Betrayal Bought This Piece of Land

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In the Valley of Hinnom, you can find the Greek Orthodox monastery, that was built in 1892.

The monastery takes its name after a famous monk, Onuphrius, who resided in the Sinai Desert during the 4th century A.D.

What is so interesting about the St. Onuphrius Monastery is that was built in the center of a 2,000 year old cemetery that dates back to the time of the second Temple Mount and is widely believed to be the Hakeldama or Aceldama (which means ‘Field of Blood’ in Aramaic).  According to the New Testament, Judea Iscariot bought this piece of land with the money he received for handing Jesus over to the Romans.

As it says in Matthew 27 -
“Then Judas, who had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders…  And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful 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 has been called, The field of blood, to this day.”

St. Onuphrius Monastery in Hinnom Valley

Burial Cave from the Second Temple period - Hinnom Valley