Barabba nel gruppo dei Dodici? Tradizioni apocrife, patristiche e varianti testuali

After outlining the figure of Barabbas in the Synoptic Gospels and in the Gospel of John, this study examines eight etymological hypotheses regarding the name “Barabbas” in light of apocryphal and patristic traditions, as well as textual variants. Some of these traditions relate the rebel arrested during a riot to the early Church in various ways. Reference is made to the Syriac text of Recognitiones I.60-61 of Pseudo-Clement (where Barabbas is one of the Twelve Apostles), to a passage from the Gospel of the Hebrews (cited by Jerome, Comm. IV in Matth. 27:16, where Barabbas is the son of “their master”), to the variant of Acts 15:22 attested in the Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis (where Barabbas is a member of the early Church), and finally to the Martyrdom of Pilate (an apocryphal source that presents Barabbas as the brother-in-law of Judas Iscariot).