STEFANOS, DIADEMA

Jonathan Robie (jwrobie@mindspring.com)
Sun, 21 Sep 1997 07:45:00 -0400

In "Breaking the Code", Bruce Metzger writes:

>In Greek there are two words that can be translated "crown."
>One is diadema, which means a royal crown; the other, which
>is used here, is stephanos, which usually has something to
>do with joy and victory. John is referring to the garlands
>that were presented to the winners at the Olympic and other games.

But the crown of thorns was a STEFANOS, and seems to be used as a royal crown:

Matt 27:29 (NASU) And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it
on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him
and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"

Is Metzger's observation accurate?

Jonathan

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