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Note: I believe that the following question is a question of hermeneutics, because exegesis is defined as "a critical interpretation or explanation of the Bible".

I would post the relevant passages, but they are too long to post. They are Matthew 27:15-26, Mark 15:6-15, Luke 23:15-25, and John 18:39-40.

I heard Richard Carrier argue that the story of Barabbas is fabricated and based on the ritual in the Mosaic Law where one lamb was killed as a sacrifice and another was let into the wilderness, found in Leviticus 16.

He says that the name Barabbas is an extremely unusual name, and means "son of a father", which corresponds to what Jesus Christ was, the Son of God the Father. Jesus and Barabbas, therefore, were both "lambs" of the same sort. Added to this is the fact that Barabbas was an insurrectionist, and Jesus was accused of potentially instigating an insurrection, which was ostensibly why He was crucified.

He also says that there is no record of the custom of releasing a prisoner at the Passover outside of the Gospels, and so it was most likely fabricated, adding credence to the idea that the story was invented.

Carrier says that Barabbas was the lamb that was freed set free, and that Jesus was the lamb that was killed as a sacrifice.

Is this theory substantiated?

Thank you.

There would be no reason to doubt the veracity of the bible on the subject of the story of Barabbas and the custom of releasing a prison from prison at the time of the Passover. There is in fact evidence of the custom in the Mishnah. See snips of article below.

Citation:
Chavel, Charles B. “The Releasing of a Prisoner on the Eve of Passover in Ancient Jerusalem.” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 60, no. 3, 1941, pp. 273–278. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3262626.

The question contains a logical fallacy. The fact that something is not mentioned in secular records does not make it false. That is an argument from silence based on what is unknown. The Bible record can be treated as equally reliable (I believe more reliable) than secular records which are often very patchy.

The interesting theological point about the release of Barabbas is the miniature of salvation. Barabbas was a convicted felon; Jesus was sinless (Heb 4:15, 7:26-28, etc). Jesus was executed so that Barabbas was released.

This is exactly what happens to us as sinners (Rom 3:10-18). Jesus was treated as we deserve so that we will be treated as He deserved!

Alb has already answered the question with quality sources but I want to add a little more to this matter:

• if every event in the scriptures that were filled with symbolic meaning were scrapped as artifice then there would be little Bible left! That is how they work. But consider, the hand of man is belied by "artifice". That is, what man has done is in jarring contrast, like a tractor in a field, to what God has made. But when the historical passages also have symbolic and prophet images then you know that all these were made with the same divine hand.




• "To the Hebrews" explains that Jesus is the animal that died and the scapegoat because he permanently left death.