And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
Ver. 3. And said, Hail, King of the Jews] They scoff at him, as a ridiculous and stage player king, whom therefore they clothed with purple, which was a colour affected by the emperors and nobility of Rome; as Herod, for like cause clothed him in white, εν εσθητι λαμπρα, a colour much worn by the nobility of the Jews, James 2:2 .
And they smote him with their hands] So do hypocrites still by their unchristian practice when they bend the knee to Christ with ludibrious devotion. They have the voice of Jacob, but the hands of Esau. Their words are God's, their deeds the devil's, as John Capocius told Pope Innocent III, preaching peace and sowing discord. Verba tua Dei plane sunt, facta vero diaboli videntur. Your words are clearly from God, truly your deeds seem to be of the devil.