Matthew 27:29-30

27:29 and after braiding 1  a crown of thorns, 2  they put it on his head. They 3  put a staff 4  in his right hand, and kneeling down before him, they mocked him: 5  “Hail, king of the Jews!” 6  27:30 They 7  spat on him and took the staff 8  and struck him repeatedly 9  on the head.

1 tn Or “weaving.”

2 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.

3 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

4 tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.

5 tn Grk “they mocked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

6 tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”

sn The statement Hail, King of the Jews! is a mockery patterned after the Romans’ cry of Ave, Caesar (“Hail, Caesar!”).

7 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

8 tn Or “the reed.”

9 tn The verb here has been translated as an iterative imperfect.