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Reminds me of the Rabbi's question of Jesus, when they asked, "Which of God's commands is the greatest?"

Men wander into trouble by reading scripture too quickly or superficially or out of context with the rest of the Bible.

In Matthew 27:5, the scripture says of Judas, “and he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.”

Acts 1:18-19 records the same event in a different manner, “Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem, insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.”

Which of these is correct? Did Judas Iscariot hang himself, or did he die as a result of a fall? Through careful consideration of Scripture (Isaiah 28:10), one might see that both accounts could be correct.

It's reasonable to read the account in Acts as an abbreviated review, attributing the action of buying the field to Judas because he was the one paid for treason. The priests were his agents, in a sense. So "Judas" bought the land with his blood money - his agents handled the transaction for him.

Judas hanged himself. And he fell headlong into the Field of Blood, gushing his guts out. These do not contradict one another if you keep in mind great earthquake that took place at the time Christ Jesus sealed the New Covenant (Matthew 27:51-52). Judas is hanging from a tree when this earthquake shakes the countryside. His tree collapses, perhaps his rope breaks, and he falls - along with the tree? - and bursts open, having been hanging out in the hot sun for a while (he hanged himself "early in the morning" and Christ died around 3 PM).

Man cannot understand all that God has spoken but, by His Spirit, we can understand a great deal of it if we approach the Word of God with humility.