what to do with Βαραββᾶν

[jkgayle]

He's in all four canonical Greek gospels, but nowhere else.

 

He's also called "Jesus" in Matthew's Greek gospel, at least in a certain so called Caesarean text, the one some label "Θ Ë1 700* pc sys."

 

George Lamsa, a native speaker of Aramaic, reading neither this minority Greek text nor the majority texts of the Greek Matthew, translates the Aramaic Peshitta into English using a space between the two phrases in the name (where in Aramaic there's no need for that, hence ܒ݁ܰܪ‌ܐܰܒ݁ܰܐ):

They had a well-known prisoner, called Bar-Abbas, who was bound. When they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, Whom do you want me to release to you? Bar-Abbas, or Jesus who is called the Christ?

 

Phillip Goble, of the Messianic Jewish movement, reads the Greek text and brings out the Hebraic meanings into his English rendering as an "Orthodox Jewish Bible," as so:

 

And they were holding at the time a notorious prisoner, called [Yeshua] Bar-Abba [son of the father]. 17 When, therefore, they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, Whom do you want me to release for you, Bar Abba or Yehoshua called Moshiach?

 

Some commentators and footnoters let Βαραββᾶν be either "son of the Rabbi" or "son of God."

There's little disagreement among the canonical Greek gospels that Matthew alone sees this person as δέσμιον ἐπίσημον, a person known to be in chains.

 

There's lots of agreement among all of us reading whichever texts that there's a direct substitution of one alleged criminal and supposed prisoner for another by the Roman Pilate to be decided by the people.

Given that, what do we do with Βαραββᾶν in our readings?

Edited March 27, 2018 by jkgayle

[Abram K-J]

With whatever historical details we lack about a certain person named Barabbas, an allegorizing read of the text could take this "son of a father" (echoes of "Son of Man"?) to be an everyman or everyperson, standing in for all of humanity who is released when Jesus goes to the cross.

 

(Not that it would have to be one or the other.)

[Abram K-J]

Although "At that time they had a notorious prisoner" in verse 16 does seem to suggest a person-specific, "historical" Barabbas.

[Λύχνις Δαν]

Anchor has a nice short article on a bunch of the theories on this.

 

Thx

D

[jkgayle]

Abram, The literary balance between the two men does allow for allegorizing doesn't it? Is Jesus ever described as in chains this way, and if not then perhaps Matthew is trying to show the one has been in custody for a long time and publicly, implying some sort of well-know due process of conviction, while and the other very quickly and privately betrayed, caught for a kangaroo court? The contrasts drawn between the two "sons," these two "Jesuses" are stark indeed.

 

Daniel, What and where do we find the short article?

[Michael Hunt]

Daniel, would love to see the article to if possible.

[Λύχνις Δαν]

Ok this fits within the forum guidelines on quote length and this is probably fair use, at least I hope it is :

 

BARABBAS (PERSON)   [Gk Barabbas Βαραββας]. The name “Barabbas” occurs in all four Gospels for the criminal chosen by the crowd—at the prompting of the priests, in preference to Jesus Christ—for Pilate to release on the feast of the Passover. His name does not occur elsewhere in the NT, and there is no extra-biblical account of his activities leading up to the biblical account, nor of his subsequent history.
    “Barabbas” is evidently the Gk rendering of an Aram name, although the precise origin is debated. Most scholars suggest that it is a patronymic derived from Bar Abba, “son of Abba.” Some suggest that Barabbas’ father was named “Abba.” Although no written evidence exists for the use of Abba as a personal name in Jesus’ day, a contemporary of Johanan ben Zakkai (ca. A.D. 75) was so named (m. Peʾa ii. e), and thereafter the evidence for the use of Abba as a personal name is quite conclusive (Abrahams 1924: 201–2). Others suggest that Barabbas was the son of a well-known rabbi, because “Abba” was used for esteemed scholars and rabbis. There are even some codices with a double “r” in the name, suggesting the possibility that Barabbas is derived from Bar Rabba(n), meaning “son of a teacher.” A less likely suggestion is that Barabbas finds its origin as a disguised abbreviation for the venerated name Abraham (“son of Abraham”).
    An interesting variant occurs in Matt 27:16–17, where he is called “Jesus Barabbas.” While extant manuscript evidence is weak, Origen implies that most manuscripts in his day (ca. A.D. 240) included the full name. Many scholars today accept the full name in Matthew as original and suggest that it was probably omitted by later scribes because of the repugnance of having Jesus Christ’s name being shared by Barabbas (TCGNT, 67–8). It is not improbable for Barabbas to have the very common name Jesus. Matthew’s text reads more dramatically with two holders of the same name: “Which Jesus do you want; the son of Abba, or the self-styled Messiah” (cf. Albright and Mann Matthew AB, 343–4). There is some evidence that the full name “Jesus Barabbas” also originally appeared in Mark’s gospel (Mann Mark AB, 637).
    Barabbas is called “one of those among the rebels who had committed murder in the insurrection” (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19; cf. Acts 3:14), a “notorious prisoner” (Matt 27:16), and a “robber” (John 18:40). These terms closely resemble the characteristics of social banditry uncovered in recent studies of the social history of 1st century Palestine (e.g., Horsley and Hanson 1985: 48–87). As a bandit (lēstēs, the same term used of the two criminals between whom Jesus was crucified [Mark 15:27]), Barabbas may have belonged to one of the rural brigands. These brigands were popular with the common people because they preyed upon the wealthy establishment of Israel and created havoc for the Roman government. Barabbas was being held prisoner by the Roman authorities at the time of Jesus’ trial and was released by Pontius Pilate to carry out the customary paschal pardon (Mark 15:6–15). The reason given for the crowd choosing Barabbas over Jesus is said to be the instigation of the chief-priests and elders (Matt 27:20; Mark 15:11), but quite likely the Jerusalem crowds also preferred Barabbas’s active methods of Roman resistance to Jesus’ way of nonresistance.
    The absence of extra-biblical historical verification for the paschal pardon custom remains a problem. Some scholars have attempted to resolve the difficulty by suggesting that the entire incident, including Barabbas himself, is an apologetic creation of the evangelists (e.g., Rigg 1945; Maccoby 1970; Davies 1980). But recent studies have produced evidence of widespread customs of prisoner releases at festivals in the ancient world (e.g., Merritt 1985: 53–68). The gospel account of a custom of reprieve of a prisoner at the Passover echoes the practice of the ancient world.
    The portrait of Barabbas in the gospel account remains hazy. In contrast, the portrait of the innocently charged Jesus is thrown into sharp focus. Such appears to be the purpose of the evangelists.

Bibliography
Abrahams, I. 1924. Barabbas. Pp. 201–2 in Studies in Pharisaism and the Gospels. 2d Series. New York. Repr. 1967.
Bruce, F. F. 1969. New Testament History. Anchor Books. Garden City.
Davies, S. L. 1980. Who Is Called Bar Abbas? NTS 27: 260–2.
Horsley, R. A., and Hanson, J. S. 1985. Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs. Minneapolis.
Maccoby, H. Z. 1970. Jesus and Barabbas. NTS 16: 55–60.
Merritt, R. L. 1985. Jesus Barabbas and the Paschal Pardon. JBL 104: 57–68.
Rigg, H. A., Jr. 1945. Barabbas. JBL 64: 417–56.
MICHAEL J. WILKINS

Michael J. Wilkins, “BARABBAS(PERSON),” AYBD, 1:607.
https://accordance.bible/link/read/Anchor#13757

 

Thx

D