MBTI Type: ESTP

Pilate tends to live and react in the moment, with little concern for the futuristic consequences of his decisions; he likes to live dangerously, and impose himself on the people of Judea – he insists on a treacherous ride through the streets, and on visiting the temple; he personally likes to stab people he believes deserve punishment, and wants his men to make torture sessions last “for days.” He’s opportunistic and cruel, seeking ways to make the greatest impact on Jerusalem (ordering his men to seize and crucify people from a wedding happening later that day). His inferior Ni shows in his limited foresight in terms of how his actions will impact everything – his brutal tactics will only further enrage the zealots, cause trouble with Caiphas, and destroy his marriage. Our first few scenes establish him as a man of total reason, unable to understand why his irrational wife would choose to believe something that is not true — that a Messiah could rise from the dead, when no one before him has managed to survive a Roman crucifixion. Not content to simply believe this himself, he bears down with tert-Fe in an attempt to persuade his wife to share his more logical opinion, refusing to let her hold an ’emotional’ perspective that he finds absurd and irrational. Pilate also uses emotional dynamics against Caiaphas; he sees a rational chance to stir up the rabbis against each other and uses it, then lies to their face and says he had no knowledge of their plans nor how it would look to the public. His methods are often unorthodox and disobedient to traditional Roman rule, which makes his soldiers at times balk at carrying them out (executing women, for example). Pilate often talks about his resentments, his feelings, and asserts himself emotionally in strong ways, taking offense easily and lashing out to prove his worth to others. He has no real capacity to address his emotional issues or regain the love of his wife, once lost.

Enneagram: 8w7 sx/sp

Pilate loathes weakness or anything resembling it, so he bears down hard on Caiaphas, he insists on brutal executions to keep the Jews in line, and he frequently dominates and shames his wife for her perceived “weakness” (that is, emotions). Like most unhealthy 8s, his need to be right, to be in charge, to have others submit, and to constantly assert himself forcefully separates him from his own emotional internal state, making him unable to understand how this behavior causes his own wife to turn against him. He has pushed away his integration (to 2) so much that he cannot connect to her any longer on an emotional level, instead becoming analytical, suspicious, and withdrawn under stress (falling into unhealthy 5 behaviors). His 7 wing goes into denial of any of his wrongdoing, and longs for the pleasures and distractions of their more desirable life beside the sea. He can flee from and avoid the emotional consequences of his decisions, and is prone to rationalizing away his mistakes or cruelties.