What does Matthew 27:4 mean?

Matthew's gospel is the only one to reveal that Judas came to regret betraying Jesus to the chief priests and elders. Luke also takes note of Judas' eventual suicide in his second volume (Acts 1:16–20). Once Judas understood that Jesus had been condemned to death, he was devastated. It's not known what Judas expected to happen. For whatever reason, he either did not expect that Jesus would be killed, or he finally scrapes up enough of a conscience to see his error.

Judas has returned to the Jewish religious leaders who gave him the thirty pieces of silver to turn Jesus over to them (Matthew 26:14–16). He wants to give the money back, seeming to wish he could reverse what he has done. He confesses to them openly that he was wrong, and that Jesus is innocent. In a courtroom setting, Judas would have been condemned to death for this (Deuteronomy 19:18–19). Now, far too late, he tried to convince those who could do something about it.

The religious leaders Judas meets with, however, are not interested in his confession. Their response can be taken in more than one way. In Greek, expressions such as "what does this have to do with me?" implied the speaker had no reason to be involved (John 2:4). Now that the deed is done, Jesus' enemies might have been pretending that it never happened. If Jesus' innocence is clear, their payment to Judas could be seen as a bribe (Exodus 23:8). If they acknowledge that Judas worked under their orders, it will stir suspicion. While that seems unlikely, these men would have every reason to want Judas to take his guilty conscience elsewhere.

The other possibility is that their response is coldly literal: "oh, well, that's not our problem." They may simply be telling Judas to "deal with it."

Bible teachers disagree about the extent of Judas' repentance. He clearly feels remorse and confesses he is guilty of genuine sin. On the other hand, he does not express belief that Jesus is the Messiah or that he was wrong to abandon his master and the rest of the twelve. Mostly, he seems shocked and surprised by what has come from his actions. Only the degree of punishment Jesus suffers appears to be Judas' motivation for a change of heart. The only clear point is that whatever remorse Judas experienced was not enough to lead him to genuine faith in Christ (Matthew 26:24; Mark 14:21).