Editing Barabbas (section)

==Biblical account==
{{Primary sources|section|date=April 2023}}
According to all four [[Gospels#Canonical gospels|canonical gospels]], there was a prevailing Passover custom in Jerusalem that allowed [[Pontius Pilate]], the ''{{lang|la|[[praefectus]]}}'' or governor of [[Judea (Roman province)|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 Gospels]] of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]],{{sfn|Evans|2012|pp=452ff}} [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|15:6–15|TNIV}}</ref> and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke |23:13–25|TNIV}}</ref> and the account in [[Gospel of John|John]],<ref>{{bibleverse|John| 18:38–19:16|TNIV}}</ref> the crowd chooses Barabbas to be released and Jesus of Nazareth to be crucified.<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|15:6–15|TNIV}}</ref> Pilate reluctantly yields to the insistence of the crowd. One passage, found in the Gospel of Matthew, has the crowd saying (of Jesus), [[Blood curse|"Let his blood be upon us and upon our children."]]<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew| 27:25}}</ref>

Matthew refers to Barabbas only as a "notorious prisoner".<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|27:16}}</ref> Mark and Luke further refer to Barabbas as one involved in a στάσις (''stásis'', a riot), probably "one of the numerous insurrections against the Roman power"<ref name="CambComm" /> who had committed murder.<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark| 15:7}}, {{bibleverse| Luke |23:19}}</ref> Robert Eisenman states that John 18:40 refers to Barabbas as a λῃστής (''lēistēs'', "bandit"), "the word [[Josephus]] always employs when talking about Revolutionaries".{{efn| name=Eisenman}}

Three [[gospels]] state that there was a custom that at [[Passover]] the Roman governor would release a prisoner of the crowd's choice; {{bibleref2|Mark|15:6}}, {{bibleref2|Matthew|27:15}}, and {{bibleref2|John|18:39}}. Later copies of Luke contain a corresponding verse ({{bibleref2|Luke|23:17}}), although this is not present in the earliest manuscripts, and may be a later [[Biblical gloss#Glosses as textual additions|gloss]] to bring Luke into conformity.{{sfn|Brown |1994| pp= 793–795}}

The custom of releasing prisoners in Jerusalem at Passover is known to theologians as the ''Paschal Pardon'',{{sfn|Merritt|1985|pp=57–68}} but this custom, whether at Passover or any other time, is not recorded in any historical document other than the gospels, leading some to question its [[historicity]] and make further claims that such a custom was a mere narrative invention of the Bible's writers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bc.edu/schools/stm/c21online/resources/deathofjesus.html|title=The Death of Jesus: Four Gospel Accounts|publisher=Center for Christian–Jewish Learning at Boston College|author=Cunningham, Paul A.|access-date=2012-03-25|archive-date=2012-11-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105045343/http://www.bc.edu/schools/stm/c21online/resources/deathofjesus.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|Ehrman|2016|p=}}