Luke 23.13-19
(13) Pīlātus autem, convocātīs prīncipibus sacerdōtum, et magistrātibus, et plēbe, …
- And Pilate with the chief priests, and the magistrates, and the common people having been summoned [ = And Pilate, after he had summoned …] …
(14) dīxit ad illōs: Obtulistis mihi hunc hominem, quasi ¦ āvertentem ¦ populum, et ecce ego cōram vōbīs interrogāns, nūllam causam invēnī in homine istō ex hīs in quibus eum accūsātis.
- … said to them: “You have brought me this man, as ¦ one who was perverting ¦ the people, and look, questioning him before you / in your presence [cōram: face-to-face / publicly] I have found in this man no grounds for the things of which you accuse him.
(15) Sed neque Hērōdēs: nam remīsī vōs ad illum, et ecce nihil dignum morte āctum est eī.
- But neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him* [i.e. I sent your demand to him] and, look, nothing worthy of / deserving of death was done by him.
*Translations normally rework this to “He sent him back to us” which, grammatically, is not what the Latin actually says.
(16) Ēmendātum ergō illum dīmittam.
- Therefore, I shall release him after he has been chastised.
(17) Necesse autem habēbat dīmittere eīs per diem fēstum ūnum.
- For of necessity he had to release one to them on a feast day / public holiday.
(18) Exclāmāvit autem simul ūniversa turba, dīcēns: Tolle hunc, et dīmitte nōbīs Barabbam:
- But the entire crowd shouted out at the same time, saying: “Take away this man, and release Barabbas to us.”
(19) quī erat propter sēditiōnem quandam factam in cīvitāte et homicīdium missus in carcerem.
- And he / this man had been sent to jail on account of a certain insurrection carried out in the city, and murder.
Notes:
[i] nihil (a) dignum morte (b) āctum est eī
(a) dignus, -a, -um [+ ablative]: worthy of
(b) nihil dignum morte āctum est eī: nothing worthy of death was done by him; it is more common to read ab eō to convey the agent i.e. the person by whom something was done. Here the dative pronoun is used, a feature of Late / Biblical Latin.
[ii] habēbat dīmittere: he had to release; the use of habeō + the infinitive to express obligation is a Late Latin feature; CL would use debeō, -ēre [2]
[iii] quī erat … missus: and he / this man had been sent …
Connecting relative:
https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/connecting%20relative
[iv] quandam < quīdam: a certain (indefinite adjective); it may not be translated since it simply refers to an unspecified incident e.g. quīdam rēx: a certain king
i.e. Barabbas was convicted of some insurrection (or other), but which one is irrelevant.
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/09/291125-level-3-indefinites-11-quidam-i.html
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/09/291125-level-3-indefinites-12-quidam-ii.html
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/09/291125-level-3-indefinites-13-quidam.html
[v] Verse 18: Exclāmāvit autem simul ūniversa turba
The verse very well conveys the power of the crowd acting as a single voice and with a powerful and immediate rejection of Pilate’s proposal.
dīmitte nōbīs Barabbam


