1 Peter 5:4 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

A crown of glory that fadeth not away.— See ch. 1 Peter 1:4. The ancients used to wear beautiful crowns, or crowns of glory, in times of festivity and joy; and the Greeks used to bestow crowns, made of the leaves of parsley or olive, laurel or bay, upon such as conquered in their games. The glory of such crowns was short-lived, and they soon withered away; the crowns of glory which Christ will bestow upon the faithful shall be incorruptible. But St. Peter is here thought to allude more particularly to the crowns made of the flowers of the amaranth, which Pliny says had that name, because it withered not away. Galen is very particular in describing it; and observes, that when it was cropped, it was preserved, and, when all the flowers failed, it being watered revived again; and, he says, they used to gather it, and dry it in a gentle heat in a furnace; and then kept it, to make crowns of it in the winter; and that it did not lose its colour or its beauty.