Discovery BoxMatthew 27:29-30 
Context27:29 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.
Matthew 27:38-44
Context27:38 Then two outlaws were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 27:39 Those 10 who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads 27:40 and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! 11 If you are God’s Son, come down 12 from the cross!” 27:41 In 13 the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law 14 and elders 15 – were mocking him: 16 27:42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down 17 now from the cross, we will believe in him! 27:43 He trusts in God – let God, if he wants to, deliver him now 18 because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!” 27:44 The 19 robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. 20
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.
10 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
11 sn There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, “save yourself!” and “come down from the cross!” In summary, they wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save his physical life, but it was indeed his staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life.
12 tc ‡ Many important witnesses (א* A D pc it sy[s],p) read καί (kai, here with the force of “then”) before κατάβηθι (katabhqi, “come down”). The shorter reading may well be due to homoioarcton, but judging by the diverse external evidence (א2 B L W Θ 0250 Ë1,13 33 Ï lat) it is equally possible that the shorter reading is original (and is so considered for this translation). NA27 puts the καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
13 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
14 tn Or “with the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
15 tn Only “chief priests” is in the nominative case; this sentence structure attempts to capture this emphasis.
16 tn Grk “Mocking him, the chief priests…said.”
17 tn Here the aorist imperative καταβάτω (katabatw) has been translated as a conditional imperative. This fits the pattern of other conditional imperatives (imperative + καί + future indicative) outlined by ExSyn 489.
19 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
20 sn Matthew’s wording suggests that both of the criminals spoke abusively to him. If so, one of them quickly changed his attitude toward Jesus (see Luke 23:40-43).
