They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him.
Parallel Translations
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They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him.
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and they clothed him with purple and they platted a croune of thornes and crouned him with all
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And clad him with purple, and platted a crowne of thornes, and put it about his head,
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Mark 15:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 27:28-30 They stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him. They braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head.
- John 19:2-5 The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown, and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment. They kept saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and they kept slapping him. Then Pilate went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!”
- Luke 23:11 Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Christ going about to take away the sins of…
Christ going about to take away the sins of men, who went about to usurp the throne of God himself, is condemned as one that hunted after the kingdom, and mocked with a false show of a kingdom, that we on the other side, who shall indeed be eternal kings, might receive the crown of glory at God’s own hand.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And began to salute him, hail, king of the…
And began to salute him, hail, king of the Jews! In a mock way, wishing him long life and prosperity, as if he was a king just come to his throne, and this was his coronation day.
And began to salute him, hail, king of the Jews! In a mock way, wishing him long life and prosperity, as if he was a king just come to his throne, and this was his coronation day.
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Mark 15:19
mar 15:19
mar 15:19
mar 15:19And they smote him on the head with a reed,.... Or cane, a walking stick which they had put into his hands for a sceptre: this they took out again, and struck him on the head with it, which drove the sharp pointed thorns into his temples:
and did spit upon him; "upon his face", as the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions read:
and bowing their knees, as to a sovereign prince,
worshipped him; saying the above words, hail, king of the Jews? See Gill on Mat 27:29, Mat 27:30.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Purple - As royal robes were usually purple and…
Purple - As royal robes were usually purple and scarlet, St. Mark and John term this a purple robe, St. Matthew a scarlet one. The Tyrian purple is said not to have been very different from scarlet.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. And platted a crown of thorns] In…
Verse 17. And platted a crown of thorns] In the note on Mt 27:29, I have ventured to express a doubt whether our Lord was crowned with thorns, in our sense of the word; this crown being designed as an instrument of torture. I am still of the same opinion, having considered the subject more closely since writing that note. As there I have referred to Bishop Pearce, a man whose merit as a commentator is far beyond my praise, and who, it is to be regretted, did not complete his work on the New Testament, I think it right to insert the whole of his note here.
"The word ακανθων may as well be the plural genitive case of the word ακανθος as of ακανθη: if of the latter, it is rightly translated, of thorns; but the former would signify what we call bear's-foot, and the French, branche ursine. This is not of the thorny kind of plants, but is soft and smooth. Virgil calls it mollis acanthus, Ecl. iii. 45, Geor. iv. 137. So does Pliny, sec. Epist. ver. 6. And Pliny the elder, in his Nat. Hist. xxii. 22, p. 277, edit. Hard., says that it is laevis, smooth; and that it is one of those plants that are cultivated in gardens. I have somewhere read, but cannot at present recollect where, that this soft and smooth herb was very common in and about Jerusalem. I find nothing in the New Testament said concerning this crown, which Pilate's soldiers put on the head of Jesus, to incline one to think that it was of thorns, and intended, as is usually supposed, to put him to pain. The reed put into his hand, and the scarlet robe on his back, were only meant as marks of mockery and contempt. One may also reasonably judge, by the soldiers being said to plat this crown, that it was not composed of such twigs and leaves as were of a thorny nature. I do not find that it is mentioned by any of the primitive Christian writers as an instance of the cruelty used towards our Saviour, before he was led to his crucifixion, till the time of Tertullian, who lived after Jesus's death at the distance of above 160 years. He indeed seems to have understood ακανθων in the sense of thorns, and says, De Corona Militar. sect. xiv. edit. Pamel. Franck. 1597, Quale, oro te, Jesus Christus sertum pro utroque sexu subiit? Ex spinis, opinor, et tribulis. The total silence of Polycarp, Barnabas, Clem. Romanus, and all the other Christian writers whose works are now extant, and who wrote before Tertullian, in particular, will give some weight to incline one to think that this crown was not platted with thorns. But as this is a point on which we have not sufficient evidence, I leave it almost in the same state of uncertainty in which I found it. The reader may see a satisfactory account of acanthus, bear's-foot, in Quincy's English Dispensatory, part ii. sect. 3, edit. 8, 1742."
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This is the whole of the learned and judicious prelate's note; on which I have only to observed that the species of acanthus described by Virgil and the two Plinys, as mollis and laevis, soft and smooth, is, no doubt, the same as that formerly used in medicine, and described by Quincy and other pharmacopaeists; but there are other species of the same plant that are prickly, and particularly those called the acanthus spinosus, and the ilicifolius, the latter of which is common in both the Indies: this has leaves something like our common holly, the jagged edges of which are armed with prickles; but I do not conceive that this kind was used, nor indeed any other plant of a thorny nature, as the Roman soldiers who platted the crown could have no interest in adding to our Lord's sufferings; though they smote him with the rod, yet their chief object was to render him ridiculous, for pretending, as they imagined, to regal authority. The common wild acanthas or bear's-foot, which I have often met in the dry turf bogs in Ireland, though it have the appearance of being prickly, yet is not, in fact, so. Several shoots grow from one root, about four or five inches long, and about as thick as a little finger. A parcel of such branches, platted by their roots in a string, night be made to look even ornamental, tied about the temples and round the head. It would finely imitate a crown or diadem. But I know not if this plant be a native of Judea.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain With purple - Matthew says scarlet. See the notes…
With purple - Matthew says scarlet. See the notes at Mat 27:28.
About his head - In the form of a garland or diadem. The whole head was not covered, but it was placed in a circle round the temples.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. clothed him with purple] Instead of the white…
17. clothed him with purple] Instead of the white robe, with which Herod had mocked Him, they threw around Him a scarlet sagum, or soldier’s cloak. St Matthew, Mat_27:38, calls it “a scarlet robe;” St John, Joh_19:2, “a purple robe.” It was a war-cloak, such as princes, generals, and soldiers wore, dyed with purple; “probably a cast-off robe of state out of the prætorian wardrobe,”—a burlesque of the long and fine purple robe worn only by the Emperor. Lange, iv. 357.
a crown of thorns] Formed probably of the thorny nâbk, which yet “grows on dwarf bushes outside the walls of Jerusalem.” Tristram’s Land of Israel, p. 429.
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and put it about his head] In mimicry of the laurel wreath worn at times by the Cæsars.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) They clothed him with purple.—The colour is called…
(17) They clothed him with purple.—The colour is called “purple” by St. Mark and St. John, “crimson” by St. Matthew. The two words probably indicated the same colour.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 17, 18. And they clothe him with purple,…
Vers. 17, 18. And they clothe him with purple, and plaiting a crown of thorns, they put it on him; and they began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! They clothe him with purple (enduousin autoran ). So also says St. John. (Joh_21:2, imation porfuroun) St. Matthew says, (Mat_27:28) "They put on him a scarlet robe (perieyhkan autw clamuda)." Purple and scarlet are not such very dissimilar colors. Purple is a royal color; and the chlamys of St. Matthew was a short military cloak of scarlet, intended to be a kind of royal livery. St. Cyril says that the purple cloak symbolized the kingdom of the whole world, which Christ was about to receive, and which he was to obtain by the shedding of his most precious blood. It was designed in mockery of his claim to be a King, and it probably bad a reference to his supposed insurrection against Caesar. All this was permitted by Pilate, in order that he might the more easily, after this ignominious treatment, deliver Christ from the extreme sentence. And plaiting a crown of thorns, they put it on him. The crown of thorns was in all probability woven from the Zizyphus spina Christi (the nabk of the Arabs), which grows abundantly in Palestine, fringing the banks of the Jordan. This plant would be very suitable for the purpose, having flexible branches, with leaves very much resembling the ivy leaf in their color, and with many sharp thorns. The pain arising from the pressure of these sharp thorns upon the head must have been excruciating. And they began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! (Caire basileu twn Ioudaiwn). This word, caire , was an ancient form of salutation; here used by the soldiers in bitter mockery of his claim to be a king.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And they clothed Him with purple and platted a…
Mar_15:17-19
And they clothed Him with purple and platted a crown of thorns.
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Mock dignity
Among the Babylonians and Persians it was customary on a certain feast to bring forth a malefactor from the prison, to place him on a throne, adorned with the royal insignia, to treat him with homage and honour, give him a splendid banquet, and then tear off his crown and royal apparel, scourge him, and put him to death by burning him alive. In Aricia, the priest, king for the year, was anciently sacrificed annually, but afterwards a slave was taken and adorned with royal and priestly ornaments for a few days, and treated with all reverence, and then was stripped and put to death. Throughout the heathen world, at midwinter, it was customary to thus give a short-lived dignity to some person, who was afterwards despoiled of his splendour and put to death, and this custom lingered on in a modified form in Europe, and at Twelfth Night Epiphany kings and queens were installed. Even in Mexico, when discovered and invaded by the Spaniards, a somewhat similar usage was found. A young man for a whole year was treated with homage, and given everything he desired, and then was suddenly despoiled and put to death. Haman, when he desired the royal apparel for himself, and the royal steed, had little idea that he was seeking a brief glory which would end in the gallows, just like the annual exaltation and execution of the Sagan, as he was called. The Romans kept their Saturnalia when the slaves took their masters places, and were dressed in the best robes, and banqueted at their tables, whilst their lords served them. And then, in a night, all was changed, and the slave was subjected to the rod and bondage. The soldiers were wont to keep their Saturnalia, and knew all about the custom of dressing up a victim as a king, then disrobing him and putting him to death, and now they practised this on Jesus. Their act was not one prompted by a sudden fancy. It was a thing to which they were either themselves accustomed, or knew of it as a rite still in use. They regarded Jesus as a victim, and as a victim they treated Him to this short honour; but they did it, for all that, in mockery. (S. Baring Gould, M. A.)
A crown of thorns
We usually think of it as with an Eastern diadem; but it was far more probably in imitation of the victors wreath, which the emperor of the time was so fond of wearing, as the statues of Liberius abundantly testify. One of the soldiers must have run into the garden of the palace, or down the rocky valley hard by, and gathered a handful of thorny bramble; of what kind it was, has been often disputed. Those who thought most of the infliction of pain fixed on an Acanthus, with long spikes that sting as well as prick; others, who saw in the crowning more of mockery than cruelty, chose the Nebk-the Spina Christi-which, with its pliant twigs and bright ivy-like leaves, best recalls the Imperial wreath. Whichever it was, it is enough for us to feel, as an evidence of the restitution wrought by the Incarnation, that what sprang from the ground as a curse on Adams transgression, was woven into a crown, and worn by Christ. (H. M. Luckock, D. D.)
The curse and crown of thorns
And thus, as the curse began in thorns (Gen_3:18), it ended in thorns. (Hiller.)
Symbolism of the crown of thorns
Thorns and briars were the curse of the earth, sent because of mans disobedience, and after his expulsion from Paradise. There is, therefore, a symbolical propriety in Christ assuming a crown of thorns. He who had come to undo the fault of Adam, to take away its consequences, takes to His head the symbol of the evil brought on the earth, and bears it on His temples … God of old likened the law which He gave to Israel to a thorn hedge enclosing His people. Christ has come to take away the law of ordinances which tore and tortured the Jewish people, and He takes its symbol, the thorny circle, and is crowned with it … The thorn has also the symbolic meaning of sin, and a dry thorn was regarded as the symbol of a sinner (Eze_2:3; Eze_2:6)…A thorn is symbolical, not of sin only, but of mockery. As the thorn enters into the flesh and works itself deeper in, and rankles there, causing intolerable pain, and can only with the greatest difficulty be extracted, so is it with the stabbing word of sarcasm-it pierces deep into the heart, and festers there. (S. Baring Gould, M. A.)
The coronation of Christ
The thorn chaplet was a triumphal crown. Christ had fought with sin from the day when he first stood foot to foot with it in the wilderness, up to the time when He entered Pilates hall, and He had conquered it. As a witness that He had gained the victory, behold, sins crown seized as a trophy! What was the crown of sin? Thorns. But now Christ has spoiled sin of its richest regalia and He wears it Himself. Glorious Champion, all hail! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The thorn crown a stimulus
In the thorn crown I see a mighty stimulus.
1. To fervent love. Can you see Christ crowned with thorns, and not be drawn to Him?
2. To repentance. Can you see your best-beloved put to such shame, and yet hold truce or parley with the sins which pierced Him. It cannot be. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The thorn crown a shelter
Ofttimes I have seen the blackthorn growing in the hedge all bristling with a thousand prickles, but right in the centre of the bush have I seen the pretty nest of a little bird. Why did the creature place its habitation there? Because the thorns become a protection to it, and shelter it from harm. And to you I would say-Build your nests within the thorns of Christ. It is a safe place for sinners. Neither Satan, sin, nor death can reach you there. And when you have done that, then come and crown His sacred head with other crowns. What glory does He deserve? What is good enough for Him? If we could take all the precious things from all the treasuries of monarchs, they would not be worthy to be pebbles beneath His feet. If we could bring Him all the sceptres, mitres, tiaras, diadems, and all other pomp of earth, they would be altogether unworthy to be thrown in the dust before Him. Wherewith shall we crown Him? Come, let us weave our praises together, and set our tears for pearls, our love for gold. They will sparkle like so many diamonds in His esteem, for He loves repentance, and He loves faith. Let us make a chaplet with our praises, and crown Him as the laureate of grace. Oh, for grace to do it in the heart, and then in the life, and then with the tongue, that we may praise Him forever who bowed His head to shame for us. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A crown of thorns
When John Huss, the Bohemian martyr, was brought out to be burnt, they put on his head a triple crown of paper, with painted devils on it. On seeing it he said, The Lord Jesus Christ for my sake wore a crown of thorns. Why should not I then for His sake wear this light crown, be it ever so ignominious? Truly I will do it and that willingly. When it was set upon his head, the bishop said, Now we commend thy soul to the devil. But I, said Huss, lifting up his eyes to heaven, do commit my spirit into Thy hands. O Lord Jesus Christ, to Thee I commend my spirit, which Thou hast redeemed! When the fagots were piled up to his very neck, the Duke of Bavaria was officious enough to desire him to abjure. No, said Huss, I never preached any doctrine of any evil tendency, and what I have taught with my lips I now seal with my blood. (Mothers Treasury.)
The cruel coronation
First, the cruel coronation is set before us; secondly, the abjects exulting over their supposed victim, mocking Him and hailing Him with the supposition that He only pretended to be a king; but we cannot stop there-we must go on to notice His exaltation in consequence, and look to Him where He is.
I. I was led to the first statement from the circumstance of the rejoicings in the week that is past, on account of its being coronation week, or coronation day. Well, I said in my own soul, as I turned over the leaves of my Bible, every day of my life, God helping me, shall be a coronation day. He must be crowned Lord of all. But mark, in His official character He must be crowned cruelly with thorns first. Thorns were the symbol of the curse. When God pronounced a curse upon creation, in consequence of mans fail, it was said, Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee. Not a few, yea, probably, all of Gods saints have had to experience that there are thorns in their path, that there are thorns around them, that there are thorns in their choicest gardens, perhaps, in their families, in their children; that there are thorns in their most pleasant circumstances, that there are thorns in their most prosperous businesses, that there are thorns in their fondest hopes; but none among them, that I have ever heard of, have been crowned with thorns. I sometimes flinch if a thorn only touches my finger-I sometimes flinch if a thorn seems threatening the destruction of my fond expectation. What should I do if I were brought to be crowned with them? That was only the honour belonging to the King of kings, who, though King of kings, was the Prince of sufferers; and this Prince of sufferers was crowned with that curse which belonged to poor, fallen, ruined sinners, and which must have crushed you and me into eternal destruction, if He had not been crowned with it. Have we never read, that He was made a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. When this crown of thorns was placed upon the head of our blessed Lord, it was that as a crowned head He should proclaim the liberation of His people from the curse. As though He had said, Plat it closely, take them all in, do not leave a single thorn for My bride, do not leave a single point that shall be experienced, in a judicial sense, for any that the Father gave Me; plat it thicker, plat it higher, lay it heavier, that I may endure all. And why? Because He loved His Church, and would put away the curse, and secure the blessing of His Father upon them, and at least welcome them home with the very appellation of blessing, Come, ye blessed of My Father.
II. Let us advance to take a view of these abjects, that were exulting in His sufferings. Are there not many such mockers now? But just look for a moment at the characters set forth here, as the abjects that mocked Him, What! say you, are we to count chief priests and scribes among the abjects? I do so always and among the very worst of abjects. What was Pilate? an abject. What were the priests, that prompted and goaded the people to cry, Away with Him, away with Him. They were all abjects, decided mockers of Christ. And yet these abjects did not like to go forward in a party by themselves, but must summon the other abjects to do so for them. Now look for a moment how Christ is mocked, in the present day, with all the gaudy show, with all the mimicry of expressions in honour of Him, in which the heart does not go, with all the superstitious ceremonies and abominable idolatries that are palmed upon men under the name of Christianity! But you will observe, that amidst all this insult and mockery, which was heaped upon Jesus when He was upon earth, by these abjects, yet they were obliged to honour Him as King, and they cried out, though they only meant it in mockery, Hail, King of the Jews. Now pause here for a moment, just to ask the question, How do I honour Him? Are we really honouring Him as our King? or are we fleeing from Him, as His disciples did amidst His sufferings.
III. This will lead me to say a few words about His present exaltation. Now this present exaltation, I am told, is at the right hand of the Majesty on high, where He is enthroned in glory. (J. Irons, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain
platted
plaited.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 15:17 a purple robe: Purple cloth, made with an…
15:17 a purple robe: Purple cloth, made with an expensive dye, was worn by royalty and other wealthy individuals (Luke 16:19; 1 Maccabees 10:20, 62; 11:58). This robe may have been a centurion’s out-of-service robe.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.