John 19:2

And the soldiers Herod and his troops (Luke 23:11) had set an example which the Roman soldiers were ready enough to follow. Pilate countenances the brutality as aiding his own plan of satisfying Jewish hatred with something less than death. The soldiers had inflicted the scourging; for Pilate, being only Procurator, would have no lictors.

a crown of thorns The context seems to shew that this was in mockery of a royal crown rather than of a victor's wreath. The plant is supposed to be the thorny nâbk, with flexible branches, and leaves like ivy, abundant in the Jordan valley and round about Jerusalem.

a purple robe S. Mark has -purple," S. Matthew -scarlet," S. Luke is silent. -Purple" with the ancients was a vague term for bright rich colour and would be used of crimson as well as of violet. The robe was a military chlamys, or paludamentum, perhaps one of Pilate's cast-off cloaks. The garment in which Herod had mocked Jesus was probably white. Comp. 1Ma 8:14; 1Ma 10:20; 1Ma 10:62. The scourging and mockery were very possibly visible to the Jews outside.