Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 27:4

"saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. But they said, What is that to us? see thou [to it]." — Matthew 27:4 (ASV)

I have sinned in that I have betrayed —More accurately, I sinned in betraying.

What is that to us? —As we read these words, we instinctively feel that as deep as the guilt of Judas was, the guilt of those who mocked him was even deeper. Humanly speaking, we might say that a word of sympathy and true counsel might have saved him even then.

His confession was like the seed of repentance, but this rejection drove him back into despair. He did not have the courage or faith to turn to the great Absolver, and so his life ended in a blackness of darkness. If we ask, "Is there any hope?" we dare not answer.

Possibly, as at least one of the great teachers of the Church has suggested (Origen, Horn. in Matt. 35), mingled with his agony was some confused thought that in the world of the dead, behind the veil, he might meet his Lord and confess his guilt to Him.