The Meaning of Matthew 27:26 Explained

Matthew 27:26

KJV: Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

YLT: Then did he release to them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him up that he may be crucified;

Darby: Then he released to them Barabbas; but Jesus, having scourged him, he delivered up that he might be crucified.

ASV: Then released he unto them Barabbas; but Jesus he scourged and delivered to be crucified.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then  released he  Barabbas  unto them:  and  when he had scourged  Jesus,  he delivered  [him] to  be crucified. 

What does Matthew 27:26 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Under Mosaic Law the Jews could not scourge someone with more than40 lashes ( Deuteronomy 25:3; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:24). However here the Romans , not the Jews, were scourging Jesus. They had no limit on the number of lashes they could impose on a prisoner. They customarily used a leather whip with pieces of bone and or metal embedded in the thongs, a flagellum. Scourging with this whip often turned human flesh into pulp and exposed the bones and internal organs. [1] People frequently died from this type of flogging. The Romans used it to weaken prisoners before crucifixion. After this beating, Pilate sent Jesus to die (cf. Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 53:12). This scourging fulfilled Jesus" words in Matthew 20:19.
"Judas yielded to the devil in his great sin ( John 13:2; John 13:27); Peter yielded to the flesh when he denied his Lord; but Pilate yielded to the world and listened to the crowd." [2]
Matthew"s account of the trial before Pilate makes Jesus" innocence clear. [3] As in the religious trial, Jesus stood before an unjust judge whose personal prejudices guided him rather than justice. The self-sacrifice of the Suffering Servant also comes through in this trial. No one took Jesus" life from Him as a martyr. He laid it down for others in self-sacrifice.

Context Summary

Matthew 27:22-31 - The Stain Water Could Not Wash Away
No judge ought to have asked the crowd what he should do. But every man has to do with Christ. He is ever standing before the bar of conscience, and each of us must accept or condemn, do homage or crucify. If we do not pronounce for Him, we pronounce against Him; and there is a moment when our verdict becomes irrevocable. "What I have written, I have written." We are all writing our legend, and affixing it to the Cross for the universe to read, and a day comes when it is irreversible.
We may wash our hands after the deed of treachery is done, but water will not avail for Pilate, for Lady Macbeth, or for us. We need the blood of Christ, ere we can be cleansed from all sin, 1 John 5:6.
The King of men must wear a crown of the thorns with which sin is so closely identified. See Genesis 3:18. Only thus can the crown of universal empire be won! The robe of mockery must precede His Ascension vesture. The reed is appropriate, for it is through such that he wins and rules. See Isaiah 42:3; Isaiah 57:15. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 27

1  Jesus is delivered bound to Pilate
3  Judas hangs himself
19  Pilate, admonished of his wife,
20  and being urged by the multitude, washes his hands, and releases Barabbas
27  Jesus is mocked and crowned with thorns;
33  crucified;
39  reviled;
50  dies, and is buried;
62  his tomb is sealed and watched

Greek Commentary for Matthew 27:26

Scourged [πραγελλωσας]
The Latin verb flagellare. Pilate apparently lost interest in Jesus when he discovered that he had no friends in the crowd. The religious leaders had been eager to get Jesus condemned before many of the Galilean crowd friendly to Jesus came into the city. They had apparently succeeded. The scourging before the crucifixion was a brutal Roman custom. The scourging was part of the capital punishment. Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East, p. 269) quotes a Florentine papyrus of the year 85 a.d. wherein G. Septimius Vegetus, governor of Egypt, says of a certain Phibion: “Thou hadst been worthy of scourging … but I will give thee to the people.” [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 27:26

Matthew 27:32 His cross [τον σταυρον αυτου]
Jesus had used the term cross about himself (Matthew 16:24). It was a familiar enough picture under Roman rule. Jesus had long foreseen and foretold this horrible form of death for himself (Matthew 20:19; Matthew 23:24; Matthew 26:2). He had heard the cry of the mob to Pilate that he be crucified (Matthew 27:22) and Pilate‘s surrender (Matthew 27:26) and he was on the way to the Cross (Matthew 27:31). There were various kinds of crosses and we do not know precisely the shape of the Cross on which Jesus was crucified, though probably the one usually presented is correct. Usually the victim was nailed (hands and feet) to the cross before it was raised and it was not very high. The crucifixion was done by the soldiers (Matthew 27:35) in charge and two robbers were crucified on each side of Jesus, three crosses standing in a row (Matthew 27:38). [source]
Mark 15:15 To content the multitude [τωι οχλωι το ικανον ποιησαι]
A Latin idiom (satisfacere alicui), to do what is sufficient to remove one‘s ground of complaint. This same phrase occurs in Polybius, Appian, Diogenes Laertes, and in late papyri. Pilate was afraid of this crowd now completely under the control of the Sanhedrin. He knew what they would tell Caesar about him. See Matthew 27:26 for discussion of the scourging. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 27:26 mean?

Then he released to them - Barabbas and Jesus having flogged He delivered up [Him] that He might be crucified
Τότε ἀπέλυσεν αὐτοῖς τὸν Βαραββᾶν δὲ Ἰησοῦν φραγελλώσας παρέδωκεν ἵνα σταυρωθῇ

ἀπέλυσεν  he  released 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀπολύω  
Sense: to set free.
αὐτοῖς  to  them 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
τὸν  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Βαραββᾶν  Barabbas 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: Βαραββᾶς  
Sense: the captive robber whom the Jews begged Pilate to release instead of Christ.
Ἰησοῦν  Jesus 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰησοῦς  
Sense: Joshua was the famous captain of the Israelites, Moses’ successor.
φραγελλώσας  having  flogged 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: φραγελλόω 
Sense: to scourge.
παρέδωκεν  He  delivered  up  [Him] 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: παραδίδωμι  
Sense: to give into the hands (of another).
ἵνα  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
σταυρωθῇ  He  might  be  crucified 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: σταυρόω  
Sense: to stake, drive down stakes.