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Matthew 27:29
ESV and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
NIV and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said.
NASB And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!'
CSB They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and placed a staff in his right hand. And they knelt down before him and mocked him: "Hail, King of the Jews!"
NLT They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, 'Hail! King of the Jews!'
KJV And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
NKJV When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

What does Matthew 27:29 mean?

The idea that a battalion of Roman soldiers would come together to so elaborately mock one prisoner may be hard to imagine. And yet, these are Gentiles stationed in a predominately Jewish area, over which Rome has control. Their commander, Pontius Pilate, is noted by history for his cruelty and derision towards Jews. They may well be bored, being stationed in Jerusalem only because it's a major religious holiday for Israel (Matthew 26:17; 27:15). Pilate's act of handing Jesus over to them is almost like throwing a toy in front of a dog.

Taking full advantage of the opportunity, the soldiers have stripped off Jesus' own clothes and have draped a cloak on Him to represent a king's robe. Now they twist together a wreath made of stems with thorns on them, perhaps palm spines or similar. When the crown is complete, they force it down onto Jesus' head. Finally, they put a reed in Jesus' hand to represent a royal scepter to complete the look. The point of the entire cruel joke was to mock Jesus for His "crime" of claiming to be "king of the Jews" (Matthew 27:11). To hammer the joke home, the Roman soldiers kneel before Jesus and sarcastically pretend to honor Him.

Jesus had already been flogged at this point (John 19:1–4). He would have stood before them as a bloody, bleeding mess of a human being, now dressed in a robe and crown and with a scepter. It is remarkable that a Being who could have called for angel soldiers of His own simply refuses to do so (Matthew 26:53–54). He remains resolved to endure any suffering to see His mission through.
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