In the Christian story of the passion of Jesus , Barabbas, actually Jesus bar-Abbas, (Aramaic Bar-abbâ, "son of the father"), was the insurrectionary murderer whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem. The "crowd" (ochlos)— which becomes "the Jews" in translation— were offered a choice of whether to have Barabbas or Christ released from Roman custody, according to the closely parallel canonic gospels of Matthew (27:16), Mark (15:7), Luke (23:18 - 19), and the more divergent accounts in John (18:40) and the formerly lost gospel of Peter

Barabbas himself was most likely a member of the sicarii, a militant Jewish movement that sought to overthrow the Roman occupiers of their land by force, for Mark (15:7) mentions that he had committed murder in an insurrection. The penalty for his crime was death by crucifixion, but according to the Gospels there was a prevailing custom in Jerusalem that allowed Pilate, the praefectus or governor of Judaea, to commute one prisoner's death sentence by popular acclaim. The crowd ("the multitude") chose Jesus Barabbas to be released and Jesus of Nazareth to be crucified.

The story of Barabbas has special social significances, partly because it has frequently been used to lay the blame for the Crucifixion on the Jews and justify anti-Semitism. Equally, the social significance of the story to early hearers was that it shifted blame away from the Roman imperium, removing an impediment to Christianity's eventual official acceptance.

  

"Jesus Barabbas"

According to the United Bible Societies' text, Matthew 27:17 reads: "...whom will ye that I release unto you? Jesus Barabbas [Greek: Iesous ton Barabbas] or Jesus which is called Christ [Greek: Iesous ton legomenon Christon]?"

Some early Greek manuscripts of Matthew present Barabbas' name twice as Jesus bar Abbas: manuscripts in the Caesarean group of texts, the Sinaitic Palimpsest, the Palestinian Syriac lectionaries and some of the manuscripts used by Origen in the 3rd century, all support the fact that Barabbas' name was originally Jesus Barabbas, though not all modern New Testament translations reflect this. Origen deliberately rejected the reading in the manuscript he was working with, and left out "Iesous" deliberately, for reverential considerations, certainly a strongly motivated omission. Early editors did not want the name Jesus associated with anyone who was a sinner. Mark's parallels between the two men, each a "Jesus, son of the Father," constructing a parable, may also have been considered overplayed (see below).

The alternative possibility, that "Jesus" was unintentionally inserted twice before Barabbas' name, in verses 16 and 17, is unlikely, especially since Barabbas is mentioned first in each verse (thus, dittography is ruled out). Further, the addition of "called the Christ" to Jesus' name (Iesous ton legomenon Christon) in verse 17 makes better sense if Barabbas is also called "Jesus" (Iesous ton Barabbas). Otherwise, a mere "Jesus" would have been sufficient to distinguish the two.

  

Historicity

There is no evidence independent of Mark that it was ever the custom at feasts for the Romans to release a prisoner requested by the Jews, or any other subject people. No other such release is recorded, even as a passing mention, nor does such a Passover custom appear in the Old Testament. Conversely, Pontius Pilate's historic disregard for Jewish sensibilities and Jewish custom is well documented. From an imperial perspective, such a practice would make no sense, and releasing a prisoner accused of murdering soldiers would certainly undercut morale.

  

Were Barabbas and Jesus the same person?

Jesus was somewhat unusual among rabbis in referring to God as "father". In the gospels, Jesus refers to himself as "son of God" several times, and thus "bar-Abbâ" could actually be a reference to Jesus himself as "son of the father". "Bar-Abbâ" could also be a polite way to refer to a boy whose father's name was not known, though no contemporary usage of this kind has been identified.

Hyam Maccoby and some other scholars have averred that Jesus was known as "bar-Abba", because of his custom of addressing God as 'Abba' in prayer, and referring to God as Abba in his preaching. It follows that when the Jewish crowd clamored before Pontius Pilate to "free Bar Abba" they could have meant Jesus. Anti-Semitic elements in the Christian church, the argument goes, altered the narrative to make it appear that the demand was for the freedom of somebody else (a brigand or insurrectionist) named "Barabbas". This was, the theory goes, part of the tendency to shift the blame for the Crucifixion towards the Jews and away from the Romans.

Benjamin Urrutia, co-author with Guy Davenport of The Logia of Yeshua (the Sayings of Jesus) agrees completely with Maccoby and others who aver that Yeshua Bar Abba or Jesus Barabbas must be none other than Jesus of Nazareth, and that the choice between two prisoners is a fiction. However, Urrutia opposes the notion that Jesus may have either led or planned a violent insurrection. Jesus was a strong advocate of "turning the other cheek" - which means not submission but strong and courageous, though nonviolent, defiance and resistance. Jesus, in this view, must have been the planner and leader of the Jewish nonviolent resistance to Pilate's plan to set up Roman Eagle standards on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The story of this successful resistance is told by Josephus — who, curiously, does not say who was the leader, but does tell of Pilate's crucifixion of Jesus just two paragraphs later in a passage whose authenticity is heavily disputed. (See article Josephus on Jesus, in particular the section "Arabic Version.")

A less purposely anti-Semitic interpretation is that the story derives from the Jewish crowd (many of whom may have been among those who had hailed Jesus as a king perhaps less than a week earlier) calling out for the freedom of the man who (somewhat unusually for that era) referred to God as "father" and referred to himself as "son-of the father" (bar-Abba in Aramaic) — namely, Jesus himself. Pilate refused their pleas (and likely would have been disciplined by his superiors in Rome, if he did not punish both insurrectionists and those who claimed to be king of the Jews). Later, when people who did not understand Aramaic retold the story, they still included the petition for freedom, but bar-Abbas became a separate person - incidentally thus making the Romans less culpable, and the Jews more so.

Further interpretations along these same lines raise questions about how much difference there was between Jesus and an insurrectionist. In the gospels, shortly after being hailed as a king by the Jews, Jesus caused a commotion in the Jewish temple by overturning tables and swinging a lash (mentioned only in John) at people. Soon afterwards and just shortly before his arrest, the gospels have Jesus telling his apostles to sell their cloaks and buy swords — and at least one sword turns up in the hands of Peter (named only in John) in the Garden of Gethsemane. Pilate would be reprimanded for releasing even a peaceful man who had others calling anyone but Caesar the "king of the Jews", no less one whose methods appeared to include violence.

Arthur Drew, a German Hegelian philosopher, in his books Christ Myth (1924) and Legend of Peter (1924), argued that first century Christianity was a social ethical movement which needed no founder to explain its rise. A long standing feature of the Semitic world was an annual sacrifice of a "Son of the Father" — Barabbas, originally called Jesus Barabbas. This may account for the myth that a historical person, Jesus, actually lived. Of course, in the Hebrew Bible and in Judaism in general, human sacrifice is strongly condemned, so Drew's theory would seem to require at least some further explanation.

     

The Romans had to fake his crucifixion due to Passover issues: [1]
  

      


Click to play video [1].  Matthew 12:40: "shall be buried deep in the heart of earth for 3 days and nights as Jonah was deep in the belly of the whale."  Jesus never got crucified: [1] [2] [3] [4].

Never happened:

1-  Jonah was alive on the shore, alive in the whale's belly, and alive when vomited out of the whale.  Alive, alive, alive!

2-  Jesus laid on the floor in a tomb (a cave-like room) as shown above, got healed, and got up and left.  He was never inside any coffin nor ever got buried.
  

3-  The Jewish Passover, where 1/2 million pilgrims were about to arrive, forced the Romans to abruptly end the crucifixion.  Jesus only stayed for 3 hours.  100s of thousands of pilgrims were coming to Jerusalem for the Passover, the Romans had to rush his "crucifixion" and bring him down.  The soldiers were even denied food due to lack of time.

4-  Jesus original name  in Luke 5:31, Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17 was Healer or Doctor.  Jesus was miraculous and could self-heal as he has done miraculous medical miracles in the past.

5-  Jesus never got crucified: [1] [2] [3] [4].  The OT and NT clearly spell it out.  He was saved.



Muslim will replace Sons and Daughters of GOD titles (Isaiah 56:5, 65:15, Luke 6:40)

  

Pilate's Wife received GOD's Angel commanding no crucifixion:    Pilot's wife was most insignificant like Lot and Noah were to their people in this story.  Mary too was similarly insignificant, and GOD Almighty still chose her to give birth to our Messiah while being a Virgin Woman, - making her story less and less believable, which in turn would increase the stubbornness and arrogance of those whom are cursed by Allah Almighty. Yet, the Angel of GOD Almighty came down to Pilate's wife to have her warn her husband to not crucify Jesus.  She even got very sick from it as a Sign from GOD.  Christians say OT shadows the NT.  This is one great example about the false people of Lot and Noah shadowing the false people of Jesus and the infidels in general.  Allah Almighty Said in the Glorious Quran:   [015:012] Thus We let this (mockery) pass through the hearts of the criminals! [002:015] God will throw back their mockery on them, and give them rope in their trespasses; so they will wander like blind ones (To and fro). [011:027] The chiefs of the disbelieving nation said, "We find you to be no more than a human like us, and we find that only those of lower status and immature opinion follow you. We do not find you superior to us in any way. In fact, we think you are a liar!” GOD chose the most insignificant person, Pilate's wife, to send His Divine Warning to them: (the following is from National Catholic Register)    What Did Pilate's Wife See in Her Dream?    "While Pilate was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, ‘Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him.'" (Matthew 27:19) Le Rêve de la femme de Pilate ("The dream of Pilate's wife"). Engraving by Alphonse François (1814-1888) after Gustave Doré. (photo: Register Files) The Gospel according to St. Matthew contains a small detail not in the other Passion accounts. The wife of Pontius Pilate sends a message to him asking him not to have anything to do with Jesus, because she has had a terrible dream and suffered much because of him. She says that Jesus is innocent (Matthew 27:19). From that verse, tradition and literature have developed a great story of conversion. Pilate's wife has been named Procula or Claudia and in the Eastern and Ethiopian Churches she is revered as a saint. The apocryphal but influential Gospel of Nicodemus mentions her dream and Pilate's reaction to it: he is more concerned in that account than St. Matthew's Gospel indicates. Annas and Caiphas persuade him that his wife's dream and distress are signs of Jesus's sorcery and Pilate proceeds with the trial. Origen, one of the Greek Fathers of the Church, taught that Procula Claudia became a Christian after the Resurrection because of that dream. The York Mystery Plays include Pilate's wife and her dream, but offer the opposite interpretation: Satan comes to tempt Pilate wife's to thwart Jesus's purpose to redeem and save us through His Cross and Resurrection by preventing her husband from condemning Jesus to death. The York Mystery Plays were performed for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi to tell the story of Salvation History from Creation to the Last Judgment. Each play was organized and performed by a different guild; they were suppressed during Elizabeth I's reign in 1569, but have been revived in modern productions.    Notice the polytheist trinitarian pagans' falsehoods being forced upon the masses.  People are falsely taught that it was satan that came down to Pilate's wife to warn her about Jesus' crucifixion.  This is nothing but a worthless opposite interpretation by the infidels.  The Truth is that Jesus was saved by GOD Almighty as Islam Claims and as the evidence clearly shows throughout this article.    Matthew 7:22-23: GOD sent Jesus to be Christianity's lying spirit    Where was the promised Holy Spirit in the disciples' apostatizing of each other?? The Romans had to fake his crucifixion due to Passover issues: [1]     Quran:  All Bibles are filled with  corrupt قول  qaowl (doctrines of sayings and writings. See also Hafs vs. Warsh Quran).  Jesus' apostles also fought conflicts against each other.    "... but so it was made to appear to them..." (Quran 4:157)    The two double-Jesus men & Pontus Pilate in Matthew 27:16-17: According to the Gospel of Matthew, Pontus Pilate was standing between two double-Jesus men: 1-  Jesus Barabbas. 2-  Jesus Barabbas. "...The Bibles' Christ was put on the cross for three hours. Any one of us would've survived this silly crucifixion.  Your human body, when faced with death, can become 10+ times stronger, more resilient, more resistant and more stubborn than normal. This is what would enable you, for example, to lift an entire truck with your bare hands if your precious child was under it. Similarly, if you were put on the cross for three silly hours, your body would've survived it. A soldier was placed on the cross for 63 hours and still lived to tell the world about it." (Source) A Divine Setup for Conjecture.  And again, the "buried deep in the heart of earth" Prophecy never happened,  Jesus laid on the floor, got healed, and got up and left.  He was never inside any coffin nor ever got buried.  Also, because 100s of thousands of pilgrims were coming to Jerusalem for the Passover, the Romans had to rush his "crucifixion" and bring him down.  The soldiers were even denied food due to lack of time.  Jonah was alive.  Jonah was always alive in his ordeal.  He was alive on the shore, alive in the whale's belly, and alive when vomited out of the whale.  Alive, alive, alive!  Jesus never got crucified: [1] [2] [3] [4].  The OT and NT clearly spell it out.  He was saved. Muslim will replace Sons and Daughters of GOD titles (Isaiah 56:5, 65:15, Luke 6:40)       Also, was Peter inspired by the Holy Spirit when he told Jesus that GOD was not going to allow Jesus to die die on the cross?  Was Jesus not inspired by the Holy Spirit when he called Peter Satan for saying this?  Jesus later prayed countless times begging GOD for this same exact thing that Peter told Jesus.  Jesus begged GOD to not get crucified.  Jesus said he speaks when he hears inspirations.  So was the Holy Spirit not in Jesus at the time when he called Peter satan? 1-  Jesus speaks what he hears. 2-  Jesus calls Peter satan for telling Jesus that GOD will not allow Jesus to get crucified. 3-  Jesus begs GOD countless times to not get crucified. 4-  So    Was the Holy Spirit also in Jesus?  How?? Peter vs. Jesus    5-  If no, then Peter had the Holy Spirit in him along with the other disciples (Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 6:13, Luke 9:2, Luke 9:6, Luke 10:9), not Jesus at the time, when Peter told Jesus GOD will save him.  Jesus would be satan and a liar according to Jesus himself for conjecturing and for creating the false belief that the Holy Spirit was speaking through him at the time.  Jesus would not have been a speaking authority at the time, and certainly him calling Peter satan would've been false. 6-  If yes, then Jesus and the Holy Spirit are satan for begging for the very thing  they both called Peter satan on.  What was the Holy Spirit exactly inspiring here when Jesus called this exact inspiration satanic from Peter?? [1] Up until year 1903, 7-year old boys were castrated by the church! [1]   Again, Jesus said he speaks what he hears:    John 5:30 30  I cannot do anything on my own. (i.e., I am totally powerless.  In other verses, Jesus could not even perform a single Miracle without GOD sending it down to him first!).  That is without GOD's Enablement & Permission first.  See below John 11:38-42, Matthew 15:35-37, Luke 22:14-20, Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21, Acts 2:22.  I can not perform a single Miracle on my own.  I am totally POWERLESS without Allah Almighty!  I can not dare to go outside His Divine Will.  Christianity and Trinity are lies from the pit of Hell!  GOD Almighty of the OT sent Jesus as a lying spirit to deceive the evil ones.  This has been done by GOD many times already in the OT. Jesus was called slave of GOD in Old Testament.  The OT also says he "FEARED GOD" [1]. None of Jesus' Miracles were unique in the Bible  (Luke 2:52: GOD forgave Jesus' sins and was "charitable" with him).    https://biblehub.com/lexicon/john/5-30.htm Jesus says he is powerless John 5:30 NASB Lexicon NASB © Greek Strong's Origin "I can δύναμαι (dunamai) 1410: to be able, to have power a prim. verb do ποιεῖν (poiein) 4160: to make, do a prim. word nothing Οὐ (ou) 3756: not, no a prim. word on My own initiative. ἐμαυτοῦ (emautou) 1683: of myself gen. reflex. pronoun from emou and autos As I hear, (Jesus also received commands from lying spirits) ἀκούω (akouō) 191: to hear, listen from a prim. word mean. hearing    Matthew 7:22-23:  GOD sent Jesus to be Christianity's lying spirit Daniel 7:25: Christianity will change time and the Law    John 11:35 Jesus wept and sobbed for the death of his dear friend Lazarus, and begged GOD to raise him from death: Clip from Cast Away movie. This clip is an illustration of how Jesus wept and sobbed and BEGGED GOD to raise his dear from Lazarus from death after Jesus thought he has lost his dear friend forever in this life. I judge; κρίνω (krinō) 2919: to judge, decide a prim. verb and My judgment κρίσις (krisis) 2920: a decision, judgment from krinó is just, δικαία (dikaia) 1342: correct, righteous, by impl. innocent from diké because ὅτι (oti) 3754: that, because conjunction from neut. of hostis, I do not seek ζητῶ (zētō) 2212: to seek of uncertain origin My own ἐμὴ (emē) 1699: my from the oblique cases of egó, first pers. poss. pronoun will, θέλημα (thelēma) 2307: will from theló but the will θέλημα (thelēma) 2307: will from theló of Him who sent πέμψαντος (pempsantos) 3992: to send a prim. word Me.            Powerless:  Jesus cried for the death of his friend Lazarus, begged GOD to raise him: Notice in John 11:38-44: John 11 (KJV) 38 Jesus therefore again groaning (crying) in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. John 11 (WYC) 38 Therefore Jesus again making noise in himself, came to the grave. And there was a den, and a stone was laid thereon. John 11 (KJ21) 38 Jesus therefore again, groaning (crying) in Himself, came to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. John 11 (ISV) 38 Groaning (crying) deeply again, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying in front of it. John 11 (NABRE) 38 So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. John 11 (NET) 38 Jesus, intensely moved again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.)    Begged GOD to hear: Notice also in John 11:42, Jesus begs GOD to hear him and to resurrect Lazarus: John 11:42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. Who resurrected Lazarus?  Jesus or GOD?  Let me help you get it:       Who created the live snake from a stick?  Moses or GOD? Trinity is a lie from the pits of Hell!!  It is exactly like saying it was Moses who created the snake, and that Moses is part of GOD.    Your sins are forgiven (Luke 7:48)  is not the same as I forgive your sins.  Jesus could never DARE to speak the latter (I forgive your sins). Jesus never forgave anything.  He was only a messenger from Allah Almighty.  He spoke (ex: Your sins are forgiven) what Allah Almighty communicated to him, and he performed the Miracles that Allah Almighty allowed for him.  Jesus always sought Allah Almighty's permission to perform any Miracle, and Jesus always thanked Allah Almighty after every Miracle he performed for allowing Jesus to be able to perform it.  See John 11:38-42, John 5:30, Matthew 15:35-37, Luke 22:14-20, Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21, Acts 2:22. Seeking permission from Allah Almighty and thanking Allah Almighty for enabling him and permitting him to perform certain Miracles?  And this prophet is supposed to be my creator??  When will trinitarians quit being barfanians? King Kong Christ?    Why did Jesus crave incest and sex? [1]    Muslim will replace Sons and Daughters of GOD titles (Isaiah 56:5, 65:15, Luke 6:40)    See also the 24 other Thrones and Messiahs besides Jesus in Revelations 4 & 5. Jesus was called slave of GOD in Old Testament.  The OT also says he "FEARED GOD" [1].       "Lucifer the son of the star!" [1] (Isaiah 14:12)  "you make the nations low morally degenerate" (ex: your holy Israel's porn, LGBTQ and global evil)      Sam Shamoun thoroughly demolishes trinity and the early bibles' writings.  See also: 24 other Messiahs and Thrones mentioned in the NT  besides Jesus'.  Bibles praised Virgin Mary is being group-incest-raped by some trinity members. Holy Gambling:    Sam Shamoun promoted Christianity's Holy Gambling, and he even funded other gamblers.  He himself spent 10s of thousands of dollars on it.  Also, the 12th disciple, Mathias, was chosen via gambling by the other disciples.  They literally rolled the holy dice [1] amongst each other to choose him from among other choices.  Then they claimed it was the Holy Spirit that chose him (??).  Dice and chance had nothing to do with it. The Church used to castrate 7-year old boys: [1]    Matthew 7:22-23: GOD sent Jesus to be Christianity's lying spirit    Matthew 7:22-23: GOD sent Jesus to be Christianity's lying spirit       Christians lie via their worthless opposite interpretation, and say that it was Satan's Angel that came down to Pilot's wife, not GOD's Angel.  But this is not supported from the text.  They spew this lie and force it upon the masses.  Keep in mind:    Matthew 7:22-23: GOD sent Jesus to be Christianity's lying spirit Isaiah 56:5: Muslim is the future believers' name.  Jesus called every believer a Muslim in Luke 6:40.    Muslim will replace Sons and Daughters of GOD titles (Isaiah 56:5, 65:15, Luke 6:40) Quran:  All Bibles are filled with  corrupt قول  qaowl (doctrines of sayings and writings. See also Hafs vs. Warsh Quran).  Jesus' apostles also fought conflicts against each other. "bar Allahin" in Daniel 3:25-26 means the chosen one of Allah

  

John 11:50:  It is expedient, whether through hook or by crook, that we must convict Jesus

  
Early Church Fathers:  Jesus never died for anyone's sins!

  

5-  The NT calls Jesus a fat drunk "gluttonous, and a winebibber" (Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34).  See also Daniel 7:25: Christianity will change time and the Law.

  
     

  

3-  The early disciples' writings declaring that Jesus never got crucified:

Before we begin, it is important to know that according to the Apocalypse (Revelations) of Peter, the Acts of John, and the great Seth, Jesus of Nazareth did not get crucified.  Instead, GOD Almighty saved him and substituted him for another person.

You can also read the whole section of the early Disciples' writings at:

https://www.answering-christianity.com/ac24.htm#links

Since the New Testament is nothing but a rewrite, and it's authors were all mysterious, and the books and gospels in the NT were written centuries after Jesus of Nazareth, then certainly, the nonsense that we read in the Bible today about Jesus of Nazareth got crucified is not, after all, true especially that the early Christians' Doctrines confirm that Jesus never got crucified, along with the Divine Religion of Islam.