Short answer: John 6:70–71 identifies Judas as the son of Simon Iscariot and as one of the twelve whom Jesus chose. That is the only parental detail the passage gives; it says nothing about Judas' mother, his birthplace, or how he was raised. The text's focus falls on betrayal rather than biography, since Jesus says that one of the chosen twelve is a devil. So the honest answer is that Scripture supplies his father's name and no further family detail.
A confession, a warning, and a traitor named
John places these two verses at the close of the bread of life discourse, after a long stretch of teaching that divided the crowd. People grumbled over Jesus' words about bread from heaven and flesh and blood, and many disciples turned back and stopped walking with him. Jesus then asked the twelve whether they also wanted to leave, and Peter answered for the group, confessing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. The scene is a moment of narrowing: the crowds recede, the twelve remain, and the conversation turns from public teaching to a private word about loyalty and betrayal.
The literary shape here is a short pronouncement followed by an explanation from the narrator. Jesus tells the twelve that he chose them, and that one of them is a devil. John then steps in with his own voice to identify the man: Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the twelve, who would betray him. This is a pattern John uses often, letting the reader see what the characters on the page cannot yet see. The disciples hear a riddle. We are told the answer. That gap between what they know and what we know shapes how the whole story reads.
Notice that Jesus' warning comes immediately after Peter's confession, not instead of it. The confession stands, and so does the warning. Being chosen and being close to Jesus does not by itself secure a person, and the text says this plainly without explaining how Judas came to this point. John gives no account of his family, his upbringing, or his motives, and the passage does not invite us to fill those gaps. The next chapter adds that Jesus stayed in Galilee because hostility in Judea threatened his life, so rejection and coming death already cast their shadow over this table.
One of you is a devil: what John 6:70-71 actually says
Jesus does not soften the moment. After Peter has spoken for the twelve, Jesus answers with a question that turns the light on the group itself: he chose the twelve, and one of them is a devil. The word is blunt, and John does not leave us guessing who it points to. He names Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, and adds that this was the one who would betray him. The verse gives no portrait of Judas's childhood or his reasons. It gives an identification and a warning, and John writes it knowing how the story ends.
The phrase that anchors Judas to a family is "the son of Simon Iscariot" (John 6:71). That is the only parental detail these verses supply. The name Iscariot is attached here to Simon, marking the family rather than explaining the man. Readers have long wondered what the name means or where the family came from, but John 6:70–71 does not say. What the text does say is that Judas belonged to a household and a people, and that he was counted among those Jesus had chosen.
The closing clause carries the weight John wants felt: "being one of the twelve" (John 6:71). The betrayer was not a stranger, a critic from outside, or a late addition. He was inside the circle, chosen and sent with the rest. Jesus says this before the betrayal, not after, so the disciples hear it while Judas is still standing among them. That is the uncomfortable center of the passage: closeness to Jesus and inclusion among his people do not by themselves secure a heart.
This is description, not a license. Jesus identifies one man in one moment; he does not hand his followers a formula for labeling people around them as devils. John tells us plainly that the words referred to Judas, and he tells us what Judas would do. The passage invites self-examination rather than accusation, since the warning lands first on those who are already inside. Grace comes first: Christ chose the twelve, washed their feet, and kept speaking truth to them even when one heart was already turning away.
What the text says about judas and his Father
The closing verses of John 6 name Judas plainly. John writes that Jesus spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, and adds that he was one of the twelve who would betray him (6:71). That is the whole of the family detail the passage gives. We learn a father's name, Simon Iscariot, and nothing about a mother, a hometown, or a childhood. The text attaches the family name to the betrayal, not to a biography. Anyone asking about Judas' parents should notice how little is here, and how deliberately the Gospel spends its words elsewhere.
The setting makes the naming sharper. Jesus has just fed the crowd and taught that he is the bread of life. Many who followed him grumble and turn back, and Jesus asks the twelve whether they also want to leave. Peter answers for the group, confessing that Jesus has the words of eternal life and that they have come to believe he is the Christ, the Son of the living God (6:68–69). Jesus does not praise Peter's confession. He answers with a warning: he chose the twelve, and one of them is a devil (6:70). The word identifies the betrayer, not a claim about the man's family line.
John then steps in as narrator to tell the reader what the disciples do not yet know: the one meant is Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the twelve (6:71). The next chapter shows Jesus staying in Galilee because Judea is hostile and his life is in danger (7:1–2). Rejection and coming death already press on the scene. So the passage answers the question narrowly and honestly. Scripture gives Judas a father's name, Simon Iscariot, and no more. What it stresses is that Jesus chose him, and that betrayal came from inside the circle, a warning to us rather than a verdict on anyone living.
Where readers disagree about judas and what the text leaves open
Jesus has just watched many disciples walk away, and he asks the twelve whether they also want to leave. Peter answers for them, and then Jesus says something that unsettles the moment: he chose the twelve, and one of them is a devil. John tells us plainly that Jesus meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, the one who would betray him. Careful readers differ over how much weight to put on that hard word. Some hear it as a description of Judas' character and the direction of his choices. Others hear language about the adversary at work through him. The text does not explain the term, so we should be slow to settle what John leaves open.
The family name raises a second question. Iscariot may point to a town, which would make Judas the outsider among Galileans, or it may mark a clan or family line. Scripture does not settle it, and readers who pick one answer should say they are inferring. What the text does give is his father's name, Simon Iscariot, and nothing more. Any fuller account of Judas' parents, his upbringing or his home is tradition or guesswork rather than the Bible. Naming that limit is not unbelief; it is letting the passage set the boundary of what we claim to know.
Evangelicals also disagree about how Jesus' choosing and Judas' guilt fit together. Some stress that Jesus chose him, so even the betrayer belonged to the circle by deliberate call. Others stress that being chosen never removed his responsibility for what he did. Both concerns are real in the text, and neither cancels the other. What stays central is that the betrayer was chosen, warned in advance, and held accountable, and that Jesus was not caught off guard by the failure of one of his own. That is a comfort for anyone who fears that a failure among his people takes him by surprise.
Jesus names the betrayer before the cross
The setting matters. Jesus has just heard Peter speak for the twelve, and then he answers with a question that cuts across their confidence: he chose all twelve, and one of them is a devil. John tells us plainly who he meant, Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the twelve, the one who would betray him. Nothing here is discovered later or pieced together after the fact. Jesus names the wound while it is still hidden. The Gospel keeps showing a Christ who is not surprised by the cross he is walking toward.
Notice where this saying sits. Peter has just confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, and in the same conversation Jesus speaks of a betrayer among the chosen. Faith and unbelief stand side by side in the same small circle. Judas was not an outsider who wandered in; he was chosen, included, sent. That is the sharp edge of the text. The dividing line among the twelve is not proximity to Jesus but trust in him, and one who stood closest would hand him over.
This is not an accident on the road to the cross. Jesus speaks of the betrayal beforehand, and he goes forward anyway. The Savior is handed over by a friend and still goes to the cross for his people. The text gives no window into Judas's family or his reasons, and it gives no license to call any living person a devil. What it gives is a Christ who knows the cost, names it, and does not turn back. That is the gospel held out here: a Savior who chooses, is betrayed, and still saves.
What judas teaches about being near Jesus
Jesus has just watched a crowd walk away. He turns to the twelve and asks whether they also want to leave, and Peter answers for them. Then Jesus adds a sober word: he chose the twelve, and one of them is a devil. John tells us plainly that he meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who would betray him though he was one of the twelve. The text gives no backstory about Judas' parents, no motive, no hidden family history. It gives one fact and one warning. Being chosen, included and near Jesus was not the same as belonging to him, and the warning is spoken to men still standing there.
That is where self-examination belongs. It is easy to read this verse and start sorting other people into categories, but Jesus says it to the twelve, and John says it to us. The question the passage presses is not who else might be a Judas but whether I am assuming that proximity is the same as possession. Sitting in a congregation, serving, being known by name, none of that guarantees a steady heart. Scripture does not promise that Christian community automatically keeps us. It promises that Christ receives those who come to him, and it calls us to keep coming, honestly, without presuming.
So the faithful response is quiet and ordinary. Watchfulness, not suspicion of others. Confession, not confidence in our own standing. When curiosity pushes us to fill in the details Scripture leaves blank, we can stop and notice that we were given enough for faithfulness, not everything we want to know. Judas' story ends in betrayal, and that is a warning, not a warrant to pronounce judgment on anyone living. Grace is the ground we stand on, and the one who holds us is the one Peter named, the Holy One of God, not our own grip.
Biblical fidelity check
Reading John 6:70–71 carefully means noticing what the verses do and do not say. Jesus names the wound plainly: Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil? (John 6:70). John then identifies the man and ties him to his father: the son of Simon Iscariot (John 6:71). The risk here is overreading. The text never explains the word devil, and it never identifies Judas' mother or family beyond Simon. Readers who supply a fuller family portrait are drawing on tradition, not this passage. The identifying phrase attaches Iscariot to Simon, not to an explanation of Judas.
Genuine disagreement remains. Some read devil as a description of Judas' character; others hear language about the adversary at work through him, and the verse does not settle it. Readers also differ on whether Iscariot names a town or a clan. Evangelicals likewise differ on how Jesus' choosing and Judas' accountability fit together. What stays central is that the betrayer was chosen, warned, and responsible, and that Jesus was not surprised. The closing clause, being one of the twelve (John 6:71), presses the point: the failure came from an insider, not a stranger.
Following the theme of John 6:70-71 through Scripture
For the wider setting, read the bread of life discourse that drove many disciples away in John 10: Jesus the Good Shepherd and Door, and Peter's confession just before this exchange in John 11: Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead. Then trace how John introduces Judas earlier in John 12: Love, Death, and Glory and how the betrayal unfolds in John 13: Jesus Washes Feet and Predicts Betrayal.
Frequently asked questions
In the Bible, who were Judas Iscariot's parents?
This passage identifies Judas as the son of Simon Iscariot, and it names no mother for him. John 6:71 says, “Now he spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for it was he who would betray him, being one of the twelve.” The verse comes right after Jesus says that one of the twelve is a devil, so the family detail serves to identify the betrayer among the chosen twelve. Scripture gives no further information here about Simon Iscariot himself.
What does the name Iscariot mean, and is it a reference to Judas' father?
John does not explain the name Iscariot, so the passage itself gives no meaning for it. What the text does say is that Judas is "the son of Simon Iscariot," which ties the name to his father rather than to a trait of Judas. John 6:71 identifies him this way while naming him as one of the twelve who would betray Jesus. Any suggested meaning for the word comes from outside this passage and should be held loosely.
Why did Jesus choose Judas, knowing he would betray him?
Jesus does not explain his reason here; he simply states that he chose all twelve, and that one of them is a devil, which John identifies as Judas, the one who would betray him. The passage gives no motive for the choice, only the fact of it, so the question is left open by the text itself. What it does make plain is that Jesus knew from the start who would betray him and still chose him. That knowledge did not excuse the betrayal, and it did not remove Judas from the twelve.
