Crown of Thorns

wreath made of thistles; great suffering

In Christianity, the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was the woven chaplet of thorn branches worn by Jesus before his crucifixion. It is mentioned in the Gospels of Matthew (27:29), Mark (15:17), and John (19:2, 5) and is often alluded to by the early Christian Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and others.
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The Crown of Thorns was worn by Jesus during the Passion.The term may also refer to:Crown-of-thorns starfishEuphorbia milii (Euphorbiaceae), a species of spurge Paliurus spina-christi (Rhamnaceae), also known as Christ's Thorn or Jerusalem ThornCrown of thorns, a technique of self-supported interlocking pieces"Crown of Thorns", a short story by Poppy Z. BriteThe Swedish death metal band The Crown which were known as Crown of Thorns for their two first albums.
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(Matthew 27:29) Our Lord was crowned with thorns in mockery by the Roman soldiers. Obviously some small flexile thorny shrub is meant perhaps Capparis spinosa. "Hasselquist, a Swedish naturalist, supposes a very common plant naba or nubka of the Arabs, with many small and sharp sines; soft, round and pliant branches; leaves much resembling ivy, of a very deep green, as if in designed mockery of a victor's wreath."-Alford.
  

our Lord was crowned with a, in mockery by the Romans (Matt. 27:29). The object of Pilate's guard in doing this was probably to insult, and not specially to inflict pain. There is nothing to show that the shrub thus used was, as has been supposed, the spina Christi, which could have been easily woven into a wreath. It was probably the thorny nabk, which grew abundantly round about Jerusalem, and whose flexible, pliant, and round branches could easily be platted into the form of a crown. (See THORN ¯T0003642, 3.)

Noun
1. any affliction that causes great suffering; "that is his cross to bear"; "he bears his afflictions like a crown of thorns"
(synonym) cross
(hypernym) affliction
2. somewhat climbing bushy spurge of Madagascar having long woody spiny stems with few leaves and flowers with scarlet bracts
(synonym) Christ thorn, Christ plant, Euphorbia milii
(hypernym) spurge
(member-holonym) Euphorbia, genus Euphorbia
3. a mock crown made of thorn branches that Roman soldiers placed on Jesus before the Crucifixion
(hypernym) crown