Matthew 27:21

21 So the governor answered [and] said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas!"

Matthew 27:21 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 27:21

The governor answered and said unto them
A second time, after some time had been allowed and taken up to consider of the matter, and which the chief priests and elders improved among the people against Jesus.

Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you?
for as these two were proposed, one of them must be released; and it lay in the breast of the people to choose which they would:

they said, Barabbas;
so that Christ was not only numbered among, and reckoned with transgressors, but he was accounted worse than the worst of them; a seditious person, a robber, and a murderer was preferred before him: see ( Acts 3:14 ) .

Matthew 27:21 In-Context

19 And [while] he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent [a message] to him, saying, "{Have nothing to do with that righteous man}, for I have suffered much as a result of a dream today because of him.")

20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds that they should ask for Barabbas and put Jesus to death.

21 So the governor answered [and] said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas!"

22 Pilate said to them, "What then should I do [with] Jesus, the one who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!"

23 And he said, "Why? What wrong has he done?" But they began to shout even louder, saying, "Let him be crucified!"

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("answered") has been translated as a finite verb