According to Matthew, Judas son of Simon Iscariot hung himself (Matthew 27:5). According to Luke, Peter said that Judas fell headlong in a field where his body burst open (Acts 1:15-19). This may seem like a contradiction, however, it is not impossible. It is likely that he hung himself and the weight of his dead, bloated body broke either the rope or the tree limb and his body fell onto the ground, where his entrails spilled forth from the impact. It is even possible that he died from both -- that he may have attempted to hang himself and fell some distance to the rocky ground. In either case, however, it was left to the eyewitnesses and the secondary reports of the disciples as to how Judas was killed -- whether witnesses saw him hanging or saw his body on the ground after it had burst open, and which event the disciples then recorded.

      What seems more of a contradiction, however, is the account of who bought the field -- the chief priests or Judas. The chief priests took the money that Judas left behind and bought the field. Peter no doubt knew this, yet attributed the purchase to Judas nonetheless. Since it was Judas' money, it was then Judas' field, especially since it was his own burial field. The important fact of the event, though, is that it did fulfill Old Testament prophecy in two ways (Matthew 27:9-10, Acts 1:16, 1:20): that the field was purchased from the potter as prophesied by Jeremiah --quite possibly in the Valley of Ben Hinnom near the Potsherd Gate (Jeremiah 19)-- and that Judas was to be appointed to oppose Jesus, then cut off and replaced as prophesied by David (Psalm 69:22-28, 109:6-19).