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 Nonetheless, various attempts at harmonization have been suggested. Generally they have followed literal interpretations such as that of Augustine of Hippo, which suggest that these simply describe different aspects of the same event – that Judas hanged himself in the field, and the rope eventually snapped and the fall burst his body open, or that the accounts of Acts and Matthew refer to two different transactions. Some have taken the descriptions as figurative: that the "falling prostrate" was Judas in anguish, and the "bursting out of the bowels" is pouring out emotion. Modern scholars reject these approaches. Arie W. Zwiep