with Akeldama, even though Zechariah does not mention the Aramaic name: “And the LORD said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the LORD.”
Traditionally, Akeldama is situated south of Jerusalem at the confluence of the Valley of Hinnom and the Kidron Valley. This eastern section of the Valley of Hinnom gained notoriety due to Judas (Matthew 27:3-10;Acts 1:16-19). The Hinnom Valley is also recognized as the Valley of Gehenna. During the Old Testament era, it was where some ancient Israelites “passed children through the fire” (sacrificed their children) to the Canaanite god Molech (2 Chronicles 28:3;2 Chronicles 33:6;Jeremiah 7:31;Jeremiah 19:2-6). Subsequently, the valley was utilized for burning the bodies of criminals and unclean animals, as well as incinerating city garbage. Because of these customs and the striking imagery associated with the location, Jesus referenced Gehenna.
Na is used as a symbolic description of hell (Matthew 10:28;Mark 9:47-48).
Today, tombs and a large ruin that was once a charnel house can be found at Akeldama. The soil in the area contains a type of clay suitable for pottery, which is another reason it is designated as the “Potter’s Field.”
Acts 1:19 refers to the field of Akeldama bought with Judas’s thirty pieces of silver. The verse states that everyone in Jerusalem called “that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.” At Akeldama, what Jesus stated about Judas became reality: “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born” «The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. », (Matthew 26:24).
