Barabbas
This article is about the biblical figure. Barabbas was also the title of a 1961 film, with Anthony Quinn as Barabbas, Silvana Mangano and Jack Palance. Barabbas was also the title of a 1893 book by Marie Corelli.
In the Christian story of the passion of Jesus Christ, Barabbas (Aramaic Bar-abbas, "son of the father"), actually Jesus bar-Abbas, was the insurrectionary murderer whom Pontius Pilate freed at the end of the Passover feast in Jerusalem. The Jews (and other inhabitants of the city?) were offered a choice of whether to have Barabbas or Jesus released from Roman custody, according to the Gospels of Matthew (27:16), Mark (15:7), Luke (23:18 - 19), and John (18:40).
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 Barabbas to be released and Jesus to be crucified.
"Jesus Barabbas"
Some early texts of Matthew present Barabbas' name twice as Jesus bar Abbas. 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]?"
Several early manuscripts of Matthew, including 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, support the fact that Barabbas' name was originally Jesus Barabbas, and some 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.
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.
A possible parable
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. 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. This "practice" of releasing a prisoner is said by some analysts to be a literary creation of Mark, who needed to have a contrast to the true "son of the father" in order to set up an edifying contest, in a form of parable.
A critical analysis of possibly fictive elements in Mark's series of ironic parallels, and a comparison with Homer's contest between the beggars for the approval of the suitors in the Odyssey, is laid out in detail in Dennis R. MacDonald, The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark[1].