The Martyr of Kerioth

At dusk I walk the busy city streets,

But I hear not the Passover conceits.

My mind’s inflamed with contradictory thoughts,

This plan of sacrifice is wrong and fraught.

The full moon gives the gloaming eerie light

A presage to a dire and dreadful night.

From Galila, Yeshu‘a min Natsrat

Preached love, without conditions, from the heart,

Forgiveness and redemption just through grace,

And this applies to all, not just one race.

The Temple rituals now discredited,

Salvific sacrifice itself is dead.

III

For three years now, Yeshu‘a preached his creed,

Together with The Twelve, including me.

Yehud and Galila, sometimes Shamrayn,

We mixed with all kinds; none was put to shame.

The other twelve were all Galilaya,

Outsider, I alone Yehudaya.

Yohanan Ma‘mdana now was dead.

He’d been a holy man, or so they said.

The new Elya, whom Malachi foretold.

He taught and baptized with a zeal untold

He preached a Messianic sacrifice,

And an apocalyptic paradise.

Yeshu‘a and the others were entranced

By this fanatic whom the mob romanced.

Yeshu‘a had been blessed with Logos truth

And we all preached it throughout, forsooth.

But now they dream of Messianic spree,

This hyperbolic Hebrew fantasy.

A week ago, to achieve his martyrdom,

Yeshu‘a brought us all to Urishlem.

Yeshu‘a spent the week creating strife,

To force Sanhedrin’s hand to end his life.

But I, Outsider, have been asked to act

The role of traitor, this to seal the fact.

VII

Accordingly, I met, reluctantly,

The High Priest to discuss my treachery.

I’d lead his guards to him anon that night,

When he’d be in a secret, quiet site.

This would avoid a public turbulence,

And all I asked was thirty silver pence.

VIII

I gather with the others at the hall,

As I have done so often with them all.

Tonight, the mood is tense and unbeknown,

The Prophet and the Twelve are here alone.

Yeshu‘a now is already reclined,

Along with Kefa and B‘nai Zabdai.

These lieutenants would all know the plan,

They’d know that I would be the traitor man.

The rest would only know of his nigh death,

Since he had been foretelling his last breath.

So, this will be our Last Supper of bread,

Tomorrow our Yeshu‘a will be dead.

Yeshu‘a stuns us all with a decree,

He says that one of us a traitor be.

The lieutenants are shocked just like the rest,

It seems my role was secret to his breast.

But now he speaks as if he’s been misplayed.

The actor traitor has now been betrayed!

Yohanan bar Zabdai sits with our Lord.

Shim‘on then prompts Yohanan, “Ask him who.”

Yohanan whispers in the Prophet’s ear,

The conversation is too low to hear.

Yeshu‘a dips some bread into the wine,

And passes it to me, so I must dine.

XII

Yeshu‘a makes no effort to explain

My role was only ever part of plan.

I’m publicly denounced in my betrayal,

As if my actions were of my travail.

The Prophet’s not the only sacrifice,

I am also obliged to pay a price.

XIII

It’s then that I recall a scripture verse,

A close friend in a psalm turns traitor perse.

So, I’m forever to be cursed for this,

An obscure connection to a Hebrew myth.

For just another way to link this man

To the Messiah Ma‘mdana planned.

XIV

I lead the High Priest’s men to olive grove,

I kiss Yeshu‘a on the cheek and go.

In Potter’s Field I meet an angry mob.

With ropes in hands, I know their gruesome job.

I’m to be lynched – O, what ironic chord –

I’ll meet the Father first, before our Lord!

Yehuda Skaryota

(Judas Iscariot – Judas from Kerioth)

‘The Martyr of Kerioth’ is a narrative poem written in rhyming couplets of iambic pentameters. Each stanza has six lines, and there are 14 stanzas in all. The story is told in the first person present.

The story is set in the First Century CE in Roman Judaea. The names of persons and of cities and regions are given in Roman alphabet approximate transliteration of Aramaic.

It quickly becomes evident that the narrator is Judas Iscariot. Jesus (Yeshu‘a) and his Twelve Disciples are in Jerusalem (Urishlem) on the evening of the Last Supper. The Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth (Yeshu‘a min Natsrat) will be on the following morning. Judas is quite vexed and takes no notice of the ‘Passover conceits.’ Mention is also made of the full moon which is always near Passover. Curiously, Judas is worried about this ‘plan of sacrifice,’ which is a departure from the traditional understanding of this Bible Story.

Judas reminisces fondly of the revolutionary social justice preached by Jesus. He remarks that Jesus and his 12 disciples, of which he is one, have helped preached this creed for three years in Galilee (Galila) and Judea (Yehud), and even venturing into Samaria (Shamrayn). A key part of the narrative is Judas’ lament that he is the sole Judean (Yehudaya) while all the rest, including Jesus, are Galilean (Galilaya). Judas is an Outsider.

Judas also recalls John the Baptist (Yohanan Ma‘mdana), who had been dubbed the new Elijah (Elya) due to a reference in the Book of Malachi. John the Baptist preached the Hebrew notions of the Messiah, those of Messianic sacrifice and apocalyptic paradise (the ‘end-times’). Judas thinks that John the Baptist is overzealous about these interpretations of the Messiah, more so than even the Jews themselves. Judas laments that the Galileans, Jesus and the other 11 disciples, are overly taken in by this preaching.

Indeed, Judas tells the listener that Jesus has decided to force the Jewish authorities, the Sanhedrin, to martyr him. This is the previously mentioned ‘plan of sacrifice’. In this telling of the Bible Story, Judas has been asked by Jesus to ‘act the role of traitor’ to further this plan.

Judas assumes that, even if not all the disciples, then at least the ones closest to Jesus, namely Peter, and the Sons of Zebedee, will know of the plan to force the martyrdom of Jesus on that Passover period.

At the dinner, Judas is shocked to learn that only Jesus and he know of the plan. On the contrary, Jesus denounces Judas as a traitor to the others and pointedly does not explain that this is just a ruse.

Perplexed, Judas leaves the dinner and nonetheless carries out his side of the vow.

The listener may check for themselves: this interpretation of the Bible Story is consistent with the Gospel of John, just as much as the traditional version! In fact, the traditional story has some issues. For example, at the Last Supper, after Jesus denounces Judas, not one of the others raises a hand to stop Judas. Yet, later that evening, as Jesus is being arrested, Peter attacks one of the Sanhedrin guards before Jesus intervenes.

This poem was read to the August 2025 (stanzas 1-6) and October 2025 (stanzas 7-14) meetings of the Friendly Street Poets, Adelaide.

(October 2025)