Pilate and Barabbas

[nightflight]

In the Gospel accounts, Pilate releases Barabbas, a man said to have been a thief and an insurrectionist. It was a custome, the Gospels explain for the Roman governor to release someone from imprisonment at Passover.

Is any of this remotely true? Would Pontius Pilate really release a man who had been involved in a political uprising? And is there any corroboration for this custom outside of the New Testament?

 

[Steve Petersen]

Here is an interesting take on the episode:

http://www.bc.edu/schools/stm/cross...heromanprefect/historical_reconstruction.html

 

[Chesterton]

Does it actually say he was an insurrectionist, or had been involved in a political uprising? It mentions rioting, but as we know riots can happen for non-political reasons.

 

[Chesterton]

Anyway, there seems to be the two issues: one of whether the custom existed, and the other being whether he was an insurrectionist and whether they'd release someone like that.

Customs can vary from place to place, and they can come and go and change very quickly. I can think of half a dozen off the top of my head approximately in my lifetime. In the modern world a custom like that would be much less likely to be associated with a single person (like Pilate) since we practice the rule of law to an extent that they didn't then. But it certainly could be associated with a given region within an empire, and we see that today as with different laws and customs among American states. And of course information traveled slower in those days, so what went on at a given time and place for a limited time may not necessarily be known by people elsewhere (perhaps even Origen).

According to Wiki it seems the idea of Barabas being an insurrectionist comes not from the New Testament but from Josephus, because he used a word ("bandits") that he also used to refer to revolutionaries. Even if he was a revolutionary, I don't think it's at all incredible that Rome would consider releasing one. Israel sometimes releases prisoners who are avowed enemies, and America does the same thing with Guantanamo prisoners. I've even heard China once in blue moon releases a political prisoner for some reason, so it's not anything unimaginable.

 

[nightflight]

Good replies. I thought that Barabbas had committed murder or led the insurrection, but I read that he was just among them.
http://biblehub.com/mark/15-7.htm

 

[Steve Petersen]

Curiously, Bar Abbas means 'son of the father.'

 

[bling]

Pilate really wanted to let Jesus go (he did not like to be forced into doing what the Jews wanted him to do). Pilate would thus pick the worst person he could find that the people would not want back to make them chose Jesus.

 

[Chesterton]

Good replies. I thought that Barabbas had committed murder or led the insurrection, but I read that he was just among them.
http://biblehub.com/mark/15-7.htm

Yeah it could be he just hung out with them. Obama hung out with insurrectionist/terrorist Bill Ayers, and there are some people who think Obama doesn't even hate America.

 

[ChetSinger]

In the Gospel accounts, Pilate releases Barabbas, a man said to have been a thief and an insurrectionist. It was a custome, the Gospels explain for the Roman governor to release someone from imprisonment at Passover.

Is any of this remotely true? Would Pontius Pilate really release a man who had been involved in a political uprising? And is there any corroboration for this custom outside of the New Testament?

Here's a link that describes Jesus' trial, with a small section regarding the Barabbas story.

http://www.tektonics.org/gk/jesustrial.php#barab

I found it useful. For example, it contains references to other Roman amnesties described by Josephus and Livy.

 

[Steve Petersen]

Here's a link that describes Jesus' trial, with a small section regarding the Barabbas story.

http://www.tektonics.org/gk/jesustrial.php#barab

I found it useful. For example, it contains references to other Roman amnesties described by Josephus and Livy.

Seems to me his argument just boils down to 'It COULD have happened.'

 

[ChetSinger]

Seems to me his argument just boils down to 'It COULD have happened.'

I don't know what your standards for acceptance are. But regarding the release of Barabbas I see multiple NT references to it, external precedencies that are similar to it, and sufficient answers to outside objections. That's enough for me to accept it as written.

 

[Steve Petersen]

I don't know what your standards for acceptance are. But regarding the release of Barabbas I see multiple NT references to it, external precedencies that are similar to it, and sufficient answers to outside objections. That's enough for me to accept it as written.

Except for the 'custom' part.

 

[Ana the Ist]

In the Gospel accounts, Pilate releases Barabbas, a man said to have been a thief and an insurrectionist. It was a custome, the Gospels explain for the Roman governor to release someone from imprisonment at Passover.

Is any of this remotely true? Would Pontius Pilate really release a man who had been involved in a political uprising? And is there any corroboration for this custom outside of the New Testament?

It's my understanding that the majority of modern scholarship agrees it's extremely unlikely that this ever happened...for multiple reasons...

1. There's no record of this unusual custom anywhere else. It doesn't really make any sense "custom-wise"...why would releasing a prisoner of the people's choosing become a custom? Pilate was known to be a rather cruel ruler, and this would be an uncharacteristicly generous act.

2. Romans weren't known for being particularly kind to the peoples of the nations they occupied. So the idea that this wasn't just a one-time thing but a "custom" at Passover...isn't very Roman. Romans preferred examples of their dominance over examples of generosity.

3. The name Bar-Abbas meaning "son of the father" is generally considered as an indication that the story is allegorical...something to do with the Jewish establishment of the time (really too much on this topic explain here).

4. No mention of this Bar abbas outside of this one event. Not there necessarily would be...even in the bible...but it's still a strike against the legitimacy of the event actually occurring.

 

[danny ski]

Pilate was dismissed from his post for excessive brutality. He was a harsh and uncompromising ruler. In view of that, how likely is the story of Pilate and Barabbas?

 

[Nihilist Virus]

Dr. Richard Carrier explains how the Barabbas allegory was created in his debate with William Lane Craig. Sorry, I don't recall where in the debate he gives the explanation, but it was quite convincing.