Matthew 27:28

A scarlet robe (clamuda kokkinhn). 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 (kokkinhn) was a dye derived from the female insect (kerme) which gathered on the ilex coccifera 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 ( Mark 15:17 ) has "purple" (porpuran). 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" (ekdusante) and "clothed" (endusante). 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.