John 19:3 is fairly direct.
and (they came to him) saying/said, 'Hail (Χαῖρε)! the king of the Jews (Ἰουδαίων);' and they were giving him slaps (ῥαπίσματα).--John 19:3
καὶ ἔλεγον, Χαῖρε, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων· καὶ ἐδίδουν αὐτῷ ῥαπίσματα.--John 19:3 (Byzantine text)
The only difference in manuscript traditions is the Alexandrian add "ἤρχοντο πρὸς αὐτὸν"--"they came to him..." Which is fairly insignificant.καὶ ἤρχοντο πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ ἔλεγον Χαῖρε, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων· καὶ ἐδίδοσαν αὐτῷ ῥαπίσματα. --John 19:3 Westcott and Hort/Alexandrian Text
St Cyril of Alexandria follows the Alexandrian reading and comments:
[He] suffers the crowd of soldiers to insult Him, and put a crown of thorns about His Head, and throw a purple robe upon Him, and buffet Him with the palms of their hands, and otherwise dishonour Him. For he thought he could easily put to shame the people of the Jews, if they saw the Man Who was altogether free from guilt suffering this punishment, only without a cause. He was scourged unjustly, that He might deliver us from merited chastisement; He was buffeted and smitten, that we might buffet Satan, who had buffeted us, and that we might escape from the sin that cleaves to us through the original transgression. For if we think aright, we shall believe that all Christ's sufferings were for us and on our behalf, and have power to release and deliver us from all those calamities we have deserved for our revolt from God. For as Christ, Who knew not death, when He gave up His own Body for our salvation, was able to loose the bonds of death for all mankind, for He, being One, died for all; so we must understand that Christ's suffering all these things for us sufficed also to release us all from scourging and dishonour.St Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel According to John, Book XII, on John 19:3
And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail (Χαῖρε), master; and kissed him.--Matthew 26:49
This is the same word the Angel Gabriel greeted the Virgin Mary with in Luke 1.
Slap ῥαπίσματα
John here seems to leave it implied or ambiguous about how Jesus was slapped but Matthew gospel adds more detail:
And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.--Matthew 27:30
In the prior verse of Matthew, the reed accompanied the crown of thorns as a faux scepter which they used to slap him with shortly after.
Jesus was slapped earlier (similar to previously being told "hello" at the start of his betrayal) at the beginning of his "trial" because He was perceived as disrespected the High Priest Caiaphas.
And he having said these things, one of the officers standing by did give Jesus a slap (ῥάπισμα), saying, 'Thus dost thou answer the chief priest?'--John 18:22 (see also Matthew 26:67)
ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰπόντος εἷς παρεστηκὼς τῶν ὑπηρετῶν ἔδωκεν ῥάπισμα τῷ Ἰησοῦ εἰπών Οὕτως ἀποκρίνῃ τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ; --John 18:22
Perhaps, the double slapping is Jesus "turning the other cheek" as said in the Sermon on the Mount?
To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also..--Luke 6:29
The Matthew version does use a similar word to John 19:3 "slap"
But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps (ῥαπίσει) you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.--Matthew 5:39
ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν μὴ ἀντιστῆναι τῷ πονηρῷ· ἀλλ' ὅστις σε ῥαπίσει ἐπί τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα, στρέψον αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην·--Matthew 5:39
and (they came to him) saying/said, 'Hail! the king of the Jews;' and they were giving him slaps (ῥαπίσματα).--John 19:3
καὶ ἔλεγον, Χαῖρε, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων· καὶ ἐδίδουν αὐτῷ ῥαπίσματα.--John 19:3 (Byzantine text)
The mention of "slapping" may be another reference to Isaiah 50:6 LXX, in fact it's the only time ῥαπίσματα is used in the LXX.
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.--Isaiah 50:6
גֵּוִי נָתַתִּי לְמַכִּים, וּלְחָיַי לְמֹרְטִים; פָּנַי לֹא הִסְתַּרְתִּי, מִכְּלִמּוֹת וָרֹק--Isaiah 50:6
have given my back to scourges and my cheeks to blows (ῥαπίσματα), but I did not turn away my face from the shame of spittings. --Isaiah 50:6 (translated from LXX)
τὸν νῶτόν μου δέδωκα εἰς μάστιγας τὰς δὲ σιαγόνας μου εἰς ῥαπίσματα τὸ δὲ πρόσωπόν μου οὐκ ἀπέστρεψα ἀπὸ αἰσχύνης ἐμπτυσμάτων--Isaiah 50:6
We saw previously, John 19:1 the scourged was fulfilling Isaiah 50:6 also.
The apostolic fathers and other ante-nicene fathers like the Epistle of Barnabas from the late first/early second century believed this was fulfilled in Christ:
He himself willed thus to suffer, for it was necessary that He should suffer on the tree. For says he who prophesies regarding Him, "Spare my soul from the sword, fasten my flesh with nails; for the assemblies of the wicked have risen up against me." And again he says, "Behold, I have given my back to scourges, and my cheeks to strokes, and I have set my countenance as a firm rock." (Isaiah 50:6)--Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter 5
In fact, reading Barnabas, he says much of Isaiah 50 was fulfilled by Christ.
St Justin Martyr (2nd century) likewise:
And when the Spirit of prophecy speaks from the person of Christ, the utterances are of this sort: "I have spread out My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good." (Isaiah 65:2) And again: "I gave My back to the scourges, and My cheeks to the buffetings; I turned not away My face from the shame of spittings; and the Lord was My helper: therefore was I not confounded: but I set My face as a firm rock; and I knew that I should not be ashamed, for He is near that justifies Me." (Isaiah 50:6) --St Justin Martyr, The First Apology, Chapter 38
St Irenaeus (2nd century) also:
Some of them, moreover — [when they predicted that] as a weak and inglorious man, and as one who knew what it was to bear infirmity, (Isaiah 53:3) and sitting upon the foal of an ass, (Zechariah 9:9) He should come to Jerusalem; and that He should give His back to stripes, (Isaiah 50:6) and His cheeks to palms [which struck Him]; and that He should be led as a sheep to the slaughter; (Isaiah 53:7)--St Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book IV, Chapter 33:12
Also, noteworthy Hosea 11:4 mentions God slapping (ῥαπίζων) "I will be to them as a man smiting [another] on his cheek", Hosea 11:1 is applied to Christ by Matthew.
King of the Jews (Ἰουδαίων)
The title is that of the Messiah, and implicitly of God himself, the original head of the Jews since God did not want them to have a king initially. The Jews preferred Cesar as their king than God. God allowed Israel kings as a concession, similar to allowing divorce. The Jews were only to have a king through David, but here many recognize a pagan as their king per the priest in John 19:15. This was contrary to the Torah:
you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.--Deuteronomy 17:15
Cesar was not their "brother" being a pagan, but a foreigner. This will be dealt with more on John 19:15 comments.
By Jesus' time them term Israel and Jew/Judea had some overlap, since neither were kingdoms anymore. The beginning of John's gospel Nathaniel calls Jesus the king of Israel/
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