Custom of releasing a prisoner before Passover

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The Gospels state:

"Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested."

Mark 15:6 Bible-icon.png

Historicity[edit]

There is no other source of this tradition outside of the Gospels.

In the Gospel narrative, the crowds call for Barabbas to be released who was one of the "insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising" and Pilate complies. This is highly improbable as the Romans dealt with rebels very severely.

More likely, this whole incidence is a parable or myth based on the ceremony of two goats on Yom Kippur Leviticus 16:1-34 Bible-icon.png. One is released to the wilderness for Satan to kill (symbolically Barabbas), the other is sacrificed to God for the sins of the nation (symbolically Jesus). This means the Gospels are intended as an extended parable and not as a historical source. Another clear example of this is Jesus and the fig tree. Barabbas is a fake name which literally means "son of the father".

See also[edit]