Barabbas

Barabbas was a notorious prisoner held in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' trial before Pontius Pilate. He had been imprisoned for insurrection and murder. When Pilate offered the crowd a choice between releasing Jesus or Barabbas during the Passover custom, the crowd demanded Barabbas be freed and Jesus be crucified. His release in place of Jesus has been seen as a powerful symbol of substitutionary salvation.

Etymology & Roots

Barabbas (Βαραββᾶς in Greek, from Aramaic בַּר אַבָּא, Bar Abba) is a patronymic compound composed of two Aramaic elements: bar (בַּר, 'son') and abba (אַבָּא, 'father'), yielding 'son of the father.' The term abba in Aramaic served both as a formal address ('father') and as an intimate familial term; it is the same word Jesus used in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36) and which Paul employs in Romans 8:15 to describe the believer's relationship with God.

Some early manuscripts of Matthew 27:16-17 give his full name as 'Jesus Barabbas,' which if original would make the parallel between the two 'sons of the father' even more explicit. The patronymic construction bar + name is common in Aramaic and is found in other New Testament names such as Barnabas and Bartholomew.

Biblical Bearers

Only one individual bears this name in Scripture: Barabbas, a prisoner described as a notorious criminal held in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' Passover trial. The Gospels identify him as an insurrectionist and murderer (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19; John 18:40). Pilate, following the custom of releasing one prisoner at Passover, offered the crowd a choice between Barabbas and Jesus. The crowd, instigated by the chief priests, demanded Barabbas's release and Jesus' crucifixion (Matthew 27:20-21).

He is not mentioned again in Scripture after his release, but his role in the passion narrative has given him enduring theological significance as a symbol of substitutionary redemption.

Theological Significance

The Barabbas episode is among the most theologically charged moments in the passion narrative. Barabbas — the guilty, violent 'son of the father' — went free while Jesus, the innocent Son of the Father, was condemned. This exchange is a vivid enacted parable of substitutionary atonement: the guilty one walks free because an innocent one takes his place.

The possible textual variant 'Jesus Barabbas' in Matthew 27:16-17 intensifies the irony — two men sharing a name, one representing human rebellion and the other divine redemption, placed before the crowd as a stark choice. Theologically, Barabbas stands as a representative of every human being: freed by the condemnation of the one who bore our guilt (Isaiah 53:5-6; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Discover the meanings and origins of 409 biblical names.