hey ouizy...here is a basic rundown off the top of my head.
Judas was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus in the Bible. He was the one who kept the money for the group and eventually was the one who betrayed Jesus to the authorities who wanted to kill him. As the story goes, Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover in Jerusalem in the upper room of a house (
last time we met it was a low lit room). Meals in this time period were eaten while half-reclining (
we were as close together as a bride and a groom). During the supper (
we ate the food, drank the wine, everybody having a good time), Jesus told them that one of them was going to betray him and that the person should go and do what they were planning (
except you, you were talking about the end of the world).
Judas had arranged to betray Jesus to the religious authorities for the sum of 30 pieces of silver (
I took the money). After Jesus makes it clear that he knows what is going to happen, Judas gets up and leaves. Later, Jesus and his disciples adjourn to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus spends time praying and wrestling with the fact that in a few hours he will be condemned to death. Judas in the meantime is with a contingent of guards heading down to find Jesus in the garden. The pre-arranged "signal" between Judas and the guards as to which person they are to arrest is that it will be the man who Judas kisses. They enter the garden, Judas goes to Jesus and kisses him, thereby betraying him. (
in the garden, I was playing the tart...I kissed your lips and broke your heart).
Jesus goes on trial and is condemned to death. Judas is paid his silver but is paralyzed with guilt by the realization of what he has done (
In my dreams I was drowing in sorrow, and my sorrows they learned to swim...waves of regret and waves of joy, I reached out for the one I tried to destroy.). He throws the silver and "hangs" himself. The translation is a bit vague in the Bible...he may have impaled himself on something or hung himself, but whatever he did, he committed suicide.
whew. That was long.
But hopefully that helps shed some light on it. The reason that the song is so interesting is that Bono takes the story and adds a bit more ambiguity to it. In the book ATEOTW Bono talks about he has always been fascinated by the character of Judas. Because without Judas, Jesus would not have been betrayed (at least at that time) and killed and without Jesus' death we wouldn't have salvation for the world. So in a way, Judas is a tragic figure, but one that is necessary to Christianity. The other question is...was Judas 'predestined' to carry this out...was it his fate? Was he forgiven in the end? I think Bono indicates his opinion in the lines
you said you'd wait till the end of the world.
Other bits and pieces on the song...it was inspired by Bono reading poetry by an Irish poet whom I forget the name of. Brendan Keneally or something like that. He had written some stuff about Judas that fascinated Bono. Also, you will note that Bono gives the story a bit of a homoerotic twist.
So there you go. Hope that helped shed some light on it.
You still should make an effort to read ATEOTW tho, cuz in addition to being the best U2 book around, it describes this in better detail than I just did, I think.
-sula