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Which Jesus was Crucified, and which Jesus was freed?
Dr Jerald Dirks (former ordained minister (deacon) in the United Methodist Church)
A Crucial One-Word Deletion
"Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him... But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified... Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified." (Matthew 27: 15-18, 20-22, 26, King James Version)
The above passage from the King James Version recounts part of the famous story of Jesus being tried before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. The crowd is given a choice as to which of the two prisoners Pilate will release. The crowd chooses Barabbas, who is subsequently released, and "Jesus which is called Christ" is reportedly taken away and crucified. However, the above passage, which is taken from relatively late Greek texts has a crucial one-word omission in two places. The New Revised Standard Version, unlike the King James Version, goes back to ancient Greek texts to supply the key missing word. However, it is not just in ancient Greek manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew that one finds the missing word; it is also found in ancient Syriac manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew and in the writings of Origen (circa 185-254 CE). [1]
As seen below in quoting from the New Revised Standard Version, the missing word is none other than "Jesus."
"At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?'" (Matthew 27:16-17, New Revised Standard Version)
It turns out that there are two people named Jesus who are standing in judgement before Pilate. The crowd chooses one Jesus to be released and the other Jesus to be crucified. So who was who? Before beginning to answer that question, one needs to examine a couple of misleading translations to be found in the Bible.
Misleading Translations in the Bible: Multiple Messiahs, Multiple Christs
It is a fundamental belief of Christianity that Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) was the messiah. However, few Christians actually understand what was meant by that concept. In order to appreciate what the word "messiah" actually means, one has to digress briefly into a journey through the Hebrew language.
The Hebrew verbal root "mashah" means to anoint, to consecrate through anointing, or to smear with oil or occasionally with some other substance. It occurs approximately 70 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, and it usually indicates that something is being specially set apart for an office or function. For example, in Genesis 28:18-19, Jacob awakens from sleep, sets upright the rock that he had used for his pillow, pours oil on the rock in consecrating it for God, and renames the place that he as at Bethel (House of God). In later referring back to this event in Gensis 31:13, the reader is told that Jacob had anointed (mashah) a pillar at Bethel. Likewise, the vessels used in worship at both the tabernacle and the later temple were consecrated by being anointed (mashah), as illustrated by the following verses, in which the current author has inserted the word "mashah" within parentheses each time it actually occurs:
"And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint (mashah) it, to sanctify it." (Exodus 29:36, King James Version)
"And thou shalt anoint (mashah) the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy." (Exodus 30:26-29, King James Version)
"And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint (mashah) the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint (mashah) the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy." (Exodus 40:9-10, King James Version)
However, it was not just inanimate objects that were being anointed in the Old Testament, thus being sanctified and consecrated. People were also being anointed (mashah) and thus set aside for some special office. Who were these people? They were priests, prophets, and kings, with the latter group being the most commonly mentioned. Thus, there are references to priests being anointed (mashah) in the following verses:
"And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint (mashah) them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office." (Exodus 28:40-41)
"And thou shalt anoint (mashah) Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office." (Exodus 30:30)
Likewise, the kings of ancient Israel were anointed (mashah), as illustrated in the following verses, the first of which references David being anointed king, the second Solomon, and the third Jehu. The third verse also documents that prophets were anointed (mashah) to their prophetic office:
"And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint (mashah) him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed (mashah) him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward..." (1 Samuel 16:11-13, King James Version)
"And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint (mashah) him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon." (1 Kings 1:34, King James Version)
"And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint (mashah) to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint (mashah) to be prophet in thy room." (1 Kings 19:16, King James Version)
Having established that the Old Testament states that one anoints (mashah) the kings, prophets, and priests of Israel, one turns to the Hebrew word "mashiah" (the anointed), which is derived from the verbal root "mashah." In Greek, the Hebrew word "mashiah" is transliterated as "messias," which is how it appears in the King James Version of John 1:41 and 4:25, and it is from this that we get the anglicized word "messiah." The Hebrew word "mashiah" occurs 39 times in the Hebrew scriptures. In its substantive form, the use of the word "mashiah" is typically restricted in the Hebrew scriptures to kings ("the Lord's anointed"); however, as a plural of the substantive, it is used in reference to the patriarchs ("mine anointed ones"), and as an adjective, it is used to describe priests ("the anointed priests"). As one can thus see, the title "messiah" is hardly unique to Jesus. In fact, the Protestant Old Testament is practically overflowing with different messiahs.
(1) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were mashiahs, i.e., messiahs.
"Saying, Touch not mine anointed (messiahs, i.e., in this case, by the context of verses 13-21, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), and do my prophets no harm." (1 Chronicles 16:22, King James Version)
"Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law... He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed (messiahs), and do my prophets no harm." (Psalms 105:9-10, 14-15, King James Version)
(2) King Saul was a messiah.
"And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed (messiah), to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed (messiah) of the Lord... And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord's anointed (messiah)." (1 Sameul 24:5-6, 9-10, King James Version)
(3) King David was a messiah.
"And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left... But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord's anointed (messiah)?" (2 Samuel 16:5-6, 19:21, King James Version)
"Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed (messiah) of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue." (2 Samuel 23:1-2, King James Version)
(4) King Solomon was a messiah.
"For Solomon... spread forth his hands toward heaven. And said... O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed (messiah)..." (2 Chronicles 6:13-14, 42, King James Version)
(5) King Zedekiah of Judah, who was imprisoned ("taken in their pits") in Babylon, was a messiah.
"Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death... The breath of our nostrils, the anointed (messiah) of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen." (Jeremiah 52:11 and Lamentations 4:20, King James Version)
(6) The priests of Israel were messiahs.
"These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; these are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed (messiah) priests, whom he ordained to minister as priests." (Numbers 3:2-3, New Revised Standard Version)
"If it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull of the herd without blemish as a sin offering to the Lord... The anointed (messiah) priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting... The anointed (messiah) priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting... And so the priest, anointed (messiah) from among Aaron’s descendants as a successor, shall prepare it." (Leviticus 4:3, 5, 16, and 6:22, New Revised Standard Version)
(7) It is even the case that one non-Israelite, King Cyrus of Persia, is directly called the messiah of God.
"Thus saith the Lord to his anointed (messiah), to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut." (Isaiah 45:1, King James Version)
Clearly, the Bible speaks of multiple messiahs and demonstrates that the concept of messiah was not uniquely applied to Jesus. In fact, during the period between the Old Testament and the New Testament, such Jewish writings as the Testament of Levi 18 and Testament of Reuben 6 (both part of the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs) and Appendix A 2:19-20 to the Manual of Discipline (part of the Dead Sea Scrolls) suggested that the Jews were awaiting two messiahs, one a priestly messiah from the line of Aaron, and the other a kingly messiah from the line of David.
Just as the word "messiah" was not uniquely applied to Jesus, neither was the term "Christ." As mentioned previously, when mashiah was transliterated from Hebrew into Greek, it became messias. However, when mashiah is actually translated into Greek, it becomes christos.
The word "Christ" is merely the anglicized version of the Greek word "christos." Therefore, in each of the above cases where we find some Old Testament person being called messiah, we simultaneously could be calling him Christ!
The translators of the Bible have not mistranslated anything when it comes to mashah, mashiah, messias, and christos. However, they clearly have not always handled these terms the same way. Sometimes they translate all the way into English and use the term "anointed." At other times, such as when referring to Jesus, they fail to translate the term into English, thus creating the illusion of some unique title being given too Jesus. While that doesn't constitute a mistranslation, it is misleading.
Given the above understanding of the word "messiah," just exactly what was meant when Pontius Pilate asked the crowd his question as he sat in judgement over Jesus?
"At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?'" (Matthew 27:16-17, New Revised Standard Version)
Just who was "Jesus was is called the Messiah?" As has been seen, those who were anointed, i.e., were messiahs, were kings, prophets, and priests, especially the high priest. From Josephus' listing of the high priests of Israel, we know this Jesus was not the high priest. That appears to leave only prophets and kings as possible offices held or claimed by this Jesus who, according to the Bible, was crucified. Which one was it - prophet or king?
The canonical gospels rather unanimously answer that question for us by stating that the charge for which this Jesus was crucified was used as a taunt by the Roman soldiers, who tortured him and was also written above his head on the cross:
"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!... And they crucified him... And set up over his head his accusation written, This Is Jesus The King Of The Jews." (Matthew 27:27-29, 35, 37, King James Version)
"And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!... And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, The King Of The Jews." (Mark 15:16-18, 25-26)
"And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him... And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, This Is The King Of The Jews." (Luke 23:33, 36-38, King James Version)
"And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written." (John 19:19-22, King James Version)
The above verses make very clear that the Jesus who was crucified was executed for claiming to be the king of the Jews, a capital offense against the Roman Empire. Had this Jesus led an insurrection against Rome? Had he used military force to try to overthrow the Roman authority in Palestine? Such events were not uncommon in first-century Palestine, and it may very well be that he had attempted armed rebellion against Rome. After all, he did claim to be the king of the Jews, a sovereign ruler independent of Rome.
Barabbas
Having dealt with the "Jesus who is called the Messiah" of Matthew 27:17 and 22, one turns to the "Jesus Barabbas" of Matthew 27:16-17. The issue here is that the word "Barabbas" is not a name in the conventional sense. Rather, Barabbas is a two-word patronymic, i.e., a statement that someone is the son of so-and-so. In reality, Jesus Barabbas should be written Jesus bar Abbas, where "bar" is the Aramaic word for "son of." This can be readily seen by looking at the King James Version of Matthew 16:17, where Peter is called "Simon Barjona," and comparing it to the New Revised Standard Version, where Peter is called "Simon son of Jonah."
However, even at this point, the term has not been dealt with sufficiently. This is because the word "Abbas" is not a name. It is, instead, an Aramaic noun that still needs to be translated. When the entire term is translated from the Aramaic, it becomes "Jesus, the son of the father" or "Jesus, the son of the Father."
Is it little wonder that the Bible translators have failed to translate "Barabbas" as it should be translated?! The text of Matthew 27:11-13 actually suggests that a Jesus who is claiming to be the king of the Jews was crucified but that Jesus, the son of the Father, was released and set free. By not translating "Barabbas," the translators have given us a misleading translation at best.
The Name "Jesus"
Within most English translations of the Bible, the name "Jesus" is treated as being rather unique. However, this is far from actually being the case. There are many people named Jesus running around in the Bible, but by a verbal sleight-of-hand, this fact is obscured. "Jesus" is merely the anglicized version of the Greek name "Iesous," which in turn is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew "Yeshua" and "Yhoshua," which elsewhere in the Bible are usually given as "Joshua."
Once one realises that the name "Jesus" is elsewhere in the Bible usually rendered as the name "Joshua," one finds many people named Jesus/Joshua. There is Joshua (Jesus) the son of Nun, the successor to Moses (Exodus 33:11; Numbers 11:28; 14:30; 38; 26-25; 27:18; 32:12; 28; 34:17; Deuteronomy 1:38; 31:23; 32:44; 34:9; Joshua 1:1, 2:1, 23; 6:6; 14:1; 17:4; 19:49; 51; 21:1; 24:29; Judges 2:8; 1 Kings 16:34; 1 Chronicles 7:27).
There is also Joshua (Jesus) of Beth-shemesh (1 Samuel 5:14; 18), Joshua (Jesus) the governor of a city (2 Kings 23:8), the high priest Joshua (Jesus) the son of Jehozadak (Haggai 1:1; 12; 14; 2:2; 4; Zechariah 3:1, 3, 6, 8-9; 6:11), and Joshua (Jesus) the son of Eliezer (Luke 3:29).
Furthermore, of the 28 high priests of Judaism from the time of Herod the Great (circa 73 BCE-4BCE) to the destruction of the Temple in 70CE, four were named Jesus, including Jesus who was the son of Phabet or Phiabi, Jesus who was the son of Sec or Sei, Jesus who was the son of Damneus, and Jesus who was the son of Gamaliel.
Given the sum total of the above, it should be quite clear that Jesus was hardly a unique name. Unfortunately, the manner in which the Bible translators have handled the names Jesus, Joshua, Yeshua, Iesosu, and Yhoshua can easily lead readers to assume quite erroneously that "Jesus" was somehow a unique name applied to a unique person.
Son Of God
English translations of the canonical gospels frequently refer to Jesus (peace be upon him) as "Son of God" of "God's Son," with the "S" in "Son" always being capitalised. However, the original Greek text of the New Testament books does not distinguish between capital and lower case letters. Thus, the translation could just as easily and just as accurately be made "son of God" and "God's son." By employing a capital "S" in the English translations, the Bible translators are introducing a theological viewpoint, i.e., the supposed uniqueness of Jesus as "Son of God," that is not inherent in the original Greek text.
In point of fact, numerous people throughout the bible are referred to as being sons or children of God. For example, the Israelites as a whole, and especially the sub-tribe or Ephraim, are referred to as being the sons and children of God (Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1-3, 10-11; Jeremiah 21:9, 20). Israelite kings such as David (Psalms 2:7; 89:26-27) and Solomon (2 Samuel 7:13-14) were called the sons of God. Faithful Israelites were also called the sons of God (Deuteronomy 14:1).
In short, the phrase "son of God" was a metaphoric title that was applied to any righteous man. However, the translators do not capitalise the "s" in "son" when referring to those people. By capitalising the "S" in "Son" for Jesus (peace be upon him) but not for others, the translators are misleading the reader when it comes to the original Greek text of the New Testament, implying a uniqueness to Christ's "sonship" that is not warranted by the actual words being translated.
[What You Weren't Taught In Sunday School, pp. 228-242]
