BARABBAS (in Aramaic it means "son of the father"; the spelling is uncertain in the Greek text). - A criminal whose release the Jews asked of Pilate, obtaining instead the crucifixion of Jesus (Mt. 27:15-26; Mk. 15:6-15; Lk. 23:13-25; Jn. 18:39-40). In a few Gospel codices of slight authority, and in the Armenian and Georgian versions, he is called "Jesus Barabbas": according to this variant, already known to Origen, "Barabbas" would be a nickname. B. was in prison at the time of Passover and was considered a "notorious prisoner" (Mt. 27:16), and Mk. 15:7 specifies the reason for his detention: "he had committed murder in an uprising."

The Jewish custom (Jn. 18:39) for Passover, alluded to by Pilate, is not known to us from other sacred or profane sources; Lk. 23:17 seems to allude to a privilege granted by the Romans who, like the Greeks, had similar usages. The fact that Pilate resorts as a last expedient to setting Jesus against B. in order to obtain the release of the former testifies to the abject character of the latter. But the Procurator's intent (Acts 3:14) failed: B. was pardoned, at the request of the people instigated by the priests and the elders, perhaps to continue his troubled life; he entered into a framework of legend, spread by some apocryphon.

Angelo Penna

@incollection{ec2_barabba_in_aramaico_significa, author = {Penna, Angelo}, title = {Barabba (In Aramaico Significa «Figlio del Padre»; Ortografia Incerta Nel Testo Greco)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {794}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/barabba-in-aramaico-significa-figlio-del-padre-ortografia-incerta-nel-testo-greco} }

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