Q: In Matthew 27:28, Matthew says that Jesus robe was scarlet. But Mark 15:17 says that they clothed him with purple, and John 19:2 describes a purple robe also. However, scarlet is a deep, vermilion-ish color, while purple is, well, purple. Isnt this a contradiction?
A: No; what we have here is analogous to a pair of grey blue jeans. Purple garments were made using a particular kind of dye, usually derived from myrex shellfish. A brief description of the ancient process of obtaining purple dye can be read at www.chriscooksey.demon.co.uk/tyrian . At that webpage there is a quotation from the writings of Pliny the Elder. Pliny states, among other things, A frankly red colour is inferior to one with a tinge of black.
Thus it seems clear that the color which we know as purple was not the only tint which could be produced using purple-dye as it was known in the first century. It could also be used to make reddish garments, and such a scarlet garment, due to the process by which it was dyed, could still be validly called purple.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: No; what we have here is analogous to a pair of grey blue jeans. Purple garments were made using a particular kind of dye, usually derived from myrex shellfish. A brief description of the ancient process of obtaining purple dye can be read at www.chriscooksey.demon.co.uk/tyrian . At that webpage there is a quotation from the writings of Pliny the Elder. Pliny states, among other things, A frankly red colour is inferior to one with a tinge of black.
Thus it seems clear that the color which we know as purple was not the only tint which could be produced using purple-dye as it was known in the first century. It could also be used to make reddish garments, and such a scarlet garment, due to the process by which it was dyed, could still be validly called purple.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
