When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.’ They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, ‘Surely, not I?’ He said to them, ‘It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’ (Mark 4: 17-21)

Matthew duplicates this scene. Luke does not deal specifically with Judas at the Passover meal. John offers a much more ambiguous account.

The issue is betrayal. The Greek translated above as betray is paradidomi. In other translations it is rendered as "turned in" or "given up."

Didomi is to give, grant, furnish, commit, or reward. The meaning of the preposition para depends on context. It suggests from, by, besides or near.

In the New Testament paradidomi almost always suggests some sort of betrayal. But there are exceptions. In John 19:30 we read, "Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up (paradidomi) His spirit."

In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul writes, "No I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered (paradidomi) them to you."

Paradidomi involves giving something to another. The critical issue of context is a matter of relationship. Jesus gives up his spirit to One with whom he is already in relationship. Paul delivers the traditions as a step in establishing a relationship between the Corinthians and many others already engaging the traditions.

Betrayal is when we give away that which is not within our power to unilaterally deliver. If we give away as a means to step out of relationship, we are engaged in betrayal. We can also give away as a means of deepening the relationship.