Matthew 27:27-31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters,[a] and they gathered the whole cohort around him.(A) 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and after twisting some thorns into a crown they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”(B) 30 They spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.(C) 31 After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.(D)
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- 27.27 Gk the praetorium
Matthew 27:27-31
New English Translation
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence[a] and gathered the whole cohort[b] around him. 28 They[c] stripped him and put a scarlet robe[d] around him, 29 and after braiding[e] a crown of thorns,[f] they put it on his head. They[g] put a staff[h] in his right hand, and kneeling down before him, they mocked him:[i] “Hail, king of the Jews!”[j] 30 They[k] spat on him and took the staff[l] and struck him repeatedly[m] on the head. 31 When[n] they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then[o] they led him away to crucify him.
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- Matthew 27:27 tn Or “into their headquarters”; Grk “into the praetorium.” sn The governor’s residence (Grk “praetorium”) was the Roman governor’s official residence. The one in Jerusalem may have been Herod’s palace in the western part of the city, or the fortress Antonia northwest of the temple area.
- Matthew 27:27 sn A Roman cohort was a tenth of a legion, about 500-600 soldiers.
- Matthew 27:28 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
- Matthew 27:28 sn The scarlet robe probably refers to a military garment that was cheaply dyed in contrast to expensive royal purple, but it resembled a king’s robe (BDAG 554 s.v. κόκκινος). The soldiers did this to Jesus as a form of mockery in view of the charges that he was a king.
- Matthew 27:29 tn Or “weaving.”
- Matthew 27:29 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.
- Matthew 27:29 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
- Matthew 27:29 tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.
- Matthew 27:29 tn Grk “they mocked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.
- Matthew 27:29 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!”).
- Matthew 27:30 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
- Matthew 27:30 tn Or “the reed.”
- Matthew 27:30 tn The verb here has been translated as an iterative imperfect.
- Matthew 27:31 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
- Matthew 27:31 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
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