Judas was last mentioned in the text in 26.47; he is once again characterized as his betrayer (see comment at 10.4). If his could be misunderstood to refer to Pilate or anyone other than Jesus, then translators should use “Jesus’ betrayer.”

Saw (so most translations) assumes that Judas was close enough to the trial scene to see the outcome for himself. On the other hand, it is possible to assume with Good News Translation and a few others that Judas receives this information later as a secondhand report: “learned” (so also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch; New Jerusalem Bible “found”).

That he was condemned would in normal English grammar refer to Judas, which is obviously not the intention. Therefore Good News Translation substitutes the proper noun “Jesus” for the pronoun he of the Greek text.

Condemned in this context means not only that Jesus was judged guilty, but that he was subsequently condemned to death. Some translators have had “found guilty and deserving of death.” It is often necessary to transform this passive into an active sentence, as in “the Council had found Jesus guilty and deserving of death” or “… and that he deserved to die.”

Repented translates the same verb used in 21.29. Since this is not the normal verb used in the New Testament for repentance (see 3.2; 4.17; 11.20, 21; 12.41), a number of translations prefer to employ another verb: New English Bible and New International Version have “seized with remorse” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible, Phillips), New American Bible has “began to regret his action deeply,” and Barclay chooses “realized the horror of what he had done.”

The thirty pieces of silver (Good News Translation “the thirty silver coins”): the use of the definite article presupposes knowledge of the event described in 26.15. In some cases it is best to say “the thirty pieces of silver the chief priests and the elders had given him” or “… that he received for betraying Jesus.” Whereas in the earlier narrative only “the chief priests” are mentioned in conjunction with the betrayal, here Matthew includes both the chief priests and the elders.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .