# Why did the crowd/mob in Jerusalem choose Barabbas over Jesus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 30, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-crowd-mob-in-jerusalem-choose-barabbas-over-jesus/555640 "2010-09-30T18:52:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-crowd-mob-in-jerusalem-choose-barabbas-over-jesus/555640/41 "2010-10-02T12:42:28Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > - My hunch is that a story originally about how Jesus almost got sprung (but didn’t because of this mistake) got turned into an excuse to write a story that came up with a reason to blame one group in Jerusalem for his death because they deliberately asked for the other guy to get released. But I admit there’s nothing yto back it up beyond what I give above. I’m Brian Me Too!! My wife and I are both Brian ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-crowd-mob-in-jerusalem-choose-barabbas-over-jesus/555640/42 "2010-10-02T17:05:33Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > It was written like this to make it clear the JEWS not the Romans were responsible, though as another poster pointed out, it was all part of God’s plan Good old predestination. If it was God’s immutable plan, then it had to go down that way. So then none of the “merely mortal” Jews or Romans were at fault at all. They had no choice. They were only doing what they were predestined and born to do. The same can be said for Judas. He was born to be the betrayer. So much for free will I guess. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-crowd-mob-in-jerusalem-choose-barabbas-over-jesus/555640/43 "2010-10-02T17:56:40Z")
> [@Barabbas126](#): > > “… device or trick”? To what end? > . . . > “…contemptible killer”? Although ‘killing’ (a human) may be ‘contemptible’… in this case, killing seemed ‘righteous’ in the eyes of the party of the Theocrats as well as the Secularists… as each believed that their position was correct. So strong were their passions that neither side would concede to the other… until they destroyed their own nation… in that process, ‘Christianity’ was born.[ To separate the peaceable mythic Yeshua from the historical rebel leader. In this construction, the Gospels are more Hellenistic than Jewish. > [@](#): > > "… actual Yeshua of Natsareth (Nazareth ?)… There was no town named “Nazareth”… until the ‘Christian’ (Greek) Church Hierarchy discovered that they couldn’t find any such named town in the fourth century… so, they created one. That a person might be a “Nazarene” does not mean ‘one from Nazareth’ (as the Greeks supposed)… rather, it is a Jewish sect (they lived in many places throughout Palestine)… Samson, as an example, was a Nazarene. It’s Natsareth, the “z” is a product of transliteration into Koine, where zeta stands for “dz.” It has nothing to do with Nazirites. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > ## The term “nazirite” comes from the Hebrew word nazir meaning “consecrated” or “separated” > > The name “Nazareth” may derive from the Hebrew verb na·tsar, נָצַר, meaning “watch, guard, keep.” ---
**Author:** ![Barabbas126](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Barabbas126](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barabbas126)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-crowd-mob-in-jerusalem-choose-barabbas-over-jesus/555640/44 "2010-10-02T19:55:44Z")
…and I suppose you really think that you’ve satisfactorily addressed the Thread/Post, -to the extent that it answers ‘Why did the crowd/mob in Jerusalem chose Barabbas over Jesus’. “Predestination” and “God’s plan” isn’t a particularly thoughtful ‘answer’, -it’s more like an intellectually lazy and knee-jerk response for not knowing very much (while suffering the need to participate in areas that are clearly over your pay-grade). I suppose it is also ‘predestination’ and ‘God’s plan’ that the Owner of this Forum includes an undisclosed number of pedestrians… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-crowd-mob-in-jerusalem-choose-barabbas-over-jesus/555640.md?page=2)