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Bible Dictionaries
Insurrection
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or INSURRECTION (στάσις, Mark 15:7, and Luke 23:19; Luke 23:25 where Authorized Version gives ‘sedition’) is defined by Plato (Rep. v. 470 B) thus: ἐπὶ γὰρ τῇ τοῦ οἰκείου ἔχθρᾳ στάσις κἐκληται, ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων πόλεμος. Its use in these passages is important as showing that Barabbas was not merely a robber (λῃστής, John 18:40), but also a leader in one of those fierce fanatical out bursts which were so common in the last years of the Jewish nation, especially from the accession of Herod. Josephus tells of notable leaders such as Ezekias, his son Judas, and his four grandsons, all of whom were put to death (Ant. xiv. ix. 2, xvii. x. 5, xviii. i. 1; BJ ii. iv. 1, viii. 1, xiii. 5, etc.; cf. Acts 5:36 f., Acts 21:38). Josephus in his account of the final troubles uses ζηλωτής and λῃστής almost as convertible terms. Nothing further is known of this particular στάσις, unless, as Ewald (HI [Note: I History of Israel.] vi. 67 f.) suggests, it may have arisen on account of the aqueduct which Pilate had built with money taken from the Temple treasury (Josephus, BJ ii. ix. 4; cf. Luke 13:4). Barabbas may have been moved by patriotic ideas at the first, becoming an outlaw and notorious robber when his rising was suppressed; or he may have used aspirations after freedom merely as a cloak for brigandage (see Westcott, Some Lessons of the Revised Version of the NT, p. 74 f.).* [Note: There is no reference to the insurrection in the Sin. Syr. Gospels: see Mrs. Lewis in Exp. Times, xii. (1901), pp. 118, 271.] He was ‘lying bound with them that had made insurrection’ (στασιαστῶν, v.l. συστασιαστῶν, Mark 15:7), including probably the two robbers who were crucified; for him the third cross may have been intended. Such men had a deep hold on the popular sympathy, which goes to explain the strong demand of the people for the release of their hero, and the interest which the priests showed on behalf of Barabbas, notwithstanding their pretence to holiness. But the hollowness of their newfound zeal for Caesar was thereby exposed, seeing that Barabbas was admittedly guilty of the crime which they alleged against Jesus. See, further, Barabbas.
Literature.—Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, ii. 576 ff.; Trench, Studies in the Gospels (No. 15).
W. H. Dundas.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Insurrection'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/i/insurrection.html. 1906-1918.
