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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 27:15 - 27:18
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_27:15-18
15Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" 18For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over.
Mat_27:15 "the feast" This refers to the Passover, one of the three annual feasts which all Jewish males above the age of twenty were required to attend (cf. Leviticus 23).
▣ "the governor was accustomed" There is no historical corroboration for this except Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 20.9.3.
Mat_27:16-17 "Barabbas" Some later translations have " Jesus Barabbas," but this is not as much a textual option as a tradition. A good discussion is in Bruce Metzger's A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, pp. 67-68, from United Bible Societies. "Barabbas" meant son of a father or rabbi. He was truly guilty of the treasonous charge of which Jesus was accused.
Mat_27:18 "For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over" Pilate tried several ways to release Jesus because of his contempt for the Jewish leaders and their manipulative practices.