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


Pilate’s Assize And The Timing Of Jesus’ Trial1

Brent Kinman

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

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 BC (BJ 2.1.3 §8-13; par. Ant. 17.9.3 §206-18); the desecration of the temple cloisters by some Samaritans, c. 6-9 AD (Ant. 18.2.2 §29-30). Inasmuch as the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread was a celebration of political (as well as religious) liberation (Ex. 12:21-7), it is not difficult to see how nationalists of various persuasions would be tempted to validate their own activities by having them viewed as part of the grand tradition of national liberation at this particular season. As a result, according to Josephus a Roman cohort would come to Jerusalem at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and guard the temple area ‘to prevent disorders from arising from such a concourse of people’ (BJ 2.12.1 §224; par. Ant. 20.5.2 §106-7). This statement, in context, refers to events c. 50 AD.

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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