Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 27:28
And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.
28. a scarlet robe ] A soldier’s scarf, Lat. chlamys: it was generally worn by superior officers, but its use was not confined to them. This may have been a worn-out scarf belonging to Pilate; it is different from “the gorgeous robe” (Luk 23:11), which Herod’s soldiers put on Jesus. Scarlet was the proper colour for the military chlamys. (See Dict. of Ant.) St Mark has the less definite “purple;” St John “a purple robe.” Purple, however, is used by Latin writers to denote any bright colour.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 28. Stripped him] Took off his mantle, or upper garment.
A scarlet robe] Or, according to Mark and John, a purple robe, such as emperors and kings wore.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And they stripped him,…. Of his clothes; at least of his upper garment: for one man to spit upon another, as these soldiers afterwards did on Christ, or to strip him of his garment, according to the Jewish canons, were punishable with a fine of four hundred pence z, which amounted to twelve pounds and ten shillings of our money; but the soldiers were in no danger of being prosecuted, for stripping Christ. This is one part of the low estate Christ submitted to: his clothes on his back seem to be all he had in this world, and of these he is stripped:
and put on him a scarlet robe, or “a red coat”, as the Persic version renders it; very likely an old coat of one of their officers. The Evangelists Mark and John say it was “purple”,
Mr 15:17, and so the Arabic version renders it here: whether there were two garments put upon him, the one a purple vest, and the other a scarlet robe over it; or whether scarlet was used instead of purple, is not certain; which was a colour wore by kings, and a sign of imperial dignity a; and therefore put upon Christ by way of mockery, upbraiding him with the character he bore, as king of the Jews. This was an emblem of his being clothed, as it were with our sins, which are as scarlet, and of his bloody sufferings in the human nature.
z Misn. Bava Kama, c. 8. sect. 6. a Alexander ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 1. c. 28.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A scarlet robe ( ). A kind of short cloak worn by soldiers, military officers, magistrates, kings, emperors (2Macc. 12:35; Josephus, Ant. V. 1,10), a soldier’s sagum or scarf. Carr (Cambridge Gk. Test.) suggests that it may have been a worn-out scarf of Pilate’s. The scarlet colour () was a dye derived from the female insect () which gathered on the found in Palestine. These dried clusters of insects look like berries and form the famous dye. The word occurs in Plutarch, Epictetus, Herodas, and late papyri besides the Septuagint and New Testament. Mark (Mr 15:17) has “purple” (). There are various shades of purple and scarlet and it is not easy to distinguish these colours or tints. The manuscripts vary here between “stripped” () and “clothed” (). He had been stripped for the scourging. If “clothed” is correct, the soldiers added the scarlet (purple) mantle. Herodotus (iii. 139) relates that Darius richly rewarded a Samian exile for a rare scarlet robe which he obtained from him. This scarlet mantle on Jesus was mock imitation of the royal purple.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Robe [] . The short military cloak which kings and emperors as well as soldiers wore.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
(28) A scarlet robe.Here again we have a technical word, the chlamys or paludamentum, used for the military cloak worn by emperors in their character as generals, and by other officers of high rank (Pliny, xxii. 2, 3). St. Mark and St. John call it purple (Mar. 15:17; Joh. 19:2); but the purple of the ancients was crimson, and the same colour might easily be called by either name. It was probably some cast-off cloak of Pilates own, or, possibly, that in which Herod had before arrayed Him (Luk. 23:11). Philo records a like mockery as practised upon an idiot at Alexandria, who was there made to represent Herod Agrippa II. (in Flacc. p. 980). It was but too common a practice to subject condemned prisoners before execution to this kind of outrage. Here the point of the mockery lay, of course, in the fact that their Victim had been condemned as claiming the title of a King. They had probably seen or heard of the insults of like kind offered by Herod and his soldiers (Luk. 23:21), and now reproduced them with aggravated cruelty.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. A scarlet robe A kind of round cloak, which was confined on the right shoulder by a clasp, so as to cover the left side of the body, worn by military officers and called paludamentum. Those of the emperors were purple. This cloak or robe, called by Matthew scarlet, is by Mark called purple. The two colours blend into each other, and the words are interchangeable. The scarlet dye, however, was made from a shrub; the purple from a shell-fish.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
a ‘And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe, and plaited a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand.’
Then began the mockery and they wanted Him dressed for the part. So they took off His own bloodstained robe, and put on Him a scarlet robe which was intended to signify royalty. This may have been a soldier’s red robe, or it may have been an officer’s robe seen as more suitable for the part, or even one that they kept by for such occasions. Then they plaited a crown of thorns. The long thorns may well have been intended to indicate the rays of the sun, another depiction of royalty, or even of divinity. Such depictions were often seen on the coins of rulers and looked very similar to crowns of thorns. The soldiers would have a mixed-up understanding of what He had actually been accused of, and sentenced for. The reed in His right hand was intended to indicate a sceptre, and was equally intended to be puny. It was all mockery and make-believe.
The crown made from thornbushes would not have been put on gently. No doubt there was a general laugh when someone pressed it down hard, and we can be sure that every now and again someone sought none too gently to ensure that it stayed put. For these were men out for a good time at Jesus’ expense, and they had a cruel sense of humour.
We must not assume that this was all done in an orderly fashion. The soldiers were having a good time and there were no doubt many raucous suggestions, and different kinds of mocking behaviour at different times, as all tried to have their day. It would be quite chaotic, and they were experienced in vulgarity. Each summary in each Gospel merely summarises what would have been a raucous and uncontrolled scene. Man was letting himself go against Jesus.
To Christians, however, the thorns would be a reminder of God’s reward to man for his sin against Him (Gen 3:18), and would thus be seen as an indication that Jesus was bearing on Himself the sins of the world. And they would see behind the mockery His genuine and glorious Kingship. And they would wonder, as the angels wondered, how it had been possible for their Saviour and Redeemer to suffer in this way, and how men could be so cruel.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 27:28. And theyput on him a scarlet robe St. Mark says, they cloathed him with purple; but the ancients gave the name of purple to all colours which had any mixture of red in them. This was probably some old purple robe which they put upon him in derision of his claim to the kingdom of Judea, purple being worn by kings and great personages. See Braunius, de Vestit. Sacerd. 50: 1. 100: 14.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 27:28 (see the critical remarks) is to be explained by the fact that previous to the scourging all His clothes had been pulled off (Act 16:22 ; Dionys. Hal. ix. 596). They accordingly put on His under garments again, and instead of the upper robes ( , Mat 27:31 ) they arrayed Him in a red sagum , the ordinary military cloak (Plut. Sert . 14; Philop. 9, 11), for the purpose, however, of ridiculing His pretensions to the dignity of king ; for kings and emperors likewise wore the , the only difference being that in their case the garment was longer and of a finer texture. Plut. Demetr . 41 f.; Mor . p. 186 C, al. On this military cloak , which was first used by the Macedonians, see Hermann, Privatalterth . xxi. 20; Friedlieb, p. 118. According to the other evangelists, the cloak made use of on this occasion was of a purple colour; but Matthew would intend scarlet (Heb 9:19 ; Rev 17:3 ; Num 4:8 ; Plut. Fab . xv.) to be taken as at least conveying the idea of purple.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.
Ver. 28. And they stripped him ] That we might be clothed with the rich and royal raiment of his righteousness, that fleece of the Lamb of God, who taketh away, &c.
And put on him a scarlet robe ] O’erworn and threadbare, no doubt; so to set him forth as a theatrical king, in contempt of him; but the kingdom of Christ came not by observation. He is an obscure king, as Melchisedec was, but yet a king, as he told Pilate; and this was that good confession witnessed by him, and celebrated by St Paul, 1Ti 6:13 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
28. ] Possibly the mantle in which he had been sent back from Herod see note on Luk 23:11 or perhaps one of the ordinary soldiers’ cloaks.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 27:28 . (or .) .: taking off (or putting on) His clothes. If we adopt the former reading, the implied situation will be this: Jesus first stripped for scourging, then reclothed; then stripped again at the commencement of the mocking process. If the latter, this: Jesus after scourging led naked to the praetorium, there clothed, all but His upper garment, instead of which they put on . (Meyer). . , a scarlet cloak, probably a soldier’s sagum . Carr renders a soldier’s scarf , and suggests that it may have been a worn-out scarf of Pilate’s (Herod’s, Elsner). The ridicule would be more lifelike if it was really a fine article that might be, or had been, worn by a potentate. . ., weaving out of thorns a crown; not, say Meyer and Weiss, hard and sharp, so as to cause great pain, but young, flexible, easily plaited, the aim being to ridicule not to inflict torture. Possibly, but the soldiers would not make a point of avoiding giving pain. They would take what came first to band. , a reed; apparently under the gov. of , but really the object of , understood. : after the investiture comes the homage, by lowly gesture and worshipful salutation: . . Hail, King of the Jews. A mockery of the nation in intention quite as much as of the particular victim. Loesner ( Observ. ad N. T. ) adduces from Philo. ( in Flaccum , 6) a historic parallel, in which the youth of Alexandria treat similarly a half-witted person, Karabas, the real design being to insult Herod Agrippa. Schanz and Holtzmann also refer to this incident.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
scarlet = purple.
robe. Greek. chlamus. Occurs only here, and Mat 27:31.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
28.] Possibly the mantle in which he had been sent back from Herod-see note on Luk 23:11 or perhaps one of the ordinary soldiers cloaks.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 27:28. , a crimson robe) They make sport of His kingdom, as the Jews had done of His prophetical dignity; ch. Mat 26:68. It is called , purple, in Mar 15:17, and , a purple garment, in Joh 19:2. Sometimes these words are used promiscuously; sometimes they differ, as in Rev 17:4. The one colour also used formerly to be superinduced upon the other.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
stripped: Mar 15:17, Luk 23:11, Joh 19:2-5
a scarlet robe: Mark calls it a purple robe; but by [Strong’s G4209] is denoted whatever is of a dazzling red; and the words [Strong’s G2847], scarlet, and [Strong’s G4209], purple, are not infrequently interchanged.
Reciprocal: Gen 37:23 – General Jdg 14:12 – sheets Isa 3:5 – base Mat 26:68 – thou Luk 18:32 – mocked Luk 22:63 – mocked Heb 9:19 – scarlet
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:28
They stripped him. This was after Jesus had been scourged, for that operation required that his clothing be removed first according to Smith’s Bible Dictionary. This denotes that after the scourging was performed his clothing was replaced upon his wounded body. Scarlet was one of the royal colors of Rome, and the placing of this robe on the body of Jesus after it had been stripped the second time, was in mockery because he had said he was a king.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 27:28. And they stripped him. Some ancient authorities read clothed him. His clothing was replaced after the scourging, and probably also the robe which Herod had put on Him to mock Him (Luk 23:11), usually supposed to have been white, marking Him as a candidate for royal honors. This robe was removed, and instead they put on him a scarlet robe, the sign of His having attained royal honors. It was probably an ordinary military cloak. Mark and John speak of it as purple; but imperial or royal purple is more scarlet than blue.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 28
A scarlet robe; in mockery of his claims as king. One of the emblems of royalty among the Romans was a peculiar purple color, of a light and brilliant hue, and hence sometimes called scarlet. The word purple is used by Mark 15:17; John 19:2.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
27:28 {5} And they stripped him, and {k} put on him a {l} scarlet robe.
(5) Christ endures that reproach which was due to our sins; meanwhile, in spite of this, by the secret providence of God he is entitled king by those who did him that reproach.
(k) They threw a cloak about him and wrapped it around him, for it did not have any sleeves.
(l) John and Mark also mention a purple robe, which is also a very pleasant red. But these profane and impudently disrespectful soldiers clad Jesus in this array to make an additional mockery of him, this one who was indeed a true King.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Sanhedrin and or its servants had abused Jesus as a false Messiah (Mat 26:67-68). Now Pilate’s soldiers abused Him as a false king. Ironically Jesus was all they charged Him with being. The scarlet robe (Gr. chlamys) they put on Jesus (Mat 27:28) was probably the reddish purple cloak that Roman military and civil officials wore. Perhaps the thorny spikes that the soldiers wove into a circle to resemble the one on Tiberius Caesar’s head on Roman coins consisted of palm branches. The imperfect tense of the Greek verb translated "beat" means they beat Jesus on the head repeatedly (cf. Isa 52:14). Typically four soldiers plus a centurion accompanied a condemned prisoner to his crucifixion. The criminal normally carried the crosspiece to which the soldiers would later nail his hands (cf. Joh 19:17; Joh 19:23). [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 573.]
This pericope shows sinners at their worst mocking and brutalizing the very person who was laying His life down as a sacrifice for their sins (cf. Mat 20:19).
"Few incidents in history more clearly illustrate the brutality in the desperately wicked heart of man than that which was inflicted on Jesus the Son of God." [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 231.]
"The ultimate explanation of the cross is neither Jewish hostility nor Roman injustice, but the declared purpose of God." [Note: France, The Gospel . . ., p. 1060.]