But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; Ye denied the Holy One - Τον ἁγιον. A manifest reference to Psalms 16:10 : Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption; where the original word חסידיך Chasideyca, thy Holy One, is translated by the Septuagint, τον Ὁσιον σου, a word of the same import with that used by Peter.
And desired a murderer - Barabbas: the case must have been fresh in their own remembrance. Like cleaves to like, and begets its like: they were murderers themselves, and so Christ calls them, Matthew 22:7, and they preferred a murderer to the holy and righteous One of God.