Matthew 27:16

‘And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.'

The word ‘notable' here simply indicates well known. He was someone well known to the crowds as a patriot, and featured strongly in the minds of his captors as a notorious insurrectionist.

‘Called Barabbas (son of Abbas).' An unusual Greek phrase as it stands, for we might expect another name prior to it. We can compare John 9:11, ‘a man who is called Jesus'; and Luke 22:47, ‘called Judas'. On the other hand in Mark 10:46 there is a man who is the son of Timaeus who is still simply called Bartimaeus. Thus on that basis it would appear that such a name can stand by itself. Some authorities here have the name ‘Jesus' added to Barabbas, and Origen (who rejected it on theological grounds) refers to very early manuscripts which contained it (see also above). Indeed he says ‘many early manuscripts do not contain it' which might suggest, although not necessarily, that many did. (It could simply indicate that some did) The unlikelihood of this reading finding its way into a text, and the good likelihood that if it were there it would be excised by devout Christian copyists, is often seen as favouring its inclusion, and it may well be that originally this read ‘Jesus who is called Barabbas'. On the other hand the manuscript evidence is not at all strong among the manuscripts that we do have, and it could equally be said that it is the kind of thing that might well have appealed to a certain kind of mind as an interesting addition and contrast to introduce, for Barabbas could also loosely mean ‘son of the father (abba)', and ‘Joshua/Jesus' was a popular name. Thus in view of the manuscript evidence we must probably reject it.

Barabbas and his fellow-insurrectionists were murderers, although probably seen as patriots by certain of the Jews because they would be seen as acting against the Romans in the name of God. It was in fact from such as these that many expected the Messiah to come. Such men would thus have had a certain amount of popular support among the more belligerent Jews, and the presence of such Jews at this time would be expected because of the well know custom. That custom would also mean that at least two men would have been brought there by arrangement in order to be offered to the crowds, which would explain why two other insurrectionists were already there, who would be executed along with Jesus, and why there was a crowd gathered here at all at this time. Apart from those deliberately brought together by the Chief Priests and Elders with a view to obtaining support for their case, and a few sightseers, this crowd would therefore have been very much one which favoured the insurrectionists. We must not therefore parallel them with the crowds who had welcomed Jesus (Matthew 21:9), except by way of contrast. These may well in fact mainly have been Jerusalemites. It is thus going far beyond the evidence to suggest that it was the whole Jewish race that condemned Jesus. Indeed had a consensus been taken among the Jews of Palestine at that time Jesus would probably have been revealed as highly favoured. That is why, far from it being true that the Jews wanted to kill Jesus, we will rather discover that many would shortly respond to Him fully, both in Jerusalem and throughout the world.

‘Notable.' The word can be seen as either positive or negative in its significance. He was probably seen as notorious by Pilate, and as a hero by the Jews. He was the kind of man who appealed to their patriotism, the kind who carried into practise what they often thought in their hearts.