What Does Matthew 27:17 Mean in the King James?
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?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Pilate’s question makes release hinge on desire: the answer decides which of two men is unbound.
THE MEANING
You stand inside the question now: whom do you want released, Barabbas (Βαραββᾶς, Barabbas; Aramaic בַּר אַבָּא, bar ʾabbā, “son of the father”) or Jesus (Ἰησοῦς, Iēsous; from Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ, Yēshūaʿ, “deliverance”), named as the Anointed One (Χριστός, Christós)? The question makes desire decide which person leaves confinement while the other remains held. Freedom appears here as a choice with a human cost.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that release is costless: this question sets one man’s freedom beside another man’s continued confinement.
THE ROOT
ἀπολύσω
apolýsō
GROWS FROM
λύω
Loosen, unbind, release.
The form ἀπολύσω (apolýsō, “I release”) comes from ἀπολύω (apolýō, “release, dismiss”), whose core λύω (lýō, “loosen, unbind”) gives release a physical image of loosening. The related λύτρον (lýtron, “ransom”) adds the cost of opening confinement, making the choice in this question carry the weight of a human life.
ALSO GROWS
lýsis: Loosening; release.
λύσις
This noun grows from the same λύω root, showing release as the act of loosening what holds someone.
lýtron: Ransom; the price or means of release.
λύτρον
This related word carries the cost of release, deepening the human stakes of choosing whom to set free.
Χριστόν
Christón
GROWS FROM
χρίω
Anoint, apply oil; mark or appoint through anointing.
Χριστός (Christós, “the Anointed One”) is formed from χρίω (chríō, “to anoint”), so the title names Jesus by an act and a status rather than as a family name. The question places this identity beside Barabbas, whose name means “son of the father,” as it asks whom you want released.
ALSO GROWS
Christós: The Anointed One.
Χριστός
This title derives from χρίω and identifies the one who has been anointed.
chrîsma: Anointing; an anointing substance.
χρῖσμα
This noun shares the χρ root and names the act or means from which the title Χριστός is formed.
THE PATTERN
Across scripture, release opens confinement into restored freedom.
Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,THE THREAD
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.The Greek verb translated “loose” here, λύσῃς (lýsēs), comes from the same λύω root beneath Pilate’s “release.” In this verse, loosing is a concrete decision over two people; in Matthew 16:19, the same root names unbinding with reach on earth and in heaven.
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