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 that Christians should not repeat the historic tragedy of associating Judas Iscariot with the Judeans but regard him instead as an emergent Christian apostate, and hence, one of their own. His betrayal over a sum of money warns auditors against the vice of greed. The name "Judas" (Ὶούδας) is a Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Judah (יהודה, Yhûdâh, Hebrew for "God is praised"), which was an extremely common name for Jewish men during the first century AD, due to the renowned hero Judas Maccabeus. Consequently, numerous other figures with this name are mentioned throughout the New Testament. In the