These four incidents give a picture as to the sort of a man Pilate was. He was a typical Roman of his day;
arrogant, and with little understanding of the Jews – whose governor he was. Above all, he was stubborn
and unyielding. But when he came face to face with Y‘shua and had to judge him, he became a different
man. In many ways he seems to be secretly admiring Y‘shua the accused, unsure of himself and strangely
accommodating to the Jewish authorities.
So what really happened in the Roman court that day? Whatever it was, it made Pilate the best-known judge
who has ever lived. We will look thoroughly into the Roman trials as we proceed through this chapter.
27:3-10 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet―(3) Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and
brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, (4) Saying, I have sinned in that I have
betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. (5) And he cast down the
pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. (6) And the chief priests took the
silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. (7)
And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. (8) Wherefore that field
was called, The field of blood, unto this day. (9) Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the
prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the
children of Israel did value; (10) And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.‖
This verse presents a problem, as Zechariah (Zech 11:12-13) is the actual source or this prophecy and not
Jeremiah. There are several possible explanations for this:
As seen earlier in Matthew, this could be a case of subsequent scribal error. The Shem-Tob Hebrew
Matthew has Zechariah as the prophet in this verse. We view this as the most likely explanation over the
next two verses, as this shows a clear difference between translations.
(12) ―And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my
price thirty pieces of silver.
(13) And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I
took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD‖. (Zech 11:12-13)
It could also be that Jeremiah is referred to as the "source", since in ancient times the scrolls of the "minor"
prophets (i.e. Zechariah) were bound together with those of the "major" prophets (i.e., Jeremiah), and that
the book of Jeremiah was indeed the "head" of the grouping. Although this is possible, it would be the only
use of this method in the Gospels, making it somewhat unlikely.
It could be that Matthew is combining two prophecies which contain elements of the other. Although this
device is used (at the Midrashic level of Hebrew Bible commentary), there doesn't seem to be a strong
reason for it here.
27:11-17 Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?―(11) And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the
Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. (12) And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders,
he answered nothing. (13) Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against
thee? (14) And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. (15) Now at
that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. (16) And they had
then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. (17) Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto
them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?‖
Y‟shua or Barabbas? A Yom Kippur nuggetPerez and Zerah was a foreshadowed picture of the two goats used on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and
the two goats were a shadow of Y‘shua and Barabbas.
―Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they
wished. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they had gathered
together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called
Christ?'' (Matt 27:15-17 NKJV)
Here we are told that Y‘shua is brought before Pilate. Pilate, who finds no fault in Y‘shua and personally
does not want to put him to death, plots to put Y‘shua up against Barabbas and let the people choose whom
they want to set free. "Surely they will choose Barabbas; after all he was a 'notorious prisoner‘", had to be