Horace Abram Rigg, Jr. Source: Journal of Biblical ... - YoYo.pl

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BARABBAS' HORACE ABRAM RIGG, JR. WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY T HE literature concerning the trial of Jesus, almost endless in extent and variety, is too well known to warrant my listing it here.2 Commentaries have followed commentaries, and in recent decades they have often been largely based upon each other or upon a selection of each other's footnotes. For much of the trial the data at our disposal are scanty, subject to several interpretations (often contradictory), and, particularly for the Judaic side, not always adequately studied and appraised. The result has often been that convictions run high, or that desperate measures lead to despair, or else -following Pilate's respect for the hygienic condition of his hands3 - that studied ' I am indebted, for countless kindnesses and advice, to my friend and colleague of the law faculty, Dean C. M. Finfrock, to Dr. E. Bruck of Harvard University, and to Mr. G. Thayer of the Cleveland Public Library. I owe much to the scholarly advice and editorial acumen of Dr. R. H. Pfeiffer. Their mention here does not, of course, constitute an endorsement of the product. This paper is one of several peripheral studies in my study of the rise and fall of Judaic Christianity. The hypothesis I present here is fantastic. I offer it solely in the hope that ultimately some good may come from it ot its rebuttal. 2 Suffice it to mention the following, all of which have rather full bibliog- raphies - emphasizing, generally, the particular bent of the author: W. M. Chandler, The Trial of Jesus; fr m a 1lawyer's standpoint (New York, 1925); G. Aicher, "Der Prozess Jesu" \Kanonistische Studien u. Texte III. Bonn, 1929); J. Juster, Les Juifs dans b'Empire Romain II (Paris, 1914) 136 ff. cited hereafter simply as Juster); and R. W. Husband, The Prosecution of Jesus (Princeton, 1916). The latest study is in S. Zeitlin, Who Crucified Jesus? New York, 1942. 3 Even this gesture of Pilate's is variously interpreted. Thus, Melito, Bishop of Sardis, "Homily on the Passion" ed. Bonner, Studies and Documents XII (London-Philadelphia, 1940) 152/3 line 18. 417
418 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE unwillingness to deal thoroughly with the problems becomes an art. In this paper I propose to confine myself to one incident in the trial, viz., that particular part of it which concerns Barabbas. Perhaps no incident in the trial has led, on the one hand, to such extravagances of exegetical fancy and, on the other hand, to greater despair or a more beguiling indulgence in the magic of hit-and-run references. Opinion, both sacred and profane, has for many centuries varied widely and strongly on what to make of it. All opinion (certainly since Origen's time) has been formulated on the story as bequeathed to us in the traditionally accepted texts. As such, it has lately been simply thrown out,4 or classed as a minor episode fitted into a trial that swarms with "impossibilities, improbabilities, and inconsistencies,"5 or else nicely ignored.6 It is my purpose to suggest that the difficulties encountered are due to the (accidental?) fixation of the story in a form that does not adequately approximate the original event- or at least its earlier recounting. This thesis will be presented in the following manner. I. I shall briefly appraise the past attempts to understand the story as given in the Textus Receptus (not severely emended for the better, here, in the Revised Text founded on B and K), particularly the so-called "release" of Barabbas. A perusal of these attempts (of which what follows can only be a summary) will show that no satisfactory precedent or parallel -direct or indirect -has ever been found. II. I shall undertake an examination of the textual variants, showing, as hinted above, what seems the startling probability that the earliest readings - written or oral - were different from those traditionally accepted since the fourth century. III. I shall try to show what was, and is, known about the person and the name Barabbas. IV. I shall propose a possible solution and very briefly develop some suggestive implications of that solution. 4 So, e. g. A. Loisy, Les ?vangiles Synoptiques II (Paris, 1908) 644. s So, e. g. C. Guignebert, Jesus (New York, 1935) 471. 6 So, e. g. E. P. Gould, "Mark" ICC (New York, 1907) 285 ff. and S. S. Aiyar, The Trial of Jesus (New York, 1915). Probably the latest (5th) edition of H. Graetz, Geschichte d. Juden III. 1 (Leipzig, 1905) also?
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Horace Abram Rigg, Jr. Source: Journal of Biblical ... - YoYo.pl

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