John 19:5

5 Then Jesus came outside wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and he said to them, "Behold the man!"

John 19:5 Meaning and Commentary

John 19:5

Then came Jesus forth
Out of the judgment hall, or place where he had been scourged, as soon as Pilate had said these words:

wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe;
with his temples scratched and torn with the thorny crown, and the blood running down from thence, and his face and eyes swollen with the blows he had received from their closed fists, and all besmeared with his own blood, and the soldiers' spittle; his body appearing to be almost of the same colour with the purple or scarlet robe, through the stripes and lashes he had received, when that was thrown back.

And Pilate saith unto them, behold the man;
not their king, that would have provoked them; though he did say so afterwards, when he found he could not prevail upon them to agree to his release; but the man, to move their compassion; signifying, that he was a man as they were, and that they ought to use him as such, and treat him with humanity and pity; and that he was a poor despicable man, as the condition he was in showed; and that it was a weak thing in them to fear anything with respect to any change of, or influence in, civil government from one that made such a figure; and therefore should be satisfied with what had been done to him, and dismiss him.

John 19:5 In-Context

3 and were coming up to him and saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" and were giving him slaps in the face.

4 And Pilate came outside again and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing him outside to you, so that you will know that I find no basis for an accusation against him."

5 Then Jesus came outside wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and he said to them, "Behold the man!"

6 So when they saw him, the chief priests and the officers shouted, saying, "Crucify! Crucify!" Pilate said to them, "You take him and crucify [him]! For I do not find a basis for an accusation against him."

7 The Jews replied to him, "We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself out to be the Son of God!"