Q&A KNOWLEDGEBASE

What color was Jesus' robe? Matthew 27:28, Mark 15:17, and John 19:2

Question

Answer

Matthew 27:28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.
Mark 15:17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
Mark 15:20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
John 19:2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe.
John 19:5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, Here is the man!

Matthew states the robe is "scarlet," and Mark and John say it was "purple." This suggests that the robe may have been a shade of either of these or something between the two. The tinting of colors can be very close to one another. For example, compare hex codes scarlet #560319 to purple #660066. But the robe probably was a military cloak, and the color, which represented royalty, was intended to mock Jesus' claim of being the King of the Jews.