Matthew 27:27-31

27:27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence ¹  and gathered the whole cohort ²  around him. 27:28 They ³  stripped him and put a scarlet robe ⁴  around him, 27:29 and after braiding ⁵  a crown of thorns, ⁶  they put it on his head. They ⁷  put a staff ⁸  in his right hand, and kneeling down before him, they mocked him: ⁹  “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁰  27:30 They ¹¹  spat on him and took the staff ¹²  and struck him repeatedly ¹³  on the head. 27:31 When ¹⁴  they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then ¹⁵  they led him away to crucify him.

Mark 15:16-20

Jesus is Mocked

15:16 So ¹⁶  the soldiers led him into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) ¹⁷  and called together the whole cohort. ¹⁸  15:17 They put a purple cloak ¹⁹  on him and after braiding ²⁰  a crown of thorns, ²¹  they put it on him. 15:18 They began to salute him: “Hail, king of the Jews!” ²²  15:19 Again and again ²³  they struck him on the head with a staff ²⁴  and spit on him. Then they knelt down and paid homage to him. 15:20 When they had finished mocking ²⁵  him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes back on him. Then ²⁶  they led him away to crucify him. ²⁷ 

John 19:1-3

Pilate Tries to Release Jesus

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged severely. ²⁸  19:2 The soldiers ²⁹  braided ³⁰  a crown of thorns ³¹  and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe. ³²  19:3 They ³³  came up to him again and again ³⁴  and said, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ³⁵  And they struck him repeatedly ³⁶  in the face.

[27:27]  ¹ tn Or “into their headquarters”; Grk “into the praetorium.”

[27:27]  ² sn A Roman cohort was a tenth of a legion, about 500-600 soldiers.

[27:28]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:28]  ⁴ sn The scarlet robe probably refers to a military garment which had the color of royal purple, and thus resembled a king’s robe. The soldiers did this to Jesus as a form of mockery in view of the charges that he was a king.

[27:29]  ⁵ tn Or “weaving.”

[27:29]  ⁶ sn The crown may have been made from palm spines or some other thorny plant common in Israel. In placing the crown of thorns on his head, the soldiers were unwittingly symbolizing God’s curse on humanity (cf. Gen 3:18) being placed on Jesus. Their purpose would have been to mock Jesus’ claim to be a king; the crown of thorns would have represented the “radiant corona” portrayed on the heads of rulers on coins and other artifacts in the 1st century.

[27:29]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:29]  ⁸ tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.

[27:29]  ⁹ tn Grk “they mocked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

[27:29]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”

[27:30]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:30]  ⁸ tn Or “the reed.”

[27:30]  ⁹ tn The verb here has been translated as an iterative imperfect.

[27:31]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:31]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:16]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to indicate that the soldiers’ action is in response to Pilate’s condemnation of the prisoner in v. 15.

[15:16]  ¹² tn Grk “(that is, the praetorium).”

[15:16]  ¹³ sn A Roman cohort was a tenth of a legion, about 500-600 soldiers.

[15:17]  ¹³ sn The purple cloak probably refers to a military garment which had the color of royal purple, and thus resembled a king’s robe. The soldiers did this to Jesus as a form of mockery in view of the charges that he was a king (cf. 15:2).

[15:17]  ¹⁴ tn Or “weaving.”

[15:17]  ¹⁵ sn The crown may have been made from palm spines or some other thorny plant common in Israel. In placing the crown of thorns on his head, the soldiers were unwittingly symbolizing God’s curse on humanity (cf. Gen 3:18) being placed on Jesus. Their purpose would have been to mock Jesus’ claim to be a king; the crown of thorns would have represented the “radiant corona” portrayed on the heads of rulers on coins and other artifacts in the 1st century.

[15:18]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”

[15:19]  ¹⁷ tn The verb here has been translated as an iterative imperfect.

[15:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.

[15:20]  ¹⁹ tn The aorist tense is taken consummatively here.

[15:20]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:20]  ²¹ sn See the note on Crucify in 15:13.

[19:1]  ²¹ tn Or “had him flogged,” or (traditional), “scourged him.” The verb should be read as causative. Pilate ordered Jesus to be flogged. A Roman governor would not carry out such a sentence in person. BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1. states, “If J refers to the ‘verberatio’ given those condemned to death (TMommsen, Röm. Strafrecht 1899, 938f; Jos., Bell. 2, 308; 5, 449), it is odd that Pilate subsequently claims no cause for action (vs. 6); but if the latter statement refers only to the penalty of crucifixion, μ. vs. 1 may be equivalent to παιδεύω (q.v. 2bγ) in Lk 23:16, 22 (for μ. of a non-capital offense PFlor I, 61, 61 [85ad]=Mitt-Wilck. II/2, 80 II, 61).”

[19:2]  ²³ tn Grk “And the soldiers.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:2]  ²⁴ tn Or “wove.”

[19:2]  ²⁵ sn The crown of thorns was a crown plaited of some thorny material, intended as a mockery of Jesus’ “kingship.” Traditionally it has been regarded as an additional instrument of torture, but it seems more probable the purpose of the thorns was not necessarily to inflict more physical suffering but to imitate the spikes of the “radiant corona,” a type of crown portrayed on ruler’s heads on many coins of the period; the spikes on this type of crown represented rays of light pointing outward (the best contemporary illustration is the crown on the head of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor).

[19:2]  ²⁶ sn The purple color of the robe indicated royal status. This was further mockery of Jesus, along with the crown of thorns.

[19:3]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:3]  ²⁶ tn The words “again and again” are implied by the (iterative) imperfect verb ἤρχοντο (hrconto).

[19:3]  ²⁷ tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”

[19:3]  ²⁸ tn The word “repeatedly” is implied by the (iterative) imperfect verb ἐδιδοσαν (edidosan).