Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Barabbas
Subjects in this Topic:
BARABBAS (Mat_27:15-23 = Mar_15:6-14 = Luk_23:18-23 = Joh_18:39-40).—A brigand, probably one of those who infested the Ascent of Blood (wh. see). He had taken part in one of the insurrections so frequent during the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate; and, having been caught red-handed, was awaiting sentence when Jesus was arraigned. It was customary for the procurator, by way of gratifying the Jews, to release a prisoner at the Passover season, letting the people choose whom they would; and Pilate, reluctant to condemn an innocent man, yet afraid to withstand the clamour of the rulers, saw here a way to save Jesus. His artifice would probably have succeeded had not the malignant priests and elders incited the people to choose Barabbas.
Barabbas, like Bartholomew and Bartimœus, is a patronymic, possibly = ‘the son of the father’ (i.e. the Rabbi). According to an ancient reading of Mat_27:17, the brigand’s name was Jesus. If so, there is a dramatic adroitness in Pilate’s presentation of the alternative to the multitude: ‘Which of the two do ye wish me to release to you—Jesus the bar-Abba or Jesus that is called Messiah?’
David Smith.