Matthew 27:28-29

27:28 They ¹  stripped him and put a scarlet robe ²  around him, 27:29 and after braiding ³  a crown of thorns, ⁴  they put it on his head. They ⁵  put a staff ⁶  in his right hand, and kneeling down before him, they mocked him: ⁷  “Hail, king of the Jews!” ⁸ 

Mark 15:18-19

15:18 They began to salute him: “Hail, king of the Jews!” ⁹  15:19 Again and again ¹⁰  they struck him on the head with a staff ¹¹  and spit on him. Then they knelt down and paid homage to him.

John 19:2-3

19:2 The soldiers ¹²  braided ¹³  a crown of thorns ¹⁴  and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe. ¹⁵  19:3 They ¹⁶  came up to him again and again ¹⁷  and said, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁸  And they struck him repeatedly ¹⁹  in the face.

John 19:14-15

19:14 (Now it was the day of preparation ²⁰  for the Passover, about noon. ²¹ ) ²²  Pilate ²³  said to the Jewish leaders, ²⁴  “Look, here is your king!”

19:15 Then they ²⁵  shouted out, “Away with him! Away with him! ²⁶  Crucify ²⁷  him!” Pilate asked, ²⁸  “Shall I crucify your king?” The high priests replied, “We have no king except Caesar!”

John 19:1

Pilate Tries to Release Jesus

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged severely. ²⁹ 

John 2:4-8

2:4 Jesus replied, ³⁰  “Woman, ³¹  why are you saying this to me? ³²  My time ³³  has not yet come.” 2:5 His mother told the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.” ³⁴ 

2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, ³⁵  each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ³⁶  2:7 Jesus told the servants, ³⁷  “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the very top. 2:8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,” ³⁸  and they did.

[27:28]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:28]  ² sn The scarlet robe probably refers to a military garment which had the color of royal purple, and thus resembled a king’s robe. The soldiers did this to Jesus as a form of mockery in view of the charges that he was a king.

[27:29]  ³ tn Or “weaving.”

[27:29]  ⁴ 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.

[27:29]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:29]  ⁶ tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.

[27:29]  ⁷ tn Grk “they mocked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

[27:29]  ⁸ tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”

[15:18]  ⁹ tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”

[15:19]  ¹⁰ tn The verb here has been translated as an iterative imperfect.

[15:19]  ¹¹ tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.

[19:2]  ¹² tn Grk “And the soldiers.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:2]  ¹³ tn Or “wove.”

[19:2]  ¹⁴ sn The crown of thorns was a crown plaited of some thorny material, intended as a mockery of Jesus’ “kingship.” Traditionally it has been regarded as an additional instrument of torture, but it seems more probable the purpose of the thorns was not necessarily to inflict more physical suffering but to imitate the spikes of the “radiant corona,” a type of crown portrayed on ruler’s heads on many coins of the period; the spikes on this type of crown represented rays of light pointing outward (the best contemporary illustration is the crown on the head of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor).

[19:2]  ¹⁵ sn The purple color of the robe indicated royal status. This was further mockery of Jesus, along with the crown of thorns.

[19:3]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:3]  ¹⁷ tn The words “again and again” are implied by the (iterative) imperfect verb ἤρχοντο (hrconto).

[19:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”

[19:3]  ¹⁹ tn The word “repeatedly” is implied by the (iterative) imperfect verb ἐδιδοσαν (edidosan).

[19:14]  ²⁰ sn The term day of preparation (παρασκευή, paraskeuh) appears in all the gospels as a description of the day on which Jesus died. It could refer to any Friday as the day of preparation for the Sabbath (Saturday), and this is the way the synoptic gospels use the term (Matt 27:62, Mark 15:42, and Luke 23:54). John, however, specifies in addition that this was not only the day of preparation of the Sabbath, but also the day of preparation of the Passover, so that the Sabbath on the following day was the Passover (cf. 19:31).

[19:14]  ²¹ tn Grk “about the sixth hour.”

[19:14]  ²² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:14]  ²³ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Pilate) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:14]  ²⁴ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin, and their servants (mentioned specifically as “the chief priests and their servants” in John 19:6). See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.

[19:15]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Then these.”

[19:15]  ²⁶ tn The words “with him” (twice) are not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[19:15]  ²⁷ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:15]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Pilate said to them.” The words “to them” are not translated because it is clear in English who Pilate is addressing.

[19:1]  ²⁹ tn Or “had him flogged,” or (traditional), “scourged him.” The verb should be read as causative. Pilate ordered Jesus to be flogged. A Roman governor would not carry out such a sentence in person. BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1. states, “If J refers to the ‘verberatio’ given those condemned to death (TMommsen, Röm. Strafrecht 1899, 938f; Jos., Bell. 2, 308; 5, 449), it is odd that Pilate subsequently claims no cause for action (vs. 6); but if the latter statement refers only to the penalty of crucifixion, μ. vs. 1 may be equivalent to παιδεύω (q.v. 2bγ) in Lk 23:16, 22 (for μ. of a non-capital offense PFlor I, 61, 61 [85ad]=Mitt-Wilck. II/2, 80 II, 61).”

[2:4]  ³⁰ tn Grk “and Jesus said to her.”

[2:4]  ³¹ sn The term Woman is Jesus’ normal, polite way of addressing women (Matt 15:28, Luke 13:12; John 4:21; 8:10; 19:26; 20:15). But it is unusual for a son to address his mother with this term. The custom in both Hebrew (or Aramaic) and Greek would be for a son to use a qualifying adjective or title. Is there significance in Jesus’ use here? It probably indicates that a new relationship existed between Jesus and his mother once he had embarked on his public ministry. He was no longer or primarily only her son, but the “Son of Man.” This is also suggested by the use of the same term in 19:26 in the scene at the cross, where the beloved disciple is “given” to Mary as her “new” son.

[2:4]  ³² tn Grk “Woman, what to me and to you?” (an idiom). The phrase τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, γύναι (ti emoi kai soi, gunai) is Semitic in origin. The equivalent Hebrew expression in the Old Testament had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Judg 11:12, 2 Chr 35:21, 1 Kgs 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2 Kgs 3:13, Hos 14:8). Option (1) implies hostility, while option (2) implies merely disengagement. Mere disengagement is almost certainly to be understood here as better fitting the context (although some of the Greek Fathers took the remark as a rebuke to Mary, such a rebuke is unlikely).

[2:4]  ³³ tn Grk “my hour” (referring to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion and return to the Father).

[2:5]  ³⁴ tn The pronoun “it” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[2:6]  ³⁵ tn Grk “for the purification of the Jews.”

[2:6]  ³⁶ tn Grk “holding two or three metretes” (about 75 to 115 liters). Each of the pots held 2 or 3 μετρηταί (metrhtai). A μετρητῆς (metrhths) was about 9 gallons (40 liters); thus each jar held 18-27 gallons (80-120 liters) and the total volume of liquid involved was 108-162 gallons (480-720 liters).

[2:7]  ³⁷ tn Grk “them” (it is clear from the context that the servants are addressed).

[2:8]  ³⁸ tn Or “the master of ceremonies.”