CROWN

CROWN (1.) Denotes the plate of gold in the front of the high priest’s mitre (Exodus 29=>6; 39=>30). The same Hebrew word so rendered (ne’zer) denotes the diadem worn by Saul in battle (2 Samuel 1=>10), and also that which was used at the coronation of Joash (2 Kings 11=>12). (2.) The more general name in Hebrew for a crown is ’atarah, meaning a “circlet.” This is used of crowns and head ornaments of divers kinds, including royal crowns. Such was the crown taken from the king of Ammon by David (2 Samuel 12=>30). The crown worn by the Assyrian kings was a high mitre, sometimes adorned with flowers. There are sculptures also representing the crowns worn by the early Egyptian and Persian kings. Sometimes a diadem surrounded the royal head-dress of two or three fillets. This probably signified that the wearer had dominion over two or three countries. In Revelation 12=>3; 13=>1, we read of “many crowns,” a token of extended dominion. (3.) The ancient Persian crown (Esther 1=>11; 2=>17; 6=>8) was called kether, i.e., “a chaplet,” a high cap or tiara. Crowns were worn sometimes to represent honour and power (Ezekiel 23=>42). They were worn at marriages (Cant. 3=>11; Isaiah 61=>10, “ornaments;” R.V., “a garland”), and at feasts and public festivals. The crown was among the Romans and Greeks a symbol of victory and reward. The crown or wreath worn by the victors in the Olympic games was made of leaves of the wild olive; in the Pythian games, of laurel; in the Nemean games, of parsley; and in the Isthmian games, of the pine. The Romans bestowed the “civic crown” on him who saved the life of a citizen. It was made of the leaves of the oak. In opposition to all these fading crowns the apostles speak of the incorruptible crown, the crown of life (James 1=>12; Revelation 2=>10) “that fadeth not away” (1 Peter 5=>4, Gr. amarantinos; comp. 1=>4). Probably the word “amaranth” was applied to flowers we call “everlasting,” the “immortal amaranth.”