Discovery BoxMatthew 27:29 
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
Matthew 27:41-43
Context27:41 In 7 the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law 8 and elders 9 – were mocking him: 10 27:42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down 11 now from the cross, we will believe in him! 27:43 He trusts in God – let God, if he wants to, deliver him now 12 because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!”
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 “with the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
9 tn Only “chief priests” is in the nominative case; this sentence structure attempts to capture this emphasis.
10 tn Grk “Mocking him, the chief priests…said.”
11 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.
