Barabbas

Pakaluk (2021, p. 249) explains the meaning of this name: “This name means ‘Son of Abba,’ that is, ‘Son of the Father.’ John tells us only that Bar-Abbas was a robber, which is enough to establish that he was a criminal who deserved to be in prison. In the Marian spirit that pervades his Gospel, John does not add that Bar-Abbas was also a brigand and a murderer. What matters is that the innocent Son of the Father took the place of this guilty ‘Son of the Father’ and allowed him to go free.”

The Greek that is transliterated as “Barabbas” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign depicting for “thief or “delinquent.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Barabbas” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Luke 23:18)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding Pilate).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Luke 23:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 23:18:

  • Noongar: “All the people shouted, ‘Crucify him! Release Barabbas to us!'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “When they heard that, the people shouted/made-noise saying: ‘Kill him! Release Barabas for us (excl.)!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the people heard what Pilatus said, they all shouted they said, ‘Kill that person! We want Barabbas to be freed!'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when the many people heard that which Pilate said, they began to shout, ‘You have that man killed, and the one you let loose is Barabbas!'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But the many-people, they all-shouted-together saying, ‘Kill him! Barabbas is the one we (excl.) want you (sing.) to release!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, when they heard that which Pilato said, the crowd all called out together, saying, ‘Kill that person, that Jesus! Barrabas is the one to release from prison!'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 23:13-25)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 23:13-25:

Pilate called together the chief priests,
the religious authorities, and all their cohorts.

Then he said:
       “You brought Jesus into my court,
              accusing him of being a troublemaker.
       But you’re witnesses that I’ve found him innocent,
              and so has Herod, who sent him back to me.
       This man doesn’t deserve the death penalty.
              I’ll have him beaten, then released.”

“Kill him! Set Barabbas free!” shouted the angry mob.
Now Barabbas had been in prison,
       charged with terrorism and murder.

Pilate wanted to set Jesus free,
       so he repeated himself to the mob.
But they shouted even louder,
       “Nail him to a cross! Nail him to a cross!”

“What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate once again.
“I’ve found him guilty of nothing deserving death.
       I’ll have him beaten and released.”

“Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!”
       came the incessant cry of the crowd.

Finally, Pilate gave in to the demands of the frenzied mob.
He freed Barabbas, the terrorist and murderer,
       then handed Jesus over to face certain death.

Translation commentary on Luke 23:18

Exegesis:

anekragon de pamplēthei ‘but they shouted out all together.’

pamplēthei lit. ‘with the whole multitude,’ adverb, ‘all together.’

aire touton lit. ‘take him away,’ ‘remove him,’ hence ‘away with him.’

apoluson de hēmin ton Barabban ‘release Barabbas for us.’

Translation:

They all cried out together, or, “the whole crowd shouted” (Translator’s New Testament).

Away with this man, implying that he should die; hence, ‘kill this man, or, him’ (cf. An American Translation, Good News Translation, Bible de Jérusalem, Batak Toba), or, ‘destroy this man’ (Javanese).

Release to us Barabbas, or, if the force of “to us” has to be described, “We want B. set free” (Phillips, similarly Sundanese), “… let us have B.” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation). Us has exclusive force.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 23:18

23:18a

But they all cried out in unison: The phrase they all cried out in unison indicates that the people shouted together the same thing. Here is another way to translate this:

But there was a general outcry. (Revised English Bible)

they: The word they probably refers back to “the chief priests, the rulers, and the people” in 23:13. Refer back to them here in a natural way in your language. Other ways to refer back to them are:

the crowd and their leaders
-or-
the people (New Century Version)

Away with this man: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Away with this man is more literally “take away this one.” In this context it is used as an idiom to mean “Get rid of this man!” or “Kill this man!”

Some ways to translate the idiom are:

• Translate the meaning of the idiom. For example:

Kill him (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Execute him

• Translate the Greek idiom literally and give the meaning. For example:

Take this man away ⌊and kill him⌋!

• Use an idiom from your language that means “kill him” or “execute him.”

• Translate the meaning of the idiom in a clear and natural way in your language.

this man: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as this man literally means “this one.” Here it was a disrespectful way to refer to Jesus. It is good to use an expression in your language that also implies disrespect.

23:18b

Release Barabbas to us: Some background information is implied here. At the time when Pilate was governor of Judea, there was a custom that he must release one of the Jewish prisoners during the time of the Passover festival. When the Jewish people said, Release Barabbas to us, they were asking Pilate to fulfill that custom by setting Barabbas free instead of Jesus.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Set Barabbas free for us! (Good News Translation)
-or-
Barabbas is the one we want you to release!
-or-

⌊Instead of him,⌋ we want Barabbas to be freed!

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