Pilate's wife

Terry

This seems like a literary device by a later author added to the story of Jesus.

Matthew 27:19: While Pilate was sitting in the judgment hall, his wife sent him a message: "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, because in a dream last night, I suffered much on account of him."
How would any Apostle or follower of Jesus know the contents of a private letter written to Pontius Pilate by his wife?
How many followers of Jesus were in the same room with Jesus and Pilate? Didn't all of them flee in terror including Peter?
Yet, we have a word-for-word account of that personal, private letter. Seems fishy to me.

darth frosty

I mentioned his wife in this post, but never thought about how the gospel writers would be privy to this info good point.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/205822/1/Jesus-Trial-at-Noon-followed-by-impalement-at-9-PM

james_woods

One more reason to believe that the written NT is actually the result of a whispering game and was written long after the fact.

"I heard that Pilate's wife told her friend Balthazara that she wrote him a note that said..."

tec

How many followers of Jesus were in the same room with Jesus and Pilate? Didn't all of them flee in terror including Peter?

I think John says that he was in with them. I don't think it was anything like the JW backroom, so you wouldn't have to be right next to them to be privy to what was being discussed.

But as for the letter, either Pilate discussed the letter aloud, or later told someone who told others... or Pilate's wife discussed the dream and told someone who told someone ... or also just a total rumor, being blown up as rumors tend to be.

There are many possibilities, and we can only speculate.

Tammy

darth frosty

Not to thread jack but Tec how much speculation does it take before the smell test is failed?

Like the link I posted and the other discussion on the book of Genesis, the bible continues to have 'literary devices' as terry put it that just falls out of line with common sense.

Back to topic if indeed pilates wife wrote such a letter Why did he ignore her? If john was in the room (tho I believe you mean courtyard) how could he know about a letter and its contents? If pilate discussed the letter he must not have thought much of his wifes premenition.

tec

Not to thread jack but Tec how much speculation does it take before the smell test is failed?

I don't know. Is the thing in question important? Does it really matter to anything? I don't think the bible is inerrant, so these things don't pose so much of an issue for me. I also don't discount everything because some details might be wrong in the retelling.

As for Pilate ignoring his wife, he also ignored himself. He didn't want to have Jesus executed, he found no reason for it, so he 'washed his hands of it' so to speak. Gave the people what they were demanding.

I only mentioned John being present because Terry wondered if all the apostles had fled. Even in the courtyard, even in the room, that doesn't mean he would have access to the letter and its contents.

Tammy

Terry

I keep coming across passages that sound like a fiction author is touching up in the editing by making Greek Chorus pronouncements about what somebody was thinking or clarifying what they intended a statement to mean.

Just seems so literary and artificial........

tec

Just sounds human to me.

(what are you doing up and posting so late, Terry? )

NomadSoul

Terry,

In my personal experience that's what caught my attention when reading the Bible. It's similar to fiction because it is fiction.

A person that believes in the Bible, can watch or read another piece of fiction and notice details that for sure couldn't be possible in reality. But when they come across something like this they are conten with saying, well "God figured out a way to inspire these thoughts" or any other excuse.

Sapphy

A true believer would just say God inspired the Gospel writer to write about it.

But the true believer would have to ask themselves why was the dream given to pilates wife and not pilate?

Pilate's wife

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