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{{Short description|Figure mentioned in the New Testament}}
{{About|the biblical figure Barabbas}}
{{confusion|Barnabas|Barrabas (disambiguation){{!}}Barrabas}}
{{Infobox person
| image              = Barabbas (James Tissot).jpg
| caption            = Painting by [[James Tissot]], {{abbr|btwn|between}} 1886{{ndash}}1894
| occupation         = Bandit
| known_for          = Pardoned by [[Pontius Pilate]] instead of Jesus
}}
According to the [[New Testament]], '''Barabbas'''{{Efn|{{IPAc-en|b|ə|ˈ|r|æ|b|ə|s}}; {{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Bαραββᾶς|translit=Barabbās}}<ref name="britannica.com" />}} ({{Floruit|1st cent.}}) was a Jewish bandit and rabble-rouser who was imprisoned by the [[Judaea (Roman province)|Roman occupation]] in [[Jerusalem]], only to be chosen over [[Jesus]] by a crowd to be pardoned by Roman governor [[Pontius Pilate]] at the [[Passover]] feast.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Barabbas {{!}} Facts & Significance {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Barabbas-biblical-figure |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Biblical account==
{{Primary sources|section|date=April 2023}}
According to all four [[Gospels#Canonical gospels|canonical gospels]], there was a prevailing Passover custom in Jerusalem that allowed [[Pontius Pilate]], the ''{{lang|la|[[praefectus]]}}'' or governor of [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]], to commute one prisoner's death sentence by popular acclaim. In one such instance, the "crowd" (''ὄχλος : óchlos''), "the [[Jews]]" and "the multitude" in some sources, are offered the choice to have either Barabbas or Jesus released from Roman custody. According to the [[Synoptic Gospels]] of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]],{{sfn|Evans|2012|pp=452ff}} [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|15:6–15|TNIV}}</ref> and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke |23:13–25|TNIV}}</ref> and the account in [[Gospel of John|John]],<ref>{{bibleverse|John| 18:38–19:16|TNIV}}</ref> the crowd chooses Barabbas to be released and Jesus of Nazareth to be crucified.<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|15:6–15|TNIV}}</ref> Pilate reluctantly yields to the insistence of the crowd. One passage, found in the Gospel of Matthew, has the crowd saying (of Jesus), [[Blood curse|"Let his blood be upon us and upon our children."]]<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew| 27:25}}</ref>

Matthew refers to Barabbas only as a "notorious prisoner".<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|27:16}}</ref> 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"<ref name="CambComm" /> who had committed murder.<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark| 15:7}}, {{bibleverse| Luke |23:19}}</ref> Robert Eisenman states that John 18:40 refers to Barabbas as a λῃστής (''lēistēs'', "bandit"), "the word [[Josephus]] always employs when talking about Revolutionaries".{{efn| name=Eisenman}}

Three [[gospels]] state that there was a custom that at [[Passover]] the Roman governor would release a prisoner of the crowd's choice; {{bibleref2|Mark|15:6}}, {{bibleref2|Matthew|27:15}}, and {{bibleref2|John|18:39}}. Later copies of Luke contain a corresponding verse ({{bibleref2|Luke|23:17}}), although this is not present in the earliest manuscripts, and may be a later [[Biblical gloss#Glosses as textual additions|gloss]] to bring Luke into conformity.{{sfn|Brown |1994| pp= 793–795}}

The custom of releasing prisoners in Jerusalem at Passover is known to theologians as the ''Paschal Pardon'',{{sfn|Merritt|1985|pp=57–68}} 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 its [[historicity]] and make further claims that such a custom was a mere narrative invention of the Bible's writers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bc.edu/schools/stm/c21online/resources/deathofjesus.html|title=The Death of Jesus: Four Gospel Accounts|publisher=Center for Christian–Jewish Learning at Boston College|author=Cunningham, Paul A.|access-date=2012-03-25|archive-date=2012-11-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105045343/http://www.bc.edu/schools/stm/c21online/resources/deathofjesus.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|Ehrman|2016|p=}}

==Name==
[[Image:GiveUsBarabbas.png|thumb|Barabbas, according to a representation in ''The Bible and Its Story Taught by One Thousand Picture Lessons'', from 1910]]
There exist several versions of this figure's name in [[Biblical manuscript|gospel manuscripts]], most commonly simply {{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Bαραββᾶς|translit=Barabbās}} without a first name. However the variations ({{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Ἰησοῦς Bαῤῥαββᾶν|translit=Iēsoûs Bar-rhabbân}}, {{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Ἰησοῦς Bαραββᾶς|translit=Iēsoûs Barabbâs}}, {{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Ἰησοῦς Bαῤῥαββᾶς|translit=Iēsoûs Bar-rhabbâs}}) found in different manuscripts of the [[Matthew 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 as [[Jesus]].{{Efn|This version of the name in Greek can be found the [[Codex Koridethi]], some minuscules of [[Family 1]] manuscripts, and in [[Minuscule 700]] – translations of this version name also exist in [[Syriac language|Syriac]] and [[Armenian language|Armenian]] sources, such as the Codex Syrus Sinaiticus, the [[Harklean version]], and in the Bible used by the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]]. The Codex Koridethi spells the name {{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Ἰησοῦς Bαῤῥαββᾶν|translit=Iēsoûs Bar-rhabbân}} with an emphazied gap between the two [[Rho]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paul |first=Winter |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/979784188 |title=On the Trial of Jesus |year=1961 |isbn=978-3-11-082540-4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter |pages=94–95 |oclc=979784188}}</ref>}} 

The [[Codex Koridethi]] seems to emphasise Bar-rhabban as composed of two elements in line with a [[Patronymic|patronymic Aramaic name]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Paul |first=Winter |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/979784188 |title=On the Trial of Jesus |year=1961 |isbn=978-3-11-082540-4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter |pages=94–97 |oclc=979784188}}</ref>{{sfn|Evans|2012|p=453}} These versions, featuring the first name "Jesus" are considered original by a number of modern scholars.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lagrange |first=Marie-Joseph |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6543845s/f718.item.texteImage# |title=ÉVANGILE SELON SAINT MATTHIEU |publisher=V. Lecoffre |year=1923 |location=Paris |pages=520 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dahl |first=N. A. |date=September 1955 |title=Die Passionsgeschichte bei Mattheus |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0028688500017185 |journal=New Testament Studies |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=23 |doi=10.1017/s0028688500017185 |s2cid=170230969 |issn=0028-6885|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 

[[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.<ref>Origen, ''Commentary on Matthew'', Chapter 27, paragraph 17</ref> He however does not account for the high priest [[Jason (high priest)|Jason]] ({{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Ἰάσων|translit=Iásōn}}) from [[2 Maccabees]] 4:13, whose name seems to transliterate the same Aramaic name into Greek, as well as other bearers of the name Jesus mentioned by [[Josephus]].<ref name=":0" /> 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 the [[Messiah]].{{sfn|Warren|2011|p=118}}

=== Etymology ===
Of the two larger categories in which transmitted versions of this name fall {{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Bαῤῥαββᾶν|translit=Bar-rhabbân}}, seems to represent [[Jewish Palestinian Aramaic]]: בּר רַבָּן, <small>romanized:</small> ''Bar Rabbān'', <small>[[Literal translation|lit.]]</small> 'Son of our [[Rabbi#Etymology and pronunciation|Rabbi]]/Master', while {{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Bαραββᾶς|translit=Barabbâs}} appears to derive ultimately from [[Jewish Palestinian Aramaic]]: בּר אַבָּא, <small>romanized:</small> ''Bar ʾAbbā <small>[[Literal translation|lit.]]</small> 'Son of ʾAbbā/[the] father''', a [[Patronymic|patronymic Aramaic name]].<ref name=":0" /> However, ''ʾAbbā'' has been found as a personal name in a 1st-century burial at [[Giv'at ha-Mivtar]]. Additionally it appears fairly often as a personal name in the [[Gemara]] section of the [[Talmud]], a Jewish text dating from AD 200–400.{{sfn|Brown|1994|pp=799–800}}

==Historicity==
The majority of scholars such as [[Craig A. Evans]] and [[N. T. Wright]] accept of the historicity of the Passover pardon narrative, quoting evidence of such pardons from [[Livy]]'s ''[[Ab urbe condita (Livy)|Books from the Foundation of the City]]'', [[Josephus]]'s ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'', Papyrus Florence, [[Pliny the Younger]]'s ''[[Epistulae (Pliny)|Epistles]]'' and the [[Mishnah]].{{sfn|Evans|Wright|2009|p=21}}

The similarities of the name ({{Langx|grc-x-biblical|Ἰησοῦς Bαραββᾶς|translit=Iēsoûs Barabbâs}}) in some manuscripts and the name of [[Jesus]] 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.<ref name="britannica.com"/>{{sfn|Warren|2011|p=118}}

Contrarian beliefs include [[Max Dimont]]'s opinion the story of Barabbas as related in the Gospels lacks credibility from both the Roman and Jewish standpoint.{{sfn|Dimont|1999|p=}}  Dimont argues against the believability of the Barabbas story by noting that the alleged custom of {{lang|la|privilegium Paschale}}, "the privilege of [[Passover]]", 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.{{sfn|Brown|2008|pp=815–820}} 

[[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.{{sfn|Ehrman}}

Another minority of scholars, including [[Benjamin Urrutia]], [[Stevan Davies]], [[Hyam Maccoby]] and Horace Abram Rigg, have contended that Barabbas and Jesus were the same person.{{sfn|Rigg|1945|pp=417–456}}{{sfn|Maccoby|1969|pp=55–60}}{{sfn|Davies|1981|pp=260–262}}{{sfn|Maccoby|1973|p=}}

==Antisemitism==
{{See also|Blood curse}}
The story of Barabbas has played a role in historical [[antisemitism]], because it has historically been used to lay the blame for the [[crucifixion of Jesus]] on the Jews, and thereby to justify antisemitism – an interpretation known as ''[[Jewish deicide]]''.{{sfn|Pope Benedict XVI|2011}}{{sfn|Reynolds|2011}}

Pope [[Benedict XVI]], in his 2011 book ''[[Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week|Jesus of Nazareth]]'', dismisses this reading, since the Greek word ὄχλος (óchlos) in {{bibleverse|Mark|15:6–15|TNIV}} means "crowd", rather than "[[Jewish people]]".{{sfn|Pope Benedict XVI|2011}}{{sfn|Reynolds|2011}}

==In literature==

[[Samuel Crossman]]'s English hymn "[[My Song Is Love Unknown]]" (published 1684)<ref name=umc>{{cite web |url=https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-my-song-is-love-unknown |title=History of Hymns: 'My Song Is Love Unknown' |publisher=[[United Methodist Church]] |access-date=2019-04-04}}</ref> contains this verse alluding anonymously to Barabbas as "a murderer"

:They rise, and needs will have
:my dear Lord made away;
:a murderer they save,
:the Prince of Life they slay.
:Yet cheerful He
:to suffering goes,
:that He His foes
:from thence might free.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hymnary.org/hymn/CP1998/184 |title=My Song Is Love Unknown |website=Hymnary.org |access-date=2019-04-04}}</ref>

Barabbas is the main character in the novel ''[[Barabbas (novel)|Barabbas]]'' (1950) by [[Pär Lagerkvist]].

== See also ==
* [[Biblical criticism]]
* [[Historicity of Jesus]]
* [[Textual criticism]]

== References ==
===Notes===
{{notelist|refs=
{{efn| name=Eisenman|Contemporaries combining insurrection and murder in this way were ''[[sicarii]]'', members of a militant Jewish movement that sought to overthrow the Roman occupiers of their land by force (Eisenman 177–84, ''et passim'').}}
}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Barabbas-biblical-figure|title=Barabbas : Facts & Significance|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-11-11}}</ref>

<ref name=CambComm>{{Cite web|url=http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/mark/15.htm |work=Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges |title=Mark 15|access-date=11 December 2017}}</ref>

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===Sources===
{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}
*{{cite book|author=Pope Benedict XVI|authorlink=Pope Benedict XVI|title=Jesus of Nazareth: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem to the Resurrection. Holy week. Part two|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbzkRUa2j18C|year=2011|publisher=Ignatius Press|isbn=978-1-58617-500-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Brown|first= Raymond E. |date=1994|title=The Death of the Messiah|volume= 1|location= New York|publisher= Doubleday}}
*{{Cite book|last=Brown|first=Raymond E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-oNIgAACAAJ|title=The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave : a Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-14009-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Bulgakov|first=Mikhail |authorlink=Mikhail Bulgakov|title=The Master and Margarita|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZYfDAAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Grove Atlantic|isbn=978-0-8021-9051-2}}
*{{cite journal|last=Davies|first=Stevan L.|year=1981|title=Who is called Bar Abbas?|journal=[[New Testament Studies]]|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/new-testament-studies/article/who-is-called-bar-abbas/49943C87620DA8ACB23C745CD7FBC856|volume=27|issue=2|pages=260–262|doi=10.1017/S0028688500006202|s2cid=170332233 |url-access=subscription}}
*{{cite book|last=Dimont|first=Max I. |title=Appointment in Jerusalem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vTSswEACAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Open Road|isbn=978-1-58586-546-8}}
*{{Cite book|last=Ehrman|first=Bart|title=Jesus Before the Gospels|publisher=HarperOne|year=2016}}
*{{Cite news|last=Ehrman|first=Bart|title=Pilate Released Barabbas. Really??|url=https://ehrmanblog.org/pilate-released-barabbas-really/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328133507/https://ehrmanblog.org/pilate-released-barabbas-really/|archive-date=2019-03-28}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Evans|first1=Craig A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q12p2RgwWUYC&q=pilate|title=Jesus, the Final Days: What Really Happened|last2=Wright|first2=Nicholas Thomas|date=2009|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-23359-4}}
*{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Craig A.|title=Matthew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lbo3BB8l1hEC&pg=PA452|date=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521812146|series=New Cambridge Bible Commentary}}
*{{cite book|last=Hebron|first=Carol A. |title=Judas Iscariot: Damned or Redeemed: A Critical Examination of the Portrayal of Judas in Jesus Films (1902-2014)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F4TNDAAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-0-567-66831-8}}
*{{cite news|last=Holland|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Holland (author)|title=The Liars' Gospel by Naomi Alderman – review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/06/liars-gospel-naomi-alderman-review|access-date=27 May 2014|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=6 September 2012}}
*{{cite journal|last=Maccoby|first= H. Z.|year=1969|title=Jesus and Barabbas|journal=[[New Testament Studies]]|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/new-testament-studies/article/jesus-and-barabbas/431BEAC3C161E7634DEDE1EBB51A76F6|volume=16|issue=1|pages=55–60|doi=10.1017/S0028688500019378|s2cid= 170255986|url-access=subscription}}
*{{cite book|first=Hyam |last=Maccoby|date=1973|title=Revolution in Judaea|location= New York|publisher= Taplinger }}
*{{cite journal|first=Robert L. |last=Merritt|title=Jesus (the nazarene) Barabbas and the Paschal Pardon|journal= Journal of Biblical Literature |volume= 104|issue= 1 |date=March 1985|pages=57–68|doi=10.2307/3260593|jstor=3260593}}
*{{cite book|last=Oursler|first=Fulton |authorlink=Fulton Oursler|title=The Greatest Story Ever Told|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7_0vgEACAAJ|year=1957|publisher=World's Work}}
*{{Cite web |title=Pope Benedict XVI Points Fingers on Who Killed Jesus |last=Reynolds |first=Matt |work=ChristianityToday.com |date=2 March 2011 |access-date=1 July 2021 |url= https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/marchweb-only/popepointsfinger.html?ctlredirect=true |url-access=subscription}}
*{{cite journal|last=Rigg|first= Horace Abram|year=1945|title=Barabbas |journal=[[Journal of Biblical Literature]]|volume=64|issue=4|pages=417–456|doi=10.2307/3262275|jstor=3262275}}
*{{cite book|last=Urrutia|first= Benjamin|chapter=Pilgrimage|title=The Peaceable Table|date=October 2008}}
*{{cite book|last=Van Hooydonck|first=Peter |title=Willy Vandersteen: De Bruegel van het beeldverhaal : biografie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UvW7zQEACAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Standaard|isbn=9789002195464 }}
*{{cite book|last=Warren|first=William|editor=Bart D. Ehrman|editor2=Daniel B. Wallace|editor3=Robert B. Stewart|title=The Reliability of the New Testament|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AFOengEACAAJ|year=2011|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-0-8006-9773-0|chapter=Who Changed the Text and Why? Probable, Possible, and Unlikely Explanations}}

{{refend}}

{{New Testament people}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Barabbas| ]]
[[Category:People in the canonical gospels]]
[[Category:Pontius Pilate]]
[[Category:Gospel of Mark]]
[[Category:Gospel of Matthew]]
[[Category:Gospel of Luke]]
[[Category:Gospel of John]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Biblical murderers]]