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Luke 23:17

King James Version (KJV)

(For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.)

Translations

Luke 23:17 - Amplified Bible

{For it was necessary for him to release to them one prisoner at the Feast.}

Luke 23:17 - American Standard Version

Now he must needs release unto them at the feast one prisoner.

Luke 23:17 - Bible in Basic English

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Luke 23:17 - Darby Bible

( Now he was obliged to release one for them at the feast.)

Luke 23:17 - English Standard Version

Luke 23:17 - King James Version

(For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.)

Luke 23:17 - La Biblia de las Americas

Y tenìa obligaciòn de soltarles un preso en cada fiesta.

Luke 23:17 - The Message

Luke 23:17 - New American Standard Bible

[(Early mss do not contain this v) Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]

Luke 23:17 - Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy

Y tenìa obligaciòn de soltarles un preso en cada fiesta.

Luke 23:17 - World English Bible

Now he had to release one prisoner to them at the feast.

Luke 23:17 - Young's Living Translation

for it was necessary for him to release to them one at every feast,

Luke 23:17 - Additional Comments

There was a prevailing Passover custom in Jerusalem that allowed Pilate, the governor of Judea, to commute one prisoner's death sentence by popular request. This decision was to be a decision of the people, and was not Pilate's (vs 23-24). Pilate had assumed they would pick Jesus (vs 16). That would have been Pilate's choice (vs 20, 22). I also expect Pilate rally did not want to release Barabbas, because of his crimes and the future problems he could cause. But they chose Barabbas, who was there for rebellion and murderer (vs 18-19, 25).
Some scholars guess that Barabbas was a member of the sicarii, a militant Jewish movement that sought to overthrow the Roman occupiers of their land by force.

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