Mark 15:17-18 - Exposition

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 ( ἐνδύουσιν αὐτὸν πορφύραν ) . So also says St. John ( John 21:2 , ἱματιον πορφυροῦν ). St. Matthew says ( Matthew 27:28 ), "They put on him a scarlet robe ( περιέθηκαν αὐτῷ χλαμύδα )." 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! ( χαῖρε βασιλεῦ τῶν ἰουδαίων ) . This word, χαῖρε , was an ancient form of salutation; here used by the soldiers in bitter mockery of his claim to be a king.