Pilate’s Assize And The Timing Of Jesus’ Trial -- By: Brent Rogers Kinman
Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 42:2 (NA 1991)
Article: Pilate’s Assize And The Timing Of Jesus’ Trial
Author: Brent Rogers Kinman
TynBul 42:1 (1991) p. 282
Pilate’s Assize And The Timing Of Jesus’ Trial1
The reason for Pilate’s presence in Jerusalem comes under little scrutiny from most commentators.2 I.H. Marshall is representative as he remarks, ‘Jesus is taken before Pilate, who conveniently happens to be in Jerusalem. . .’.3 In a recent article dealing with Jesus’ trial, Ernst Bammel states that the presence of the Roman prefect in Jerusalem was a ‘rare occasion’, only occurring at the Feasts.4 In his landmark Sarum Lectures of 1960-61, A.N. Sherwin-White devotes considerable space to the historical details of the synoptic trial narratives when viewed in the light of Roman legal procedure;5 nevertheless, he neither discusses nor
TynBul 42:1 (1991) p. 283
mentions a particular reason for Pilate’s presence in Jerusalem vis-à-vis Roman law. It is, of course, true that festival seasons—especially Passover—were notorious occasions for sedition. Josephus recounts two such incidents proximate to yet before Jesus’ trial: the ‘private’ mourning by those whose relatives had been put to death by Herod the Great which turned into a public demonstration against the succession of Archelaus to his father’s office in 4
However, it will be argued here that alongside this, another possibility exists; namely, that Pilate was in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ trial not merely by coincidence or to guard against insurrection, but that in conformity to Roman legal convention, he was there on his official judicial tour—his assize. This proposal may also ...
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