Barrabas biography

Figure mentioned in the New Testament

This article is about the biblical figure Barabbas. For other uses, see Barabbas (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Barnabas or Barrabas.

Barabbas (; Biblical Greek: Bαραββᾶς, romanized: Barabbās)^[1] was, according to the New Testament, a prisoner who rebelled against the Roman occupying forces and who was chosen over Jesus by the crowd in Jerusalem to be pardoned and released by Roman governor Pontius Pilate at the Passover feast.^[2]

Biblical account

According to all four canonical gospels there was a prevailing Passover custom in Jerusalem that allowed Pontius Pilate, the praefectus or governor of Judea, to commute one prisoner's death sentence by popular acclaim.

In one such instance, the "crowd" (ὄχλος : óchlos), "the Jews" and "the multitude" in some sources, are offered the choice to have either Barabbas or Jesus released from Roman custody. According to the Synoptic Gos