How to Pronounce Pilate

What does Pilate mean?

Pilate means “armed with a dart”.

Hitchcock’s Bible Names (1869), public domain.

What is Pilate?

Probably connected with the Roman family of the Pontii, and called “Pilate” from the Latin pileatus, i.e., “wearing the pileus”, which was the “cap or badge of a manumitted slave,” as indicating that he was a “freedman,” or the descendant of one. He was the sixth in the order of the Roman procurators of Judea (A.D. 26-36). His headquarters were at Caesarea, but he frequently went up to Jerusalem. His reign extended over the period of the ministry of John the Baptist and of Jesus Christ, in connection with whose trial his name comes into prominent notice.

Adapted from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain.

Found in Scripture

Other names from Matthew

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