Appearance of Jesus’ Robe at Trial – Various Translations Help
What exactly was the appearance of the robe put on Jesus during his “trial” before king Herod, an administrator of the Roman Empire, as recorded at Luke 23:11?
“Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate”—Luke 23:11 NLT
Pilate could not find anything wrong with Jesus, and hoped to evade responsibility for what would happen to Jesus by shifting him over to Herod, who happened to be in town for the major festival of Passover. But to Herod Jesus is only a curiosity (Luke 23:8,9), and a joke (Luke 23:11). His curiosity, however, goes unrewarded, because Jesus “gave him no answer” and refused to perform any sign (Luke 23:11 NIV). Since Jesus refused to answer Herod’s many questions, Herod gets tired of it after awhile, and sends Jesus back to Pilate. But before he does, they put a robe on Jesus to crown their mockery of him. The appearance of the robe is difficult to describe, at least in English. This is only a minor detail, of course, but notice how many different ways and colors this robe is described as being in various Bible translations at Luke 23:11: