Saint Matthias Saint Matthias Matthias (Hebrew transliteration: "Mattityahu"; Koine Greek: Μαθθίας; ; died c. 80 AD) was, according to the Acts of the Apostles, the apostle chosen to replace Judas Iscariot following Judas' betrayal of Jesus and his (Judas') subsequent death. His calling as an apostle is unique, in that his appointment was not made personally by Jesus, who had already ascended into heaven, and it was also made before the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the early Church. There is no mention of a Matthias among the lists of disciples or followers of Jesus in the three synoptic gospels, but
Judas Iscariot Judas used the money to buy a field, and "[fell] headlong... burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." The field became known as "Akeldama", which means "the Field of Blood" in Aramaic, because it was covered in Judas's blood, and it was used to bury strangers. In this account, Judas' death is apparently by accident and he shows no signs of remorse. The early Church Father Papias of Hierapolis ( 60–130 AD) recorded in his "Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord", which was probably written during the first decade of the second century AD, that