Barabbas

American  

[buh-rab-uhs] / bəˈræb əs /

noun

1. (in the Bible) a condemned criminal pardoned by Pilate in order to appease the mob, which demanded that he be freed instead of Jesus.

---

Barabbas British  

/ bəˈræbəs /

noun

1. New Testament a condemned robber who was released at the Passover instead of Jesus (Matthew 27:16)

---

Example Sentences

The "family friendly" show had been described as "a darkly imaginative, richly rendered fantasy story", and had been written by playwright Zinnie Harris with music by Louis Barabbas.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2025

“A Hum San Sui,” by Kentaro Kujirai and Barabbas Okuyama, the Japanese choreographers and performers, seemed ill-served by film.

From New York Times • Jan. 16, 2022

Performance is the thing: a puppet show of Jesus and Barabbas, and a further work based on the sprawling Odd Man Out, which Chetwynd first performed last year.

From The Guardian • Oct. 1, 2012

But producers also continued casting Borgnine in action films such as "Three Bad Men," "The Vikings," "Torpedo Run," "Barabbas," "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Wild Bunch."

From Seattle Times • Jul. 8, 2012

Then cried they all again saying, Not this man, but Barabbas.

From Time and Tide by Weare and Tyne Twenty-five Letters to a Working Man of Sunderland on the Laws of Work by Ruskin, John