Barabbas | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Painting byJames Tissot,btwn 1886–1894 | |
| Occupation | Bandit |
| Known for | Pardoned byPontius Pilate instead ofJesus |
According to theNew Testament,Barabbas[a] (fl. 1st cent.) was a Jewish bandit and rabble-rouser who was imprisoned by theRoman occupation inJerusalem, only to be chosen overJesus by a crowd to be pardoned by Roman governorPontius Pilate at thePassover feast.[2]
According to all fourcanonical gospels, there was a prevailing Passover custom in Jerusalem that allowedPontius Pilate, thepraefectus or governor ofJudea, to commute one prisoner's death sentence by popular acclaim. In one such instance, the "crowd" (ὄχλος : óchlos), "theJews" and "the multitude" in some sources, are offered the choice to have either Barabbas or Jesus released from Roman custody. According to theSynoptic Gospels ofMatthew,[3]Mark,[4] andLuke,[5] and the account inJohn,[6] the crowd chooses Barabbas to be released and Jesus of Nazareth to be crucified.[7] Pilate reluctantly yields to the insistence of the crowd. One passage, found in the Gospel of Matthew, has the crowd saying (of Jesus),"Let his blood be upon us and upon our children."[8]
Matthew refers to Barabbas only as a "notorious prisoner".[9] Mark and Luke further refer to Barabbas as one involved in a στάσις (stásis, a riot), probably "one of the numerous insurrections against the Roman power"[10] who had committed murder.[11] Robert Eisenman states that John 18:40 refers to Barabbas as a λῃστής (lēistēs, "bandit"), "the wordJosephus always employs when talking about Revolutionaries".[b]
Threegospels state that there was a custom that atPassover the Roman governor would release a prisoner of the crowd's choice;Mark 15:6,Matthew 27:15, andJohn 18:39. Later copies of Luke contain a corresponding verse (Luke 23:17), although this is not present in the earliest manuscripts, and may be a latergloss to bring Luke into conformity.[12]
The custom of releasing prisoners in Jerusalem at Passover is known to theologians as thePaschal Pardon,[13] but this custom, whether at Passover or any other time, is not recorded in any historical document other than the gospels, leading some to question itshistoricity and make further claims that such a custom was a mere narrative invention of the Bible's writers.[14][15]
There exist several versions of this figure's name ingospel manuscripts, most commonly simplyBiblical Greek:Bαραββᾶς,romanized: Barabbās without a first name. However the variations (Biblical Greek:Ἰησοῦς Bαῤῥαββᾶν,romanized: Iēsoûs Bar-rhabbân,Biblical Greek:Ἰησοῦς Bαραββᾶς,romanized: Iēsoûs Barabbâs,Biblical Greek:Ἰησοῦς Bαῤῥαββᾶς,romanized: Iēsoûs Bar-rhabbâs) found in different manuscripts of theMatthew 27:16–17 give this figure the first name "Jesus", making his full name "Jesus Barabbas" or "Jesus Bar-rhabban", and giving him the same first, given name asJesus.[c]
TheCodex Koridethi seems to emphasise Bar-rhabban as composed of two elements in line with apatronymic Aramaic name.[17][18] These versions, featuring the first name "Jesus" are considered original by a number of modern scholars.[19][20]
Origen seems to refer to this passage of Matthew in claiming that it must be a corruption, as no sinful man ever bore the name "Jesus" and argues for its exclusion from the text.[21] He however does not account for the high priestJason (Biblical Greek:Ἰάσων,romanized: Iásōn) from2 Maccabees 4:13, whose name seems to transliterate the same Aramaic name into Greek, as well as other bearers of the name Jesus mentioned byJosephus.[17] It is possible that scribes when copying the passage, driven by a reasoning similar to that of Origen, removed this first name "Jesus" from the text to avoid dishonor to the name of the Jesus whom they considered theMessiah.[22]
Of the two larger categories in which transmitted versions of this name fallBiblical Greek:Bαῤῥαββᾶν,romanized: Bar-rhabbân, seems to representJewish Palestinian Aramaic: בּר רַבָּן,romanized:Bar Rabbān,lit. 'Son of ourRabbi/Master', whileBiblical Greek:Bαραββᾶς,romanized: Barabbâs appears to derive ultimately fromJewish Palestinian Aramaic: בּר אַבָּא,romanized:Bar ʾAbbālit. 'Son of ʾAbbā/[the] father', apatronymic Aramaic name.[17] However,ʾAbbā has been found as a personal name in a 1st-century burial atGiv'at ha-Mivtar. Additionally it appears fairly often as a personal name in theGemara section of theTalmud, a Jewish text dating from AD 200–400.[23]
The majority of scholars such asCraig A. Evans andN. T. Wright accept of the historicity of the Passover pardon narrative, quoting evidence of such pardons fromLivy'sBooks from the Foundation of the City,Josephus'sAntiquities of the Jews, Papyrus Florence,Pliny the Younger'sEpistles and theMishnah.[24]
The similarities of the name (Biblical Greek:Ἰησοῦς Bαραββᾶς,romanized: Iēsoûs Barabbâs) in some manuscripts and the name ofJesus have led some modern scholars to argue that the counter-intuitive similarity of the two men's names is evidence of its historicity. They doubt a Christian writer would invent a similar name for a criminal, practically equating Christ with a criminal, if he were fictionalizing the story for a polemical or theological purpose.[1][22]
Contrarian beliefs includeMax Dimont's opinion the story of Barabbas as related in the Gospels lacks credibility from both the Roman and Jewish standpoint.[25] Dimont argues against the believability of the Barabbas story by noting that the alleged custom ofprivilegium Paschale, "the privilege ofPassover", where a criminal is set free, is only found in the Gospels. Alternatively,Raymond E. Brown argues that the Gospels' narratives about Barabbas cannot be considered historical, but that it is probable that a prisoner referred to as Barabbas (bar abba, "son of the father") was freed around the period Jesus was crucified, and this gave birth to the story.[26]
Bart D. Ehrman notes the story is not in Pontius Pilate's character and comments that the name Barabbas "son of the father" is interestingly similar to Jesus's role as the son of God.[27]
Another minority of scholars, includingBenjamin Urrutia,Stevan Davies,Hyam Maccoby and Horace Abram Rigg, have contended that Barabbas and Jesus were the same person.[28][29][30][31]
Robert L. Merritt,Raymond E. Brown,Pope Benedict XVI, andHyam Maccoby describe or register readings that compare the Barabbas pericope with theDay of Atonement rite inLeviticus 16, sometimes as deliberate narrativetypology and sometimes as thematic echo.[13][32][33][29]Origen already noted the force of the variant name "Jesus Barabbas," which sharpens a two figure juxtaposition inMatthew and which later scribes may have muted.[34]
| Leviticus 16 (Day of Atonement) | Gospel Narrative |
|---|---|
| Two goats are set before the community, lots distinguish the goat for the Lord from the goat forAzazel, and the people witness the assignmentLeviticus 16:7–10 | Two prisoners are set before the crowd, Jesus of Nazareth and Barabbas, and the people determine the outcome by acclamation rather than by lotsMatthew 27:15–21Mark 15:6–11Luke 23:18–19John 18:39–40 |
| The goat for the Lord is killed as the sin offeringLeviticus 16:15 | Gospel Jesus is condemned and executed, which early Christian texts interpret as a once for all sacrificial offering that fulfills and supersedes temple sacrificeHebrews 9:11–14Hebrews 10:1–14 |
| The scapegoat bears the iniquities of the community and is sent out alive to the wildernessLeviticus 16:20–22 | Barabbas the ληιστης is released alive back into the social body, which typological readers construe as the bearer of communal transgression displaced from the innocent oneJohn 18:40[23] |
| The priestly rite involves confession over the scapegoat | The crowd's shouted choice and the Matthean cry "Let his blood be on us and on our children" function as the narrative moment of transfer in the typology, though Brown and others caution that the legal setting and absence of lots mark a transformation rather than replicationMatthew 27:25[32][13] |
On this reading the retelling encodes faith development from Judaism to Christianity. The cultic system of atonement is recast into a judicial narrative in which Jesus replaces the sin offering, temple sacrifice becomes Christological once for all atonement, and the released figure carries the narrative role of the living scapegoat into the world rather than into the sanctuary precincts.[32] Merritt argues that the Barabbas option at Passover functions as a civic ritual that could be read by early Christians in light of Yom Kippur patterns, while Benedict XVI acknowledges the connection yet restricts its scope to typology rather than direct dependence.[13][33] Maccoby underscores the naming and insurgent context, which increases the rhetorical contrast between the one killed and the one released, and so strengthens the two goat frame.[29]
The story of Barabbas has played a role in historicalantisemitism, because it has historically been used to lay the blame for thecrucifixion of Jesus on the Jews, and thereby to justify antisemitism – an interpretation known asJewish deicide.[33][35]
PopeBenedict XVI, in his 2011 bookJesus of Nazareth, dismisses this reading, since the Greek word ὄχλος (óchlos) inMark 15:6–15 means "crowd", rather than "Jewish people".[33][35]
Barabbas appears inMikhail Bulgakov'sThe Master and Margarita (1967), rendered as Bar-Rabban, a rebel insurgent. In Chapter 2, "Pontius Pilate," the devil Woland recounts Yeshua Ha-Nozri's trial to Soviet atheists in 1930s Moscow. Amid Passover tumult, the crowd demands Bar-Rabban's release over Yeshua's, dooming the latter to crucifixion with thieves. This episode mirrors biblical events while amplifying Bulgakov's motifs of arbitrary authority, crowd frenzy, and Pilate's gnawing remorse, echoed later as the procurator's eternal curse, weaving ancient injustice into the novel's satire on Soviet repression.[36]
Samuel Crossman's English hymn "My Song Is Love Unknown" (published 1684)[37] contains this verse alluding anonymously to Barabbas as "a murderer"
Barabbas is the main character in the novelBarabbas (1950) byPär Lagerkvist.
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