Overview
Spitting appears throughout Scripture as a sign of utter contempt and shame. In Old Testament law, spitting was an official expression of public disgrace. In the New Testament, spitting upon Jesus during His passion fulfilled prophecies of His humiliation and demonstrated the hatred of sinful mankind toward the Son of God.
Key Scriptures
"The Lord said to Moses, 'If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days?'" (Numbers 12:14, ESV). "And his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, 'My brother-in-law refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a brother-in-law to me.' Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, 'I do not desire to take her,' then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull off his sandal from his foot and spit in his face" (Deuteronomy 25:7-9, ESV). "And they spit in his face and struck him" (Matthew 26:67, ESV).
Application
Believers should recognize Christ's patient endurance of such degradation as the ultimate example of humility and intercession for sinners.