Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 27:29
And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put [it] upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
29. a crown of thorns ] It cannot be ascertained what especial kind of thorn was used. The soldiers, as Bp Ellicott remarks, would take what first came to hand, utterly careless whether it was likely to inflict pain or no.
King of the Jews ] Cp. ch. Mat 2:2, and Mat 27:37.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mat 27:29-31
And when they had platted a crown of thorns.
Mocked of the soldiers
The shameful spectacle! What element of scorn is lacking? Roman soldiers mocking a supposed rival of Caesar are sure to go to the utmost lengths in their derision. The spectacle is as cruel as it is derisive. Thorns and rough blows accentuate mockeries and scoffs. Roman legionaries were the brutalized instruments of a race noted for its ignorance of all tenderness; they wrought cruelties with a singular zest, being most at home in amusements of the most cruel kind.
I. Hers learn a lesson for your heart.
1. See what sin deserved. All laid on Him.
(a) Ridicule for its folly.
(b) Scorn for its pretensions.
(c) Shame for its audacity.
2. See how low your Saviour stooped for your sake.
(a) Made the substitute for foolish, sinful man; and treated as such.
(b) Scoffed at by soldiers of meanest grade.
(c) Made a puppet for men who play the fool.
3. See how your Redeemer loved you. He bears immeasurable contempt, in silence, to the bitter end.
4. See the grand facts behind the scorn.
(a) He is a King in very surety.
(b) Glorified by conquering earths sorrow.
(c) Rules by weakness.
(d) Makes men bow the knee.
(e) True Monarch of the Jews.
5. See that you honour and love Him in proportion to this shame and mockery. The more vile He has made Himself for us, the more dear He ought to be to us.
II. A lesson for the conscience.
1. Jesus may still be mocked.
(a) By deriding His people.
(b) By despising His doctrine.
(c) By resolves never fulfilled.
(d) By beliefs never obeyed.
(e) By professions never justified. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The crown of thorns
According to the Rabbis and the botanists, there would seem to have been from twenty to twenty-five different species of thorny plants growing in Palestine; and different writers have, according to their own judgment or fancies, selected one and another of these plants as the peculiar thorns which were used upon this occasion. But why select one thorn out of many? He bore not one grief, but all; any and every thorn will suffice; the very dubiousness as to the peculiar species yields us instruction. It may well be that more than one kind of thorn was platted in that crown: at any rate sin has so thickly strewn the earth with thorns and thistles that there was no difficulty in finding the materials, even as there was no scarcity of griefs wherewith to chasten Him every morning and make Him a mourner all His days. The soldiers may have used pliant boughs of the acacia or shittim tree, that unrotting wood of which many of the sacred tables and vessels of the sanctuary were made; and, therefore, significantly used if such was the case. It may have been true, as the old writers generally consider, that the plant was the spina Christi, for it has many small and sharp spines, and its green leaves would have made a wreath such as those with which generals and emperors were crowned after a battle. But we will leave the matter; it was a crown of thorns which pierced His head, and caused Him suffering as well as shame, and that suffices us. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Christians crown, not gold but thorns
That thorn crown cures us of desire for the vain glories of the world, it dims all human pomp and glory till it turns to smoke. It takes the glitter from your gold, and the lustre from your gems, and the beauty from all your dainty gewgaws, to see that no imperial purple can equal the glory of His blood, no gems can rival His thorns. Show and parade cease to attract the soul, when once the superlative excellencies of the dying Saviour have been discerned by the enlightened eye. Who seeks for ease when he has seen the Lord Christ? If Christ wears a crown of thorns, shall we covet a crown of laurel? Even the fierce Crusader, when he entered into Jerusalem and was elected king, had sense enough to say, I will not wear a crown of gold in the same city where my Saviour wore a crown of thorns. Why should we desire, like feather-bed soldiers, to have everything arranged for our ease and pleasure? Why this reclining upon couches, when Jesus hangs on a cross? Why this soft raiment, when He is naked? Why these luxuries, when He is barbarously entreated? Thus the thorn crown cures us at once of the vain glory of the world, and of our own selfish love of ease. The worlds minstrel may cry, He, boy, come hither, and crown me with rosebuds! but the voluptuarys request is not for us. For us neither delights of the flesh nor the pride of life can have charms while the Man of Sorrows is in view. For us it remains to suffer and to labour, till the King shall bid us share His rest. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Crowned with thorns
I. The crown of thorns was placed upon the brow of our Divine Redeemer in derision of His true kingly dignity. It suggests the worlds general treatment of His claims. Herods question-Art Thou a King? Christ claims this supremacy on the ground of His Divine fulness and sufficiency as our Redeeming God.
II. The crown of thorns reminds us of kingship over suffering, or the passive perfection of the Lord Jesus.
III. Of the disappointments which are inseparable from the earthly and the seen. (C. H. Davison.)
The crown of thorns
1. A striking exhibition of the intense love of Christ to guilty man.
2. The profound depth of His abasement.
3. The development of the nature of that kingdom which Christ came into this world to establish.
4. There is a description of the character, tendency, and issue of the affliction of the righteous. Afflictions prick and tear, but suffering is a crown.
5. An affecting image of the reality, extent, and the permanence of the dominion of Christ. (J. Clayton.)
The thorn crown
I. See what that age must have sunk to. We test forces in depravity by their resistance of good. Rome decadent! Do you know its wealth, armies, etc. It was withal corrupt, dying.
II. See what a limited power Christs enemies have. They can put thorns on His head, but none on His heart. How calm in all His sorrow. The keenest physical agony is little felt in the joyous sense of triumphant love for others.
III. See what suffering love can do.
IV. See what is the sin of the world today. Our rebellion is a crown of thorns on his heart.
V. See the altered verdict of the ages. The crown was then a mockery, now a royal symbol. Learn
(1) never to be carried away by a mere temporary judgment;
(2) what a contrast we have in the glorious vision of the Apocalypse, On His head were many crowns. (W. M. Statham.)
The crown of thorns
The crown of thorns symbolized-
I. That Christ was about to bear the curse for sinful man. Thorns were part of the original curse upon the soil.
II. That Christ was about to endure pain for sinful man. The piercing thorns were harbingers of the cruel spear and nails.
III. That Christ was about to conquer death for dying man. Christ was crowned before He came to the cross; undesignedly indicating His victory. (F. W. Brown.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 29. A crown of thorns] . It does not appear that this crown was intended to be an instrument of punishment or torture to his head, but rather to render him ridiculous; for which cause also they put a reed in his hand, by way of sceptre, and bowed their knees, pretending to do him homage. The crown was not probably of thorns, in our sense of the word: there are eminently learned men who think that the crown was formed of the herb acanthus; and Bishop Pearce and Michaelis are of this opinion. Mark, Mr 15:17, and John, Joh 19:5, term it, , which may very well be translated an acanthine crown or wreath, formed out of the branches of the herb acanthus, or bear’s foot. This, however, is a prickly plant, though nothing like thorns, in the common meaning of that word. Many Christians have gone astray in magnifying the sufferings of Christ from this circumstance; and painters, the worst of all commentators, frequently represent Christ with a crown of long thorns, which one standing by is striking into his head with a stick. These representations engender ideas both false and absurd.
There is a passage produced from Philo by Dr. Lardner, which casts much light on these indignities offered to our blessed Lord.
“Caligula, the successor of Tiberius, gave Agrippa the tetrarchy of his uncle Philip, with the right of wearing a diadem or crown. When he came to Alexandria, on his way to his tetrarchate, the inhabitants of that place, filled with envy at the thoughts of a Jew having the title of king, showed their indignation in the following way. They brought one Carabus (a sort of an idiot) into the theatre; and, having placed him on a lofty seat, that he might be seen by all, they put a diadem upon his head, made of the herb byblos, (the ancient papyrus, or paper flag😉 his body they covered with a mat or carpet, instead of a royal cloak. One seeing a piece of reed, (the stem, probably, of the aforesaid herb) lying on the ground, picked it up, and put it in his hand in place of a sceptre. Having thus given him a mock royal dress, several young fellows, with poles on their shoulders, came and stood on each side of him as his guards. Then there came people, some to pay their homage to him, some to ask justice, and some to consult him on affairs of state and the crowd that stood round about made a confused noise, crying, Mario, that being, as they say, the Syriac word for LORD; thereby showing that they intended to ridicule Agrippa, who was a Syrian.” See PHILO, Flace. p. 970, and Dr. Lardner, Works, vol. i. p. 159.
There is the most remarkable coincidence between this account and that given by the evangelists; and the conjecture concerning the acanthus will probably find no inconsiderable support from the bylos and papyrus of Philo. This plant, Pliny says, grows to ten cubits long in the stem and the flowers were used ad deos coronandos, for CROWNING THE GODS. See Hist. Nat. lib. xiii. c. 11.
The reflections of pious Quesnel on these insults offered to our blessed Lord merit serious attention.
Let the crown of thorns make those Christians blush who throw away so much time, pains, and money, in beautifying and adorning a sinful head. Let the world do what it will to render the royalty and mysteries of Christ contemptible, it is my glory to serve a King thus debased; my salvation, to adore that which the world despises; and my redemption, to go unto God through the merits of him who was crowned with thorns.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And when they had platted a crown of thorns,…. What sort of thorn this crown was made of, whether of the bramble, or of the white thorn, is not very material b: the word used in the Syriac version, is rendered by interpreters, “white thorns”, and which were common in Judea: these, be they what they will, they made into the form of a crown, and
they put it upon his head; both to reproach him as a king, and to torture him as a man: however, it had its significance, and was an emblem of men, comparable to thorns; either of wicked men, and of his being encompassed with them at this time; or of good men, chosen out from among them, redeemed by him, and accounted as a royal diadem with him c: or it might represent the sins of his people, which, like thorns, pierced him, and like a crown of them surrounded him every side; or else the many troubles he was exercised with, and through which he did, as his members do, enter the kingdom: and especially, his being made a curse for us, thorns and briers being the curse which was inflicted on the earth, for the sin of man: in this Christ was the antitype of the ram, caught by his horns among the thickets, which “Abraham” sacrificed in the room of his son. This may teach us many useful lessons: we may see what a curse sin brought upon man, and upon the earth for man’s sake; and even upon the Messiah, in the stead of men: we may observe the difference between us and Christ: we are a crown of glory, and a royal diadem in his hand; we are crowned with loving kindness and tender mercies, and have a crown of righteousness, life, and glory, laid up for us, and he was crowned with thorns; as also the difference between Christ in his state of humiliation wearing such a crown, and his state of exaltation, in which he is crowned with glory and honour. The Jews acknowledge this circumstance of the sufferings of Jesus, though they ascribe it to the elders of Jerusalem; who, they say d,
“took thorns and made a crown of them, and put it upon his head.”
Which are the very words of the evangelist:
and a reed in his right hand, or “cane”; and Munster’s Hebrew Gospel uses the word, , “a cane”, such as men walk with; and this may be confirmed from the barbarous use they afterwards made of it, by smiting him on the head with it: a “reed” indeed may fitly express the weakness of his kingdom in the eye of the world: but any cane or common staff, or stick, put into his hands in the room of a sceptre, would also signify the meanness of his kingdom, which was not of this world, and came not with observation: they meant to reproach him with it, but they will find one time or another, that he, has another sceptre, even a sceptre of righteousness, a staff of strength, a rod of iron, with which he will rule and break in pieces, all the wicked of the earth. However, we may learn from hence, Christ does not disdain to hold a reed in his hand: nor will he break the bruised reed, or discourage, or crush the weakest believer.
And they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews: being thus clad in a scarlet, or purple robe, or both; and having a crown of thorns on his head, and a reed instead of a sceptre in his hand, they carry on the mockery still further, and bend the knee to him, as to a prince just come to his throne, and salute as such; and in a mock way, wish him long life and prosperity: thus deriding him in his kingly office, as all such do, who call him Lord, Lord, but disregard his commands.
b Vid. Bartholin. de Spinea Corona, sect. 1. 2. c Vid. Paschal. de Coronis, l. 10. c. 12. p. 701, 702. d Toldos Jesu, p. 17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A crown of thorns ( ). They wove a crown out of thorns which would grow even in the palace grounds. It is immaterial whether they were young and tender thorn bushes, as probable in the spring, or hard bushes with sharp prongs. The soldiers would not care, for they were after ridicule and mockery even if it caused pain. It was more like a victor’s garland () than a royal diadem (), but it served the purpose. So with the reed (), a stalk of common cane grass which served as sceptre. The soldiers were familiar with the Ave Caesar and copy it in their mockery of Jesus:
Hail, King of the Jews (, ). The soldiers added the insults used by the Sanhedrin (Mt 26:67), spitting on him and smiting him with the reed. Probably Jesus had been unbound already. At any rate the garments of mockery were removed before the via dolorosa to the cross (verse 31).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
(29) A crown of thorns.The word is too vague to enable us to identify the plant with certainty, but most writers have fixed on the Zizyphus Spina Christi, known locally as the Nebk, a shrub growing plentifully in the valley of the Jordan, with branches pliant and flexible, and leaves of a dark glossy green, like ivy, and sharp prickly thorns. The likeness of the crown or garland thus made to that worn by conquering kings and emperors, fitted it admirably for the purpose. The shrub was likely enough to be found in the garden attached to the Prtorium.
A reed in his right hand.Here also the word is vague, and it may have been the stalk either of a sugar-cane, a Papyrus, or an Arundo. It represented, of course, the sceptre which, even under the Republic, had been wielded by generals in their triumphs, and which under the Empire, as with Greek and Eastern kings, had become the received symbol of sovereignty.
They bowed the knee before him.We have to represent to ourselves the whole cohort as joining in the derisive homage. The term in Mar. 15:19 implies a continued, not a momentary actthe band filing before the mock-king, and kneeling as they passed.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
29. Had platted The old English verb to plat or plait, signifies to braid or interweave. A crown of thorns The question has been raised whether this crown was intended for mockery or for pain. Undoubtedly mockery was the leading object, and yet that mockery is all the more effective by being made painful. A crown of straw would have been mockery; a crown of thorns was a painful mockery. What sort of thorns composed this crown is uncertain. But Haselquist, a Swedish naturalist, says, of the Nabea Palisius Athanaei of Alphinus, now Zizyphus Spina Christi, “In all probability this is the tree which afforded the crown of thorns put upon the head of Christ. It is very common in the East. This plant is very fit for the purpose, for it has many small and sharp spines which are well adapted to give pain; the crown might easily be made of these soft round and pliant branches; and what in my opinion seems to be the greater proof is, that the leaves very much resemble those of the ivy, as they are of a very deep glossy green. Perhaps the enemies of Christ would have a plant somewhat resembling that with which emperors and generals were crowned, that there might be a calumny even in the punishment.” Kitto, Art., Thorns.
A reed A burlesque sceptre for this fictitious king. The reed is a plant with a hollow jointed stalk, growing in wet grounds. It was sometimes used for light walking canes, and one may have been taken from the bystanders for the present purpose. Bowed mocked Hail These were all ironical offers of mocking homage to Jesus as he sat in a semblance of royalty. What followed was real and professed abuse and injury.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mat 27:29. And when they had platted a crown of thorns Though it is unquestionable that they intended hereby to expose our Lord’s pretended royalty to ridicule and contempt, as well as by the purple robe and mock sceptre; yet had that been all, a crown of thorns alone might have served as well. They meant, without all doubt, to add cruelty to their scorn, which especially appeared in their striking him on the head, to drive the horrid thorns into the tender parts of his temples, when this crown was put on. If the best descriptions of the Eastern thorns are to be credited, they are much larger than any commonly known in these parts. Hasselquist, speaking of the naba, or nabka of the Arabians, says, “In all probability this is the tree which afforded the crown of thorns put on the head of Christ; it grows very common in the East, and the plant is extremely fit for the purpose, for it has many small and most sharp spines, which are well adapted to give great pain. The crown might be easily made of these soft, round, and pliant branches; and what in my opinion seems to be the greatest proof of it is, that the leaves much resemble those of ivy, as they are of a very deep green: perhaps the enemies of Christ would have a plant somewhat resembling that with which emperors and generals were used to be crowned, that there might be calumny even in the punishment.” It has been observed, that the curse inflicted on our first parents included thorns as the product of the earth, and this curse was put an end to, by the thorns here used. See Solomon’s Song, Son 2:2. The word , does indeed sometimes signify a slender reed, (ch. Mat 11:7 Mat 12:20; 3 John, Mat 27:13.) but it also includes all kinds of canes, and it is most probable that this was a walking cane, which they put into his hand as a sceptre; for a blow with a slight reed would scarcely have been felt, or have deserved mention in a detail of such dreadful sufferings. See Hasselquist’s Travels, p. 288 and Doddridge.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 27:29 f. ] belongs to . What is meant is something made by twisting together young flexible thorns so as to represent the royal diadem. The object was not to produce suffering, but to excite ridicule; so that while we cannot altogether dissociate the idea of something painful from this crown of thorns, we must not conceive of it as covered with prickles which were intentionally thrust into the flesh. Michaelis adopts the rendering Brenklau ( ); but this is incompatible with the of Mar 15:17 , which adjective is never used with reference to the plant just mentioned. Besides, this latter was a plant that was highly prized (for which reason it was often used for ornamental purposes in pieces of sculpture and on the capitals of Corinthian pillars), and therefore would be but ill suited for a caricature. It is impossible to determine what species of thorn it was (possibly the so-called spina Christi ?; see Tobler, Denkbl . pp. 113, 179).
] ] being understood, the connection with is zeugmatic .
Observe the imperfects and as indicating the continuous character of the proceeding.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
Ver. 29. And when they had platted a crown, &c. ] Christ, by wearing this crown of thorns, the firstfruits of the curse, took away the sin and curse of all his people; who must therefore, by their obedience, set a crown of gold on his head,Son 3:11Son 3:11 , as Canutus in his superstitious way set his crown upon the crucifix. See Trapp on “ Joh 19:2 “
And a reed in his right hand ] So do all those still, that submit not to the sceptre of his kingdom, -that give him not full sovereignty over their souls.
Bowed the knee before him ] With ludibrious devotion. So do hypocrites to this day. King Richard II, when he was to be deposed, was brought forth in royal array, whereof he was presently despoiled. Never was prince so gorgeous with less glory and more grief.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
29. ] It does not appear whether the purpose of the crown was to wound , or simply for mockery and equally uncertain is it, of what kind of thorns it was composed. The acanthus itself, with its large succulent leaves, is singularly unfit for such a purpose: as is the plant with very long sharp thorns commonly known as spina Christi , being a brittle acacia (robinia), and the very length of the thorns, which would meet in the middle if it were bent into a wreath, precluding it. Some flexile shrub or plant must be understood possibly some variety of the cactus or prickly pear. ‘Hasselquist, a Swedish naturalist, supposes a very common plant, naba or nubka of the Arabs, with many small and sharp spines; soft, round, and pliant branches; leaves much resembling ivy, of a very deep green, as if in designed mockery of a victor’s wreath,’ Travels, 288. 1766 (cited by F. M).
., for a sceptre.
., nominative with art. for vocative, a Hebraism, see reff.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
crown. Greek. Stephanos (used by kings and victors); not diadema, as in Rev 12:3; Rev 13:1; Rev 19:12.
upon. Greek. epi. App-104.
in. Greek. epi. App-104. But all the texts read in (as in verses: Mat 27:27, Mat 27:5, Mat 27:60).
mocked Him: as foretold by Him in Mat 20:17-19, but they were only ignorantly fulfilling His own word, as well as the Father’s purpose.
Hail. ! Compare Mat 28:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
29.] It does not appear whether the purpose of the crown was to wound, or simply for mockery-and equally uncertain is it, of what kind of thorns it was composed. The acanthus itself, with its large succulent leaves, is singularly unfit for such a purpose: as is the plant with very long sharp thorns commonly known as spina Christi, being a brittle acacia (robinia),-and the very length of the thorns, which would meet in the middle if it were bent into a wreath, precluding it. Some flexile shrub or plant must be understood-possibly some variety of the cactus or prickly pear. Hasselquist, a Swedish naturalist, supposes a very common plant, naba or nubka of the Arabs, with many small and sharp spines; soft, round, and pliant branches; leaves much resembling ivy, of a very deep green, as if in designed mockery of a victors wreath, Travels, 288. 1766 (cited by F. M).
., for a sceptre.
., nominative with art. for vocative, a Hebraism, see reff.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 27:29. , the King of the Jews) They treated Jesus as a madman who fancied Himself a King.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
platted: Mat 20:19, Psa 35:15, Psa 35:16, Psa 69:7, Psa 69:19, Psa 69:20, Isa 49:7, Isa 53:3, Jer 20:7, Heb 12:2, Heb 12:3
Hail: Mat 27:37, Mat 26:49, Mar 15:18, Luk 23:36, Luk 23:37, Joh 19:3
Reciprocal: Gen 37:19 – Behold Jdg 16:25 – sport 2Ki 1:9 – Thou man 2Ki 2:23 – Go up 2Ki 11:12 – put the crown Neh 4:1 – mocked Job 12:4 – one mocked Psa 22:7 – laugh Isa 52:14 – his visage Isa 57:4 – sport Mat 26:68 – thou Act 26:26 – this thing Phi 2:10 – every
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:29
The actions of this verse also were done in mockery of the claim of Jesus that he was a king of the Jews. For a crown they used thorns, which comes from the same Greek word as that used in chapter 13:7. Thayer defines the word, “A thorn, bramble-bush, brier.” It means something that was not visible at the time the sowing was done, for it was afterward that the thorns “sprang up.” The plant used as a mocking as well as a painful article was the kind that could be platted or woven into a crown and then pressed down upon the head of Jesus. Kings usually hold a baton or rod in their hand which was called a scepter when so used, indicating the authority of the throne. For that purpose a reed was placed in his hand in mockery of his claim as king. Smith’s Bible Dictionary gives the following information on the reed that grew in Palestine. “A stronger reed, Arundo donax, the true reed of Egypt and Palestine, which grows 8 or 10 feet high, and is thicker than a man’s thumb. It has a jointed stalk like a bamboo, and is very abundant on the Nile.” There is something very pathetic about this item of the mocking ceremony. The placing of a crown on the head would require only that Jesus would not resist, but to put a reed in his right hand would be possible only by his cooperation, for an object like that would have to be grasped in order for the act to be a success. All of this was in keeping with the prediction of nonresistance that was made in Isa 53:7 and Act 8:32-33. It is fitting that a king would be saluted respectfully in the manner described in this verse, but these wicked men did it in mockery.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 27:29. A crown of thorns. This would wound as well as mock Him, though the latter was the chief design. It is difficult to determine what kind of thorns was used. Alford says: Hasselquist, a Swedish naturalist, supposes a very common plant, naba or nubka of the Arabs, with many small and sharp spines; soft, round, and pliant branches; leaves much resembling ivy, of a very deep green, as if in designed mockery of a victors wreath.
And a reed in his right hand, as a mock sceptre. The original, according to the best authorities, represents the passive demeanor of Christ, as if His hand did not close on the reed.
They bowed the knee. In feigned homage, greeting Him in the usual form: Hail, King of the Jews! A symbolical meaning may be found in all this mock-adoration.