Luke 23:11 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And Herod with his men of war set him at nought,— Herod, finding himself disappointed, Luke 23:9 ordered Christ to be clothed with an old robe, in colour like those which kings used to wear, and permitted his attendants to insult him, perhaps with an intention to provoke him to work a miracle, though it should have been of a hurtful kind. Our Lord's being dressed in this manner by Herod's order, shews that the priests had accused him here also of having assumed the titles and honours belonging to the Messiah, the king of the Jews; for the affront put upon him was plainly in derision of that pretension. The other head of accusation,—his having attempted to raise a sedition in Galilee on account of the tribute, they durst not touch upon, because Herod could not fail to know the gross falsehood of it. Herod's usage of our Lord was exceedingly insolent; but perhaps the remorse of conscience which he had felt on account of the murder of John the Baptist, might render him cautious how he joined in any attempt on the life of Jesus, which we do not find that he ever did. The robe in which Herod clothed our Lord, is called εσθητα λαμπραν, that is, either rich or white clothing; for the epithet λαμπραν denotes both the quality of a garment, and its colour, (see James 2:2.) in the original. White robes, as well as purple, were worn by kings and great men, especially among the Jews. Hence David, describing the flight of the Canaanites, compares the field of battle, and the adjacent country, to mountains covered with snow, on account of the many white upper garments which their kings and generals threw from them, to render their flight more expeditious; when the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon. Psalms 68:14. Hence also in the Revelation, white robes are given to the saints, as the most honourable clothing. For the same reason, in the transfiguration, our Lord's garments became whiter than any thing known in nature. So likewise the angels who appeared at his sepulchre in the human form, were clothed in white robes; John 20:12. Probably also it is an allusion to the apparel of the Jewish princes, that God himself is represented as appearing in the clouds, and on his throne, in robes white as snow.