Purple Robe, The

DESCRIPTION: Trial and condemnation of Jesus: "it tells how Jesus stood alone on day / Faults accused and they're condemned / Yet they found no fault with him"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1956 (recording, A.E. Richter)
KEYWORDS: grief virtue accusation questions rejection execution punishment trial Bible religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(MA)
Roud #18679
RECORDINGS:
A.E. Richter, "The Purple Robe" (in BayardCollection, video 17 ("A.E. Richter" starting at 02.18))
Ralph Stanley, "Purple Robe" (on Ralph Stanley, "Let Me Rest On A Peaceful Mountain" (Rebel Records LP 1544, 1975)"
NOTES [196 words]: Matthew 26:57-27:25; Mark 14:53-15:14, Luke 22:63-23:23; John 18:19-40. The chorus is "Purple robe my Savior wore / Oh the shame for me he bore / As he stood alone forsaken on that day / And they placed upon his head / Piercing thorns of bloodstained red / His raiment was a scarlet purple robe."
[To explain what was going on here: Purple was the status color in Roman society, the color of Emperors and kings. Jesus was charged with claiming to be "the King of the Jews," which was why he was of concern to the Romans: a Jewish King would be seen as a likely rebel. So after Jesus was condemned, the guards around him briefly clothed him in a purple cloak and placed on him the crown of thorns -- Mark 15:17-20 and parallels. It is likely that this was doubly symbolic: The Romans thought they were mocking him even though Pontius Pilate found no fault in him, but to the evangelists, it would have been proof that Jesus really was king. - RBW]
There must be an earlier Stanley Brothers recording than the one I list. - BS
Said Stanley Brothers recording is on YouTube (as "The Scarlet Purple Robe"), but it does not give information on when it was recorded or released. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.1
File: RcTPurRo

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