Bible Dictionaries

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Crown of Thorns

Crown of Thorns. Our Lord was crowned in mockery by the Roman soldiers. Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2. It is questioned whether this was only mockery, or whether it was specially intended for additional torture. Such a crown, it is clear, must have been made of some plant that would readily twist into a wreath. The large-leaved acanthus would not: hardly would the Spina Christi, as it is called, with strong sharp thorns. Hasselquist imagines the thorn in question the Arabian nubk, a very common plant, "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."