of freeing a prisoner at each Passover festival. Instead, the crowd, incited by their religious leaders, clamored for the release of Barabbas, a thief, murderer and seditionist. Repeated attempts by Pilate to free the accused brought only an increase in the shouting for Jesus’ impalement. Fearing a riot and seeking to placate the crowd, Pilate acceded to their wishes, washing his hands with water as though cleansing them from bloodguilt. Sometime prior to this point Pilate’s wife had advised him of her troublesome dream concerning “that righteous man.”—Matt. 27:19.

Pilate now had Jesus whipped and the soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head and dressed him with royal robes. Again Pilate appeared before the crowd, renewed his disavowal of finding any guilt in Jesus and had Jesus come out before them with his robes and crown of thorns. At Pilate’s cry, “Look! The man!,” the leaders of the people renewed their demand for impalement, now revealing for the first time their charge of blasphemy. Their reference to Jesus as making himself God’s son added to Pilate’s apprehension, and he took Jesus inside for further questioning. Final efforts at releasing him brought the warning by the Jewish opposers that Pilate was becoming vulnerable to the charge of opposing Caesar. Hearing this threat, Pilate, bringing Jesus forth, now seated himself on the judgment seat. Pilate’s cry, “See! Your king!” only revived the clamor for impalement and brought the declaration: “We have no king but Caesar.” Pilate then handed Jesus over to them to be impaled.—Matt. 27:1-31; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28-40; 19:1-16.

Jewish writers, such as Philo, paint Pilate as an inflexible, arrogant, merciless man. However, it may be that the actions of the Jews themselves were largely responsible for the strong measures the governor had taken against them. At any rate the Gospel accounts give some accurate insight into the man’s makeup. His approach to matters was typical of the Roman ruler, his speech terse and blunt. Outwardly expressing the skeptical attitude of the cynic, as in saying “What is truth?” he, nevertheless, showed fear, likely a superstitious fear, upon hearing that he was dealing with one who claimed to be God’s son. Though obviously not the condescending type, he displayed the politician’s lack of integrity. He was concerned primarily as to his position, as to what his superiors would say if they heard of further disturbances in his province, fearful of appearing to be overly lenient toward those accused of sedition. Pilate recognized Jesus’ innocence and the envy that motivated his accusers. Yet he gave in to the crowd and turned an innocent victim over for them to slaughter rather than risk damage to his political career.

As part of the “superior authorities” Pilate exercised power by divine tolerance. (Rom. 13:1) He bore responsibility for his decision, responsibility that water could not wash away. His wife’s dream was evidently of divine origin, even as were the earthquake, the unusual darkness and the rending of the curtain that took place on that day. (Matt. 27:45, 51-54; Luke 23:44, 45) Her dream should have warned Pilate that this was no ordinary trial, no ordinary defendant. Yet, as Jesus said, the one delivering him to Pilate ‘bore the greater guilt of sin.’ (John 19:10, 11) Judas, who originally betrayed Jesus, was called the “son of destruction.” (John 17:12) Those Pharisees who were guilty of complicity in the plot against Jesus’ life were described as ‘subjects for Gehenna.’ (Matt. 23:13, 33; compare John 8:37-44.) And particularly the high priest, who headed the Sanhedrin, was responsible before God for handing over God’s Son to this Gentile ruler for sentencing to death. (Matt. 26:63-66) Pilate’s guilt did not equal theirs; yet his act was extremely reprehensible.

Pilate’s distaste for the promoters of the crime evidently was reflected in the sign he had placed over the impaled Jesus, identifying him as the “King of the Jews,” as well as his curt refusal to change it, saying: “What I have written I have written.” (John 19:19-22) When Joseph of Arimathea requested the dead body, Pilate, after first displaying the thoroughness of a Roman official by making sure Jesus was dead, granted the request. (Mark 15:43-45) The concern of the chief priests and Pharisees over the possibility of theft of the body brought the terse reply: “You have a guard. Go make it as secure as you know how.”—Matt. 27:62-65.

REMOVAL AND DEATH

Josephus reports that Pilate’s later removal from office resulted from complaints lodged by the Samaritans with Pilate’s immediate superior, the governor of Syria, Vitellius. The complaint was about Pilate’s slaughter of a number of Samaritans who were deluded by an impostor into assembling at Mount Gerizim in hopes of uncovering sacred treasures supposedly hidden there by Moses. Vitellius ordered Pilate to Rome to appear before Tiberius and put Marcellus in his place. Tiberius died in 37 C.E. while Pilate was still on his way to Rome. History gives no reliable data as to the ultimate results of his trial. The Christian historian and bishop Eusebius of the late third and early fourth centuries claims that Pilate was obliged to commit suicide during the reign of Tiberius’ successor Gaius (Caligula).

PILDASH

(Pilʹdash).

Sixth named of the eight sons of Abraham’s brother Nahor by his wife Milcah.—Gen. 22:21-23; 11:29.

PILES

Hemorrhoids; swellings of veins at the anus, frequently accompanied by bleeding. In this often painful disorder, there are vascular tumors beneath the mucous membrane of the rectum, either within the external sphincter (internal hemorrhoids) or on its outer side (external hemorrhoids), or both. Piles were among the disorders that Jehovah warned the Israelites they would suffer for disobedience. (Deut. 28:15, 27) He afflicted the Philistines of Ashdod and its territories, Gath and Ekron, with piles while the sacred Ark was in their possession.—1 Sam. 5:6-12.

The Hebrew word rendered “piles” (Harkavey; NW), “hemorrhoids” (Le), “emerods” (AV; Yg), “tumors” (AS; RS) and “plague-boils” (AT), as at 1 Samuel 5:6, is ʽopha·limʹ, denoting rounded swellings or eminences, hemorrhoids, or tumors at the anus. At 1 Samuel 6:11, 17 in the Masoretic text, the swellings afflicting the Philistines are referred to as t^ehho·rimʹ, meaning “tumors” or “plague boils.” In all six Scriptural occurrences of ʽopha·limʹ (piles), the Jewish Masoretes pointed this word with the vowels for t^ehho·rimʹ (tumors) and showed this latter term in the margin as the word to be read instead of ʽopha·limʹ, which they evidently considered an immodest word.

The five Philistine axis lords returned the Ark to Israel with a guilt offering to Jehovah, consisting partly of five golden images of the piles, that is, representations of these swellings. (1 Sam. 6:4, 5, 11, 17) In a somewhat similar manner, certain ancient peoples (particularly the Greeks and the Romans) invoked their deities for cures by presenting to them replicas of afflicted body parts, or they presented models thereof in gratitude for supposed cures.

Since jerboas (mouselike jumping rodents) were bringing the land to ruin (1 Sam. 6:5), some scholars believe the Philistines were afflicted with bubonic plague, a highly fatal infectious disease marked by such symptoms as fever, chills, prostration and painful enlargement of the lymphatic glands, or buboes. This plague is transmitted chiefly through bites by fleas that have bitten dying or dead infected rats or other rodents. “A death-dealing confusion” occurred when the Ark was in Ekron, where “the men that did not die had been struck with piles.” (1 Sam. 5:10-12) Both pile and jerboa images are mentioned at 1 Samuel 6:4, where the Philistine priests and diviners are quoted as saying, “every one of you and your axis lords have the same scourge.” But this may mean