Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 15:7

"And there was one called Barabbas, [lying] bound with them that had made insurrection, men who in the insurrection had committed murder." — Mark 15:7 (ASV)

There apparently had been an uprising in the city of Jerusalem (cf. Lk 23:19), and one of the insurrectionists was a man named Barabbas (his first name may have been Jesus). He and his fellow insurrectionists had been thrown in prison for revolution and murder. Barabbas was probably a member of the sect of the Zealots, who deeply resented the Roman occupation of Palestine. The crowd apparently came to Pilate’s tribunal for the primary purpose of asking for Barabbas’s release. It was Pilate who deliberately faced them with the choice between Jesus and Barabbas.