BARABBAS bə răb’ əs (Βαραββᾶς, G972, Aram., בַּר אַבָּא, son of the father, or son of Abba). The criminal whom the crowd, in response to Pilate’s offer, chose for release instead of Jesus.

The release of Barabbas instead of Jesus at the demand of the people is recorded in all four gospels (Matt 27:15-26; Mark 15:6-15; Luke 23:16-25; John 18:39, 40) and is referred to in Peter’s sermon in the Temple portico (Acts 3:14). Barabbas is identified as “a notorious prisoner” (Matt 27:16), “a robber” (John 18:40), and as one of “the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection” (Mark 15:7). The motive for the insurrection in Jerusalem, during which he had committed murder (15:7; Luke 23:19), is uncertain. It may have been a bold case of brigandage, but prob. it was a politically motivated attempt to throw off the hated yoke of the Romans. As the leader of the group, Barabbas had gained a reputation as a species of hero.

Beyond the evidence in the gospels, nothing is known about the governor’s custom of releasing a prisoner at the Passover. But the releasing of prisoners for various reasons was known (Jos., Antiq. XX. ix. 3; Livy, V. 13; Deismann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 267). Pilate offered the crowd the option between Jesus and Barabbas in the expectation that Jesus would be released. The chief priests could readily influence the vote of the people because the sight of Jesus as a helpless and unresisting prisoner deeply outraged their Messianic expectations concerning Him. Their vote was motivated not by popular esteem for Barabbas, but by aroused antipathy to Jesus because of disappointed hopes.

The name Barabbas may simply be a conventional proper name. It is found as the surname of several rabbis. Jerome (On Matthew) asserts that in the apocryphal Gospel According to the Hebrews the name was “son of their master” (filius magistri eorum), which points either to a form Bar-rabban (“son of a rabbi”) or to Bar-Abba (“son of the father,” in the sense of teacher). That Barabbas was chosen because he was the son of a rabbi is improbable.

Origen (Commentary on Matthew) noted a reading “Jesus Barabbas” in Matthew 27:16, 17 and called it an ancient reading. It appears in the 9th cent. Codex Θ and in some Syrian sources. This would make it a patronymic (cf. Simon Barjonah). If his personal name was “Jesus,” in itself not improbable, it made Pilate’s offer more pungent—“Jesus Barabbas or Jesus of Nazareth.” This reading has been accepted by some scholars, but its authenticity must remain dubious.

Nothing is known concerning the subsequent history of Barabbas.

Bibliography E. P. Gould, “St. Mark,” ICC (1896), 285-287; W. B. Wright, The Heart of the Master (1911), 186-195; A. E. J. Rawlinson, “St. Mark,” WC (1927), 227-229; H. A. Rigg, “Barabbas,” JBL, 64 (1945), 417-456; C. E. B. Cranfield, “St. Mark” (1959), 449, 450.