Verse 7
And there was one named Barabbas ,.... A prisoner of that name at Jerusalem;
which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him : he had been at the head of a seditious mob, and he and his accomplices were taken and put in prison:
who had committed murder in the insurrection ; which may be connected either with Barabbas, and read in the singular number, as it is in the Vulgate Latin version, "he had committed"; or with the seditious persons he lay bound with, and be read in the plural number, "they had committed murder", as it is in the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions; and so in the ancient copies; and the Ethiopic renders it, "he was bound with seditious persons and murderers"; though, no doubt, he was guilty of murder as well as they; and so Peter calls him a murderer, Acts 3:14 . About this time murders were very frequently committed: the Jews say F18 Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 9. Maimon. Hilch. Rotzeach. c. 9. sect. 12. that
"from the time that murderers increased, the slaying of the red heifer ceased; (the reason the commentators F19 Jarchi & Bartienora in ib. give, is, because they were known who were accustomed to commit murder;) and that was from the time that Eleazar ben Dinai came, and Techinah ben Perishah he was called; and they called him again the son of a murderer;'
See Gill on Matthew 27:16 .
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