betray with a kiss

English

Etymology

The term comes from the Gospel of Luke chapter 22, verse 48 of the New Testament:

47 While He was still speaking, a crowd arrived, led by the man called Judas, one of the Twelve. He approached Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “What are the original languages' entries of this verse the English derived from?”)

Verb

betray with a kiss (third-person singular simple present betrays with a kiss, present participle betraying with a kiss, simple past and past participle betrayed with a kiss)

  1. (biblical, set phrase) Of Judas, to kiss Jesus so as to discreetly signal to Roman soldiers that Jesus was the Christ, and as such was the one to be arrested.
  2. (idiomatic) To betray someone in a seemingly inconspicuous or innocuous manner.
    Hypernym: betray

Further reading

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