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Glite Dictionary
✝️ Biblical prisoner 📖 A novel or film
Barabbas

Barabbas

5 9.6
A prisoner people chose to free instead of Jesus before his crucifixion
  • proper noun
  • /bəˈræbəs/
  • Literature
: Barrabás
  • Now Barabbas was a robber.
  • Free Barabbas
  • Release Barabbas
  • Barabbas and Jesus

Examples

  • Which one do you want me to set free, Barabbas or Jesus?

    Judas (2004)

  • The majority still cry out for Barabbas.

    Blog text (23)

  • Not this man, but Barabbas.

    Blog text (10)

  • We are now holding a notorious murderer... ...Barabbas.

    The Passion of the Christ (2004)

  • Free Barabbas!

    The King of Kings (2025)

  • The people rejected Jesus, crying out to Pilate that they wanted Barabbas, who was a robber, a criminal!

    Blog text (10)

  • He remembers his own voice shouting among the Jewish people all crowded together: "We'd rather have Barabbas!"

    Academic text (2009)

  • Which one do you want me to set free, Barabbas or Jesus?

  • Here is Barabbas, guilty of sedition and murder.

  • The public betrayed the Lord and took Barabbas and crucified Jesus.

Surface Forms

Barabbas main

Etymology

Barabbas comes from Aramaic parts bar 'son' and abba 'father', so the name literally means 'son of the father'. This simple meaning is a handy memory hook to remember the prisoner who was set free instead of Jesus in the Gospels.