Meaning & History
Hellenized form of bar-Abbâ, which means "son of Abba" in Aramaic, derived from Aramaic bar meaning "son" combined with the Aramaic given name Abba. Since the name Abba means "father" in Aramaic, the literal meaning of the entire name would be "son of the father". In the Bible, Barabbas was a prisoner who was freed instead of Jesus Christ by Pontius Pilate during the Passover feast in Jerusalem.