NT Characters: Barabbas

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/barmp3/">website</a>.</p><p><strong>The mystery of Barabbas' name</strong></p><ul><li>Original pronunciation: Barabbás (accent on last syllable)</li><li><i>Bar </i>is Aramaic for son, and is found in names like Bartholomew, Bar-Jonah, Bartimaeus, Barsabbas, Barnabas</li><li>Meaning of Barabbas<ul><li>Traditional view: this was the son of <i>Abbas</i></li><li>Another possibility: <i>Bar-rabban</i> (son of the rabbi)</li><li>Either way, he must have had a first name; he was more than merely "son of Abbas" or "son of the rabbi."</li></ul></li><li>Another Jesus?<ul><li>Some late manuscripts (see Matthew 27:16-17) supply a first name: Jesus. Pilate then would have been asking <i>which </i>Jesus he should release.</li><li>Jesuses in the Bible: Joshua, son of Nun; Jesus son of Sirach (Apocrypha); one of Jesus' ancestors (Luke 3:29); Jesus called Justus (Colossians 4:11); Jesus of Nazareth... the early church may have known as many as 12 men named Jesus.</li><li>Note: Jesus was a common name in the first century AD.</li></ul></li></ul><p><strong>The political situation</strong></p><ul><li>High tension. The Roman occupation had begun in 63 BC. Discontent will boil over in the revolution of 66-73 AD. By 70 AD, however, both Jerusalem and her stunning temple would lie in ruins.</li><li>Zealots dissatisfied with the Roman occupation longed for autonomy, and were willing to result to violence to achieve their ends.</li><li>Might persons like Barabbas have been heroic figures for some of the Jews?</li><li>Yet would the Romans really release such a (presumably dangerous) man? This is exactly what another Roman governor did in 85 AD, so the Barabbas account appears historical.</li></ul><p><strong>Barabbas: crime & punishment</strong><br /> </p><ul><li>Matthew 27 - notorious prisoner</li><li>Mark 15 - murderer</li><li>Luke 23 - murderer</li><li>John 18 - robber</li><li>Acts 3:14 - murderer</li><li>The Romans would have crucified Barabb