is the rendering of several Heb. words in the Auth. Vers. of the Bible: מַצְנֶפֶת(mitsne’pheth, something wrapped around the head) — spoken of the tiara of a king (“diadem,” [Eze 21:26]), elsewhere of the turban of the high-priest (“mitre”); צָנַיּŠ(tsaniph’, something wound about the head), spoken of the turban of men (“diadem,” [Job 29:14]), of women (“hood,” [Isa 3:23]), of the high-priest (“mitre,” [Zec 3:5]), and the tiara of a king (“diadem,” [Isa 62:3], where the text reads צָנוּŠ, tsanuph’), and, צְפַירָה(tsephirah’, a circlet), spoken of a royal tiara (“diadem,” [Isa 28:5]). SEE HEAD-DRESS. All these terms occur in poetical passages, in which neither the Hebrew nor the English words appear to be used with any special force, except the first. SEE MITRE. But in Greek the distinction between διάδημα (only [Rev 12:3]; [Rev 13:1]; [Rev 19:12]), or diadem, as the badge of royalty, and (στέφανος, or crown, as a conventional mark of distinction in private life, is carefully observed (see Trench, Synonymes of the New Testament, p. 112 sq.). SEE TURBAN.
What the “diadem” of the Jews was we know not. That of other nations of antiquity was a fillet of silk, two inches broad, bound round the head and tied behind, the invention of which is attributed to Liber (Plin. Hist. Nat. 7:56, 57). Its color was generally white (Tacitus, Ann. 6:37; Sil. Ital. 16:241); sometimes, however, it was of blue, like that of Darius, caerulea fascia albo distincta (Q. Curt. 3, 3; 6:20; Xenoph. Cyr. 8:3, 13), and it was sown with pearls or other gems ([Zec 9:16]; Gibbon, 1:392), and enriched with gold ([Rev 9:7], where, however, the text has στέφανος). It was peculiarly the mark of Oriental sovereigns ([1Ma 13:32], τὸ διάδημα τῆς Α᾿σίας), and hence the deep offense caused by the attempt of Caesar to substitute it for the laurel crown appropriated to Roman emperors (Cicero, Phil. 2:34); when some one crowned his statue with a laurel-wreath (candida fascia praeligatam), the tribunes instantly ordered the fillet or diadem to be removed and the man to be thrown into prison (Sueton. Caes. 79). Caligula’s wish to use it was considered an act of insanity (Sueton. Cal. 22). Heliogabalus only wore it in private. Antony assumed it in Egypt (Flor. 4:11), but Diocletian (or, according to Aurel. Victor, Aurelian) first assumed it as a badge of the empire. Representations of it may be seen on the coins of any of the later emperors (Tillemont, Hist. Imp. 3, 531). A crown was used by the kings of Israel even in battle ([2Sa 1:10]; similarly it is represented on coins of Theodosius as encircling his helmet); but in all probability this was not the state crown ([2Sa 12:30]), although used in the coronation of Joash ([2Ki 11:12]).
Kitto supposes that the state crown may have been in the possession of Athaliah; but perhaps we ought not to lay any great stress on the word נֶזֶר in this place, especially as it is very likely that the state crown was kept in the Temple. In [Est 1:11]; [Est 2:17], we have כֶּתֶר(Sept. κίταρις, κίδαρις) for the turban (στολὴ βυσσίνη, 6:8) worn by the Persian king, queen, or other eminent persons to whom it was conceded as a special favor (8. 15, διάδημα βύσσινον πορφυροῦν). The diadem of the Persian king differed from that of others in having an erect triangular peak (κυρβασία, Aristoph. Av. 487; Suid. s.v. τιάρα; and Hesych.). Possibly the כִּרְבְּלָאof [Dan 3:21] is a tiara (as in Sept., where, however, Dmusius and others invert the words καὶ τιάραις καὶ περικνημῖσι), A. V. “hat.” Some render it by tibiale or calceamentum. Schleusner suggests that κρώβυλος may be derived from it. The tiara generally had pendent flaps falling on the shoulders. (See Paschalius, de Corona, p. 573; Brissonius, de Regn. Pers. etc.; Layard, 2:320; Scacchus, Myrothec. 3, 38; Fabricius, Bibl. Ant. 14:13). The words סְרוּחֵי טְבוּלַים, “exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads,” in [Eze 23:15], mean long and flowing turbans of gorgeous colors (Sept. παράβαπτα, where a better reading is τιάραι βαπταί). SEE CROWN.
