Bible Strands
Mark 15:11
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas to them instead.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The chief priests act toward the gathered crowd during Pilate’s Passover release offer, immediately after Jesus is handed over and just before Pilate demands a final decision on his fate.
The words — ἀνέσεισαν (aneseisan) literally means “stirred up” or “provoked,” describing the priests’ active agitation of the crowd, while μᾶλλον (mallon) translates to “instead” or “rather,” marking the desired substitution of Barabbas for Jesus.
The thread — This manipulation reappears in Matthew 27:20, where chief priests and elders persuade crowds to demand Barabbas’s release, and is recalled in Acts 3:14 as the crowd’s rejection of the Holy and Righteous One in favor of a murderer.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how institutional authority can weaponize public pressure to secure a desired outcome, requiring readers to track the mechanics of that coercion without softening its implications.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.
Cross-references
- Acts 3:14 You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
- Matthew 27:20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus put to death.
- Hosea 5:1 “Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O royal house! For this judgment is against you because you have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.
- John 18:40 “Not this man,” they shouted, “but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was an insurrectionist.)