When we read the Word of God, especially in synoptic gospelswe can find an episode at the end of the days of the Lord Jesus that calls our attention and it is about a murderer who was released instead of Jesus.
In this article we are going to study who Barabbas was, so join us in reading to see the history of this character and solve all your doubts.
Barabbas was a thief and murderer released by Pilate at the request of the Jewish crowd instead of Jesus. He was part of a group of rebels and is known in the Bible for the episode of the crucifixion of Christ.
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The story of Barabbas in the Bible
Barabbas is mentioned in the Bible in all four New Testament Gospels.
According to what was written by the apostle john in the gospel that bears his name, Barabbas was a thief (John 18:40).
In the same way, Lucas, the beloved doctor, in his gospel he mentions that this man was a murderer (Luke 23:18-19). That is, he was a person who was somehow identified as an anti-Roman insurgent.
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What does the name Barabbas mean?
The name Barabbas comes from the Aramaic bar abbas, in Greek “Βαραββᾶς”, which means “son of Aba”, “son of the teacher” or “son of the father”, like Simon Bariona, that is, “Simon son of Jonah” in Matthew 16:17.
Some versions of the Bible such as the TLA, NBLA translate Matthew 27:17 with the name “Jesus Barabbas”.
The version Dios Habla Hoy “DHH” also translates the name of Barabbas as “Jesus Barabbas”; however, it is not possible to satisfactorily conclude whether his name was, in fact, also Jesus, because the sources for such an argument are dubious, and no reference to it can be found in the best ancient texts.
Some scholars consider that the origin of this argument could be a simple copyist error, however, when reviewing the Greek original, it can be seen that the name jesus is found twice in the verse.
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Why was Barabbas released instead of Jesus?
The events narrated in the Gospels make it clear that Barabbas was released due to the tradition of freeing a prisoner at Easter. The pressure was exerted by the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the sense that the release would go to the murderer and not to Jesus.
The custom of releasing a prisoner is not mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament.
Barabbas was arrested for carrying out a type of homicidal political terrorism. This is made clear from Mark 15:7, where it says that he was arrested along with his fellow rebels who committed murder during a riot.
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Some traditions about Barabbas
Some scholars suggest that Barabbas was a member of the Zealots.a Jewish nationalist guerrilla group that fought for the liberation of the Jewish people from the hands of the Roman Empire.
This group used violence in the execution of their actions. Thus, if Barabbas really belonged to this group, then the riot that led to his arrest could have been an attack on a group of Roman soldiers that ended with the possible death of one of them.
Mark in his gospel described the crime of Barabbas as something that caused a lot of repercussions at the time (Mark 15:7).
In fact, Matthew mentions that Barabbas was famous (Matthew 27:16). Meaning that he was a person known to the whole town, perhaps even reputed as some kind of hero, especially if his crimes were motivated by nationalism.
Regardless of the situation at the time with Barabbas, the Biblical references to the apostles they make it very clear what kind of guy he was, a thief and murderer, disturbing public order.
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barabbas and jesus
The Bible shows that Pilate intended to release Jesus, but the priests they incited the population so that the decision benefited Barabbas (Mattheot 27:20; Mark 15:8-11).
Finally, we know the end of the story. The crowd acquitted Barabbas and demanded the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ.
Many assumptions and allegories have been made about the impact of this decision on the life of Barabbas, a murderer whose death was assured and who unexpectedly went free and had an innocent crucified in his place.
Did Barrabas convert after that event? You didn’t care for him and went back to your criminal practice? We really can’t know what happened to Barabbas because there is no Biblical reference to him after that event.
However, as believers in the Lord Jesus, as sinful and miserable as Barabbas, today we recognize that we have been regenerated by the holy spirit and that the Son of God has died in our place to forgive our sins and give us eternal life.
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