Who Was Pontius Pilate? - The Naked Archaeologist 217 - Cleanliness is Next to Godliness 

While I can agree that tradition can get it wrong on many things - and I do not say it is wrong here, but entertain your argument - it is hardly a red flag that Pilate washed his hands. If he was trying to honor the Jewish Passover TRADITION, of releasing a prisoner as a sign of mercy during the holiday (when he gave the Jewish crowd a choice between Jesus and Barabbas), it would only follow that he would ceremonially wash his hands, in another gesture of respect for Jewish customs. It demonstrates that Pilate had good administrative sense, and probably some good advisors, as well. Nor would it be a surprise that the Jewish religious authorities, as well as a portion of the population would have wanted to kill Jesus, since they were known for killing both false and genuine prophets alike.

When I was in Israel, one of the Jewish acrhaeologists I saw told me that Pontius Pilate had been reprimanded by Rome for the previous unrest he caused... and that he was walking a political tight rope for the next several years.

The gospels hardly present Pilate in a favorable light. He initially resisted condemning Jesus because he did not like being told what to do by the Jews. In the end, he gave in for political reasons, which does not earn him any brownie points.

Pilate may have spent lots of his time in Caesaria but when Jerusalem was full of people on Passover, he was there to show his presence over such an event and power of his army to quell any protesting by the Jews.

I am not Jewish and just because Jews wash hands does not mean it is not customary with other peoples. Often peoples minds go wayward

Hi Khiry , I totally agree with you. We should stand firm on our faith. Praise God there's some one who believes too. God will bless you abundantly.

Love the use of old movies and television shows...

Simca, your research is as good as anyone who 'digs'into it. Your presentations seem unbiased and pretty open. You cause a lot of us to think amd increase our armchair investigation. Someone like me an not go where you go to look in those amazing and beautiful places. Thank you for taking me along for the ride. I feel closer to Jesus and love Him. Humans in the flesh will never pin Him down. Jesus is an inside Job. Listening to you and watching has been a blessing f

His primary "adviser" in this case was his wife. She'd had a very clear scary dream & warned Pilot, "Have nothing to do with that innocent man!" It is known Pilate was very superstitious & had a guilty conscience coz of stuff he'd done. So he was just afraid for himself! - Never mind his fear of the Jews & Tiberius!

I certainly believe the word of God my opinion is that Pilate was fully aware of Jewish customs and he did that as a way to communicate directly to them as in ok let me put this in a way for you "the Jews" to understand where Pilate felt as to get on there mindset to present washing of his hands to them as he well knew they would understand the meaning of this

Fortress Antonia did not house 600 men. It housed a legion which is 4000-6000. Which is more evidence that the "Temple Mount" is not the location of the actual temple

In 1928 a book was published which contained the 30 or more letters written by Pilot. Why does no one search for that reference material prior to making a presentation???

When you consider how quickly papyrus disintegrates, it's fortunate we have papyrus fragments

Why would John shift blame to the Jews if he was Jewish himself?🤔

That stone in Caesarea is not the only connection between archaeology and the Bible regarding Pontius Pilate. There are coins from that time period with his face and name on them as well. I have one of them.

It's so ridiculous that an amateur archeologist who is obviously a Jew descendant who has no firsthand account of the true incident at that time is making his own hypothesis on the holy scriptures about the Lord Jesus' life struggles which were written by people who have actually heard, seen, and experience the true events.

Thank you, real history, with proof and/ or clues. Love, light, blessings to all.

I believe there is much guess work in this theory. All 4 gospels make it clear it was Jerusalem, not Caesaria, where Jesus was crucified. No one knows for sure if Pilate washed his hands as dictated in the gospels or not. Although you have left out one clear reason he would have, his wife had a dream about the man Jesus and told Pilate the fear she experienced and did not want him to be responsible for this man's death.

Is Josephus a reliable source tho, considering?

Commercial volume is to load please turn it down. Thanks

Simca thank you for your research about holy sites. You make me realize to study and nor believe everything is said. Yes washing hands os a Jewish tradition. Al natilas yada yim

I like videos that are accurate...as possible...this is not one of them.

This is like ancient alien levels of reasoning... Your proof is constantly just "I don't think..."

great history with a different twist thanks Simcha.Bill from Ireland

I like how simcha you are respectful for both faiths and traditions to see who has legitimacy, im Jewish convert have learned so much on biblical history and traditions add up to many of these places much love simcha

The Gospels would not had survived if they blamed the Romans.

Good afternoon everyone

Professor Helen bond like like my mum back in the early 70s

This is BRILLIANT! Thank You, Simcha!

So you're telling me that when you come to a different country, you do not at least try to engage with it's people? he washed his hands publicly to show the people of israel how much he was against it, by using an israeli custom, it would speak volumes to the crowd. It's almost the same in every episode, NOT EVERYTHING IS JEWISH, AND JEWS DID BAD STUFF IN HISTORY TOO. We're only human for crying out loud!

Isnt carrying around a cross humiliating?

(05:02) that's exactly what the "NT" says as well - 'John' 19:7, 12.

The music choice In this documentary rather clashes with the subject I think…

The ONLY MAN!. who had the AUTHORITY and the whatever!!.. Wow.. wow..

No man took Jesus's life he gave it up willingly, Jesus died for the sins of all peoples...

Hi Simcha you got the dates wrong Jesus was born in 4BC the year Herod the Great died in March 4BC so Jesus was born in January. Jesus started his missionary work at the age of 30 and according to the Gospel 2 years so from 4BC to 30 AD makes it exactly 32 years when he died.

HOW TRUE IS THE STORY OF JUDAH BEN-HUR?

It’s easy enough to reconcile Joesphus’ and Philo’s harsh description of Pilate with the man depicted the gospels if Pilate was a bully and a coward. According to the two historians, Pilate hated the Jews and his rule in Judea included corruption, unjust executions, excessive cruelty, and slaughter. A bully typically puts on a display of over-the-top force and intimidation to hide their weakness, and even a coward could have achieved this with a powerful Roman garrison at his command. We know that Pilate had received a reprimand from his superiors in Rome when the Jewish elders sent an embassy to complain about the ‘standards’ incident. Pilate must surely have been stung by this, and being curious that the Jews had brought one of their own to him for punishment, may have wanted to spare Jesus (initially) merely to spite them. The gospel says that he knew they had brought Jesus because they were envious of him. But the elders’ subsequent mention of Caesar represented a veiled threat, and another reprimand could have resulted in Pliate’s being recalled to Rome. He may well have known that the jaded Tiberius had retired to Capri by this time, and that Rome was largely under the control of the treacherous Aelius Sejanus; there were a large number of wanton treason trials in the city, and Pilate may have feared for his own life. Stung once again at his hand being forced by his enemies, Pilates “King of the Jews” inscription on the cross was supposedly intended to insult the entire Jewish nation. Here's another possibility. Jesus had a huge following ("great crowds followed him") and there would have been thousands of Jews in Jerusalem at the time to celebrate the Passover. Hence it's very possible that a large crowd had assembled outside. Pilate's line of questioning ("are you the king of the Jews?"; "I find no fault in him"; "behold the man!" after having Jesus brutally and illegally beaten; offering a choice between Jesus and Barabbas; "shall I crucify your king?" etc) could easily have been aimed at his getting a measure of Jesus' military and political ambitions, and then to gauge the size of his following (and hence the potential threat) from the crowd response to his comments. When the vast majority were shouting "crucify him" and "we have no king but Caesar" Pilate knew that he could safely proceed with executing Jesus without serious backlash. That could have been the whole purpose of the 'trial'. Pilate could have washed his hands simply because he knew that this would have special symbolic relevance to his Jewish audience. Those are just off the top of my head. No doubt there are other possibilities. Skeptics may have reasons to believe that the gospels are unreliable or unhistorical, but it doesn't take much thought to find plausible reasons for the gospel accounts of Pilate's behavior. Outside of Josephus, Philo and early christian writings, little is known about him, leaving plenty of scope to fill in the blanks however you wish.

As a matter of fact, Matthew Gospel still fulfill today.

Not much has changed. You don't get modernist missionaries of 19th/20th century thought going house to house to teach kids the ways of free thinking & existentialism its all the otber way, & it'll hit the fan in due course

(07:24) why did the authors of the talmud change the story from washing it from murder to washing it for eating?..

Assumptions are not reality

Pilate was one of the pioneers of the importance of handwashing. 😂

"Bar" means "son of"---rabbas is a version of "rabbi."

(01:32) exactly, against their pharisaic = rabbinic religion because he was a Qaraite according to the "NT".

Who told you he did not wash his hands? How do you know what intelligence that Pilate had on Jesus? Then too the message he was sent by his wife?

Isn't it possible that "washing of the hands" is a metaphor?

You're stretching the logic really really far. I don't agree with your conclusions. In fact, you seem rather biased

Pilate said he thought that jesus was innocent in his own words in the Acts of Pilate that was just "found" in the vatican archives and recently released. He pays jesus many compliments actually and was much more fair with him then his reputation allows historically.

Simcha says that the Gospels are not eye witness statements. In the Gospel of John, the author states that he was an eye witness of the crucifixion. Its quite possible that two of the oher Gospel authors were eye witnesses too. Matthew was a disciple of Jesus and Luke was Peterś secretary.

I cant even comsentrate on his show for the commercials every 20 seconds.

I disagree on both of you. Remember Cain killed his own brother out of envy. To the high priest and rest, Jesus is a treat to their position in the temple. They became alarm when Jesus already has a large following instead of them. Remember what Jesus answer to them when they asked Him about taxation and Jesus answered, Give me a Coin, see what's in the coin. They answered, Caesar. Then Jesus answered, Then render to Caesar what is of Caesar and to God what is of God. Remember, Jesus paid taxed for both of him and Peter. He told Peter to get the money from the mouth of the first fish he caught. In my opinion the Gospel is right. There is no conflict between government and church. The high Priest is threatened by Jesus growing popularity among People much when Jesus came to the temple in a donkey and people held him as a King waving palms. The priest didn't received that kind of high reverence from people. Hence they plotted for him to be crucified. About archaeology, I am not an archaeologist but in my own understanding a structure can be demolished or tampered when new structure is build to accommodate present needs same as you demolished and old house to ground and rise a new building. Many centuries have already past and traces of their ancient footsteps is very hard to verify by archaeology alone. Much respect. I followed your channel Simcha and I believe you have an undisputed reputation when it comes to biblical facts but this time sorry to say I disagree with your theory.

I have watched many videos about 30 of naked archaeology I will say your apologist is apparent which is Unfortunate. It saddens me that we can’t se see a Roman meet the customs be treated as a abjuration but not as a as a subtitle of custom norms

The Gospels where not eye witness accounts? Interesting...

The gospels indicate there was non-stop tension among the Jewish religious leaders that the authoritative teachings of Jesus were bringing to light the impotency of the ritualistically reduced mosaic tradition handed by the priests in the days of Jesus and they had sought a way to get rid of him. Simca in this video like many other narratives of His just tries his best to remain true to his Jewish roots.

Simcha, must respect to you, but you are wrong in every show. I know it is hard to deal with the fact that perhaps some of your ancestors were normal people who had normal flaws like all people do and some of yours weren't so nice. I know that you want to place your people on a higher moral hill, but you are no more or less moral than any other group of people. Some of your ancestors did some very bad things, but even your own prophets wrote that they would. I don't think you really believe too much of your own prophets. Why do Christians believe your prophets more than you do?

all pauls letters predate 70a.d

OR ... due to your lack of evidence to the contrary, perhaps the Biblical account is true. What’s more likely, the trial & death of Jesus happened as it was documented in the Bible 40 years after the event OR that it happened as you’ve speculated 2000 years after the event? Bonus Question: Could your attempt to discount the biblical story, that does indeed lay guilt on the Jews of the day, have anything to do with you being a Jew? What you’re doing here seems to have very little to do with archeology & everything to do with shifting guilt to others.

this is really bad archaeology lol

(06:35) washing hands before EATING is a rabbinic thing, not a Jewish thing.

This archeologist sure likes to ‘use’ science to attack Christianity in his shows under the guise of truth. He begins by ‘refuting’ evidence to try and give himself authority. I’m not sure his assertions are fair or accurate.

I believe why Pontius Pilate found no fault with Jesus is when questioned Jesus said what is Ceasars is Ceasars my kingdom is not of this world

(06:24) Pontios Pilatos was not a roman..

Evry religion is just power and mony

were you people present there during Jesus trial. The one's who were present His apostles and deciples would be the one's to know for real and so mention in the gospels. All four gospels cannot be wrong as it was written by 4 different people. So what has something said just by looking at objects deem that you can justify and say what you will. Corinthians ch-2 verse 14-15. That is you.

this is "pila-tus" not piolet

check the real matthew gospel in the vatican. there the story goes differently.

he invented Pilates

excellent really enjoyed watching. Thanks

Evolution has been defeated

Different point of view.. however God would not allow His words to be distorted for generations to come. Man may make mistakes and try to distort them, but God would never allow that..

This lady is an ignoramus!!! "I think" "I think", anything to try and tarnish the HISTORICALLY RELIABLE New testament. It's History, period.

The whole Temple Mount today is the Fort Antonia in Jesus time. When the Jews entered the bridge going to the Temple via a bridge from mount of Olives, they turn left via the ritual baths by ladders downstairs. To the right is fort Antonia and the Temple of Jupiter for the Roman Legion. The ritual baths was the place of the pentecost where the fire from heaven descended to the 12 apostles on june 20, 28 AD Pentecost. There is a ritual in Jerusalem where two lambs were presented before Passover. Then, the priest would take stones by lot which on would be sacrificed and which lamb would be set free. In Jesus case, he was chosen by the Jews to be sacrificed and barabbas was set free. The lamb that was set free means their sins would be taken away. But the Jews choose barabbas, the son of their father, Satan. Not Jesus the only begotten son of Yahweh. Pilate actually stopped the ritual bath on that bridge between the Temple and fort Antonia. There were two colonnades across the two religious platforms. Rome destroyed the Temple structure unto bedrock but spared the fort Antonia and tried to make us believe that 5,000 roman soldiers can fit that small building called fort antonia today.

Jews have been trying to distance themselves from the crucifixion of Christ for centuries. Looking closely you will notice, Simcha has an unwavering dedication to the Old Testament as undeniable truth; while approaching almost everything in the New Testament with an almost unhealthy, and transparent degree of scrutiny. The series is "fun" to watch, just realize where the bias is leading you.

I can't tell if Simcha is atheist or religious

Considering the majority of the said authors of the NT were Jews....then it should be written in Aramaic or Hebrew..how come it became Greek???

Good points. Thank you. The main point is that Jewish and Roman authority crucified Jesus, who was an innocent man. The fine details are opinion coupled to weak evidence but very interesting to think about.

Does Pilate have intel at those days? And found Jesus is not really athreat and he find it that Jesus is an anti Jews since Jesus changes the Jews law? Which Pilate likes?

Not a good thing to blame an author or anyone in that matter if one can find no proof for it and the fact that you take lightly to The New Testament author' and many of the story event is not even mention Matthew also sing praise for the jew... Seems to me that one religious belief maybe is in effect... All the episodes are really enjoyable to me except this one

Some clips from this guy are good, but when he tried to make things up to discredit Christianity and the bible, then the clip needs to be trashed. Stick to the facts and the truth

If Jesus is the son of God and he was sent here to die to save us, then everyone involved in his trial and crucifixion were meant to be. So all those involved carried out God's will.

but a few witnesses which were Hebrews Jewish said that Pilatus wash his hands and that the Priests were the ones that wanted Jesus dead. he is a Sanhidren Jewish and he will defend the ones that killed the Lord of Glory Jesus Christ. the Scriptures cannot be broken. as mush as this Jesus haters wanted to brake the New testament. they were blinded by the God of all creation for he came to die for them and for all that believe in faith He is who He said He is. GOD.

The lost Books of the Bible makes it clear what happened to Governor Pontius Pilate. He stayed a s governor for 3 or 4 more years. He was executed under a new Emperor about 4 years after crucifixion. Governor Pontius Pilate was from an average noble family, with average high regard, nothing special. He was from a region not too far from Rome, possibly 100 miles away. I researched this about two years ago. I had read the Lost Books of the Bible in a book store in Central Square. I bought it. The lost books of the Bible were all about other people such as Governor Pontius Pilate. Governor Pontius Pilate was executed. Josephus was a Jewish person in the payrolls of the Roman empire. He was about one or two generations younger than Jesus and the 12 disciples. His writings were from about 79 AD. Why were early Christians and first century Christians fixated with Pontius Pilate? Simple: Early Christians were upset that Pontius Pilate was not punished for about four years after crucifixion. Incidentally, Governor Pontius Pilate had witnessed not only the trial of Jesus, but ALSO ATTENDED the crucifixion of Jesus Christ infuriating a few early Christians. Fanatical early Christians felt upset in 3 AD or so, that someone innocent was murdered and that Pontius stayed on as governor of Judea for another 3 years or 4 years after the crucifixion. In the history of mankind, for about 5 years, once a person perceived to be a killer is punished, people forget all about it. In the modern Bibles, any reference to what happened to Pontius Pilate has been deleted or removed from modern Bibles about 800 years ago. Early Christians were a fanatical lot, other than the 12 apostles and immediate disciples who lived with him. The narratives of the early Christians and Roman historical records left no doubt that at his trial, that the new emperor of Rome who came to power about three years after crucifixion of Jesus, held Pontius Pilate responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Pontius Pilate remained in power as a Governor of Judea and Israel for about three more years after crucifixion. An emperor in Rome died about 3 years after Jesus and a new emperor was proclaimed. His predecessor, the emperor of Rome still in power in 1 AD knew that governor Pilate was somewhat innocent, and had tried to save Jesus. The new emperor was swift. About 4 years after crucifixion, this new emperor gave a justifiable reason to call back Governor Pontius Pilate from Judea to visit him. Emperor asked Pontius Pilate to come back at the earliest as an ethnic group, the Samaritans of Judea just started a rebellion. The Samaritans were supposed to be a good people. What was their rebellion about, new emperor wanted to know. Governor Pilate had to report on this. When Governor Pilate came back to Rome, the emperor told him that his report on his hand won't be necessary. Further, the new emperor said his men are placing him under arrest to answer questions of fanatical about the death of Jesus Christ from early Christians living in Rome at the time. This was about four years after the death of Jesus Christ. Pilate was tried in court. Pilate was convicted of not doing enough to save the life of Jesus Christ. Lost Books of the Bible: As a sentence. the decision was taken to spear Pilate to death. Article says it was extremely bloody and that the body of Pontius Pilate kept bleeding even after death. No one wanted to carry a bleeding body. So the dead body of Governor Pontius Pilate was thrown into the river Tiberius by Roman soldiers and early Christians. Body was never washed before being tossed into the river Tiberius. The River Tiberius may have been renamed in modern times. Body was all bloody as it was tossed into the river Tiberius,. Death sentence was for Pilate to be speared and impaled to death. This was a punishment for the crucifixion's of Jesus, and as demanded by early Christians. . Plus, the mansion owned by Governor Pontius Pilate in Herculaneum or Pompeii was confiscated and given to some other Roman noble. His wife and family did not inherit the mansion. In other words, the avenging of the crucifixion of Jesus was important to first century Christians and early Christians. That information as to what the early Christians did to punish Governor Pontius Pilate has has no place in modern times and in the latter day narratives of the teachings of Christ. There were perks and there perils to be appointed governor of a place perceived historically as religion centered. (Those days the temple had as much power as the figure head king Herod of Judea). Perks: A governor appointed as governor of Judea is sometimes given a mansion in Herculaneum or Pompeii by the emperor in power. A noble appointed Governor of Alexandria is given nothing extra other than salary or whatever. This job is considered an easy job on the beach. Perils: Judea: In case there is a fight or bad blood between figurehead king Herod and local religious leaders of the temples, the Governor would have to take sides. This never happened when Pontius Pilate was Governor. There are anecdotes hinting he wanted to be governor of Alexandria, a more peaceful place with no religious fundamentalists. This job offer never came. In other words, a few nobles were not too excited to be appointed Governor of Judea (Present day Israel), including Governor Pilate.

Pilate washing his hands was virtue signaling to the Jewish demographic.

Firstly, I am writing this as a Christian who believes in the Jewish Messiah called Yeshua.(Jesus) I am going to be radical here and we must look at the Cross and start there. Sadly for 1,700 years Christians have erroneously missed a '+>> a Royal 'legal' decree

Pilate is guing to eat his lunch..

The naked archaeologist in some episodes wants to conform to scriptures and where convenient contradict them at his own convenience. obvious Jesus found israel amongst the greeks while the jews lost the batton. deal with it.

The Jews captured Jesus and the ones who bought Jesus to Pilate

The Western Wall/wailing wall that people pray and kiss to is actually part of the antonian fortress. Not the actual temple. This makes me think of how people worship the kaaba stone. People worshipping sticks ad stones

None of the New Testament letters are before 70. They would have used it as SITYS. And 40 years later would not mean anything. Alexander’s history was not written in hid lifetime. That is common.

Why are they using PILATE instead of PILATUS which was the engraved on the stone? Anyway very nice documentary.

A real Christian has to protect fellow Jew and respect all neighbors

He's a tell tale man..ROFL

Great work Simcha. I was blinded with a fact that Jews were to blame on the Crucifixion of Jesus. But what about Barabas, who was let free instead of Jesus and he too wrote a gospel?

The Real Pontus Pilate was a cold & hard ruler. He could not allow any revolutionary Messiah to live. His judgement would have been instantaneous and final. And then he would have gone back to his luxurious life without a pause, executions being just part of his normal job. And also, Jesus won’t be standing next to him as is often pictured, he would be below him at a distance.

Really missed this one badly. that Jewish bias of yours really serves you poorly

THis muppet has a different narrative for each historical figure on each historical subject... All happen to be very pro Jew. Which I'm not against to be fair.. But this series has nothing to offer but entertainment value... It's quite farcical

Nah it was the juice.

Great episode. Pilate was just another Roman monster, killing at will He crucified thousands before Jesus and probably after. The gospels are the first Anti-Semitic texts.

(20:01) no such thing as "Jewish-christians". You're either Jewish or christian.. christianity did not exist until 325 CE at the council of Nicea.