Leviticus 19:13

19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. ¹  You must not withhold ²  the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning.

Malachi 3:8-9

3:8 Can a person rob ³  God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! ⁴  3:9 You are bound for judgment ⁵  because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty. ⁶ 

John 18:40

18:40 Then they shouted back, ⁷  “Not this man, ⁸  but Barabbas!” ⁹  (Now Barabbas was a revolutionary. ¹⁰ ) ¹¹ 

¹ tn Heb “You shall not oppress your neighbor and you shall not rob.”

² tn Heb “hold back with you”; perhaps “hold back for yourself” (cf. NRSV “keep for yourself”).

³ tc The LXX presupposes an underlying Hebrew text of עָקַב (’aqav, “deceive”), a metathesis of קָבַע (qava’, “rob”), in all four uses of the verb here (vv. 8-9). The intent probably is to soften the impact of “robbing” God, but the language of the passage is intentionally bold and there is no reason to go against the reading of the MT (which is followed here by most English versions).

⁴ sn The tithes and contributions mentioned here are probably those used to sustain the Levites (see Num 18:8, 11, 19, 21-24).

⁵ tn Heb “cursed with a curse” that is, “under a curse” (so NIV, NLT, CEV).

⁶ tn The phrase “is guilty” is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

⁷ tn Or “they shouted again,” or “they shouted in turn.” On the difficulty of translating πάλιν (palin) see BDAG 753 s.v. 5. It is simplest in the context of John’s Gospel to understand the phrase to mean “they shouted back” as a reply to Pilate’s question.

⁸ tn Grk “this one.”

⁹ sn The name Barabbas in Aramaic means “son of abba,” that is, “son of the father,” and presumably the man in question had another name (it may also have been Jesus, according to the textual variant in Matt 27:16, although this is uncertain). For the author this name held ironic significance: The crowd was asking for the release of a man called Barabbas, “son of the father,” while Jesus, who was truly the Son of the Father, was condemned to die instead.

¹⁰ tn Or “robber.” It is possible that Barabbas was merely a robber or highwayman, but more likely, given the use of the term ληστής (lhsth") in Josephus and other early sources, that he was a guerrilla warrior or revolutionary leader. See both R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:857) and K. H. Rengstorf (TDNT 4:258) for more information. The word λῃστής was used a number of times by Josephus (J. W. 2.13.2-3 [2.253-254]) to describe the revolutionaries or guerrilla fighters who, from mixed motives of nationalism and greed, kept the rural districts of Judea in constant turmoil.

¹¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.