I read that the cross in the bible that Christ died on in hebrew is actually defined as a stake?

Question

So the cross that everyone symbolizes with Jesus wouldn't be accurate? If so, why do all the churches use the cross on everything?

Answer 1

The King James Bible says Jesus was put to death on a tree.

Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Acts 10:39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
Acts 13:29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.
Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Michelangelo and the Cross

Italian government art experts are said to be “90 percent sure” that a sculpture recently found in a monastery in Lebanon is the work of the famous Italian artist Michelangelo. The small wooden carving is said to be worth $2.5 million (U.S.) if it actually is Michelangelo’s work. According to an Associated Press report, “the figure is unusual because it represents Christ with his hands stretched out above his head instead of to the side, as he usually is depicted on the cross.”

Whether the wooden sculpture is the work of the 16th-century artist Michelangelo or not, it illustrates that the impalement of Christ on a cross frame has not always been so certain as Christendom’s leaders today would have people believe. For example, the 16th-century Roman Catholic scholar Justus Lipsius illustrated impalement on an upright stake in his book “De Cruce Liber Primus.” This fits the meaning of the Greek word used in the Bible to describe the impalement of Christ “stauros” which “denotes, primarily, an upright pale or stake.” “An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.

Jesus Christ did not die on a cross. The Greek word generally translated “cross” is stau·ros'. It basically means “an upright pale or stake.” The Companion Bible points out: “Stau·ros' never means two pieces of timber placed across one another at any angle . . . There is nothing in the Greek of the "New Testament" even to imply two pieces of timber.”

In several texts, Bible writers use another word for the instrument of Jesus’ death. It is the Greek word xy'lon. (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) This word simply means “timber” or “a stick, club, or tree.”

Explaining why a simple stake was often used for executions, the book Das Kreuz und die Kreuzigung (The Cross and the Crucifixion), by Hermann Fulda, states: “Trees were not everywhere available at the places chosen for public execution. So a simple beam was sunk into the ground. On this the outlaws, with hands raised upward and often also with their feet, were bound or nailed.”

The most convincing proof of all, however, comes from God’s Word. The apostle Paul says: “Christ by purchase released us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse instead of us, because it is written: ‘Accursed is every man hanged upon a stake “a tree,” King James Version.’” (Galatians 3:13) Here Paul quotes Deuteronomy 21:22, 23, which clearly refers to a stake, not a cross. Since such a means of execution made the person “a curse,” it would not be proper for Christians to decorate their homes with images of Christ impaled.

There is no evidence that for the first 300 years after Christ’s death, those claiming to be Christians used the cross in worship. In the fourth century, however, pagan Emperor Constantine became a convert to apostate Christianity and promoted the cross as its symbol. Whatever Constantine’s motives, the cross had nothing to do with Jesus Christ. The cross is, in fact, pagan in origin. The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits: “The cross is found in both pre-Christian and non-Christian cultures.” Various other authorities have linked the cross with nature worship and pagan sex rites.

Answer 2

Uh, the New Testament is the only place that mentions a cross, and the entire New Testament was written in Greek, not Hebrew. The only Bible that translates the Greek word "stauros" as "stake" is the New World Translation, which is used exclusively by Jehovah's Witnesses. Rome had four ways of crucifying people: 1) To a traditional cross. 2) To a shape that looks like the letter "T" capitalized, but more accurately, the Greek letter "Tau". 3) On a tree with convenient outstreached branches. 4) On a stake. But by definition of Christianity, it shouldn't really matter how Jesus died, but why he died. Does his being crucified on a stake or a cross affect the Christian doctrine of atonement? I don't think it would. All the churches use the cross on everything because it is the traditional symbol of crucifixion. The Fathers of the Church interpreted Jesus as being nailed to the cross you see in churches nowadays.

Answer 3

Actually the Romans used many forms for Crucifixion; X, T, I, Y and the Cross. But, from the oldest known Religious Symbols it seem Jesus Died on a Cross. Peter is said to have been crucified upside down so was most likely on an X.
This may help; http://www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu/jdtabor/crucifixion.html
The main thing most people who disagree are missing. It not how Jesus died, it why He died!!!

Answer 4

actually you are reading someones opinoin of it, not fact.

The real fact is that there is no for sure. The Romans did use varoius methods and types of crosses, even using trees if there, or stakes that were lined up and down roads.

But following and looking at Roman tradition, a formal court execuition may have well used the cross bar, most likely the up post stayed in place and the cross bar would be lifted up into place.

But from percentage odds the traditional cross would be most likley the correct method used for this type of execuition.

So most churches beleive this is the type used, What you are reading about the stake, is not widely accepted in most churches.

Answer 5

The Cross is a well known instrument of most cruel and ignominious punishment, borrowed by the Greeks and Romans from the Phoenicians; to it were affixed among the Romans, down to the time of Constantine the Great, the guiltiest criminals, particularly the basest slaves, robbers, the authors and abetters of insurrections, and occasionally in the provinces, at the arbitrary pleasure of the governors, upright and peaceable men also, and even Roman citizens themselves.

It is like the electric chair today. The point is that Jesus took the death penalty for us. If Jesus had died for me by lethal injection I would have a needle around my neck and you would be saying .. "It could be translated poke. So why aren't all the Jesus freaks wearing pokers?

LOL.
GOD bless ya anyway.

Answer 6

In different languages one word could mean many things. Actually in those days the trees were olive trees, and the branches olive branches. To us Jesus died and was nailed to a cross that was made from the olive tree. Maybe in hebrew the word trunk of a tree meant stake....because in those days wood was not cut in 2 x 4's.with neat edges or anything. It all means the same thing so don't concern yourself over this.

Myself, I was always curious as to how there were palm trees there because I was from the midwest and never saw one. And I wondered how there was a shepherd from India at the birth of Jesus. I never knew Indians were Asians. And, I thought burkas and gowns were from ancient times, that is, until 911 happened.

Answer 7

Well, it technichally was a stake. The cross came from the pagan god Tammuz, as the 'T' they made the cross out of. In the greek language, they translated this as "stauroo" which means stake. In the Latin, they then translated it as "crux" which is where we get "crucifixion", which I don't believe was accurate. They say 'tree' in scripture because in Hebrew, tree meant upright pole, or stake. It was on a stake, Hands upright, with a single nail throught the wrists, which again, the Hebrew mind considers the wrist as part of the hand, so you can see where the confusion would come in.

Answer 8

The Greek word for stake is staff and the Greek for cross is stafron or something along those lines. I don't have my Greek Lexicon handy. The stake thing is a Jehovah Witness belief. The cross was the standard Roman form of execution of the day and is archaeologically verifiable to the time period..

Answer 9

The Romans crucified thousands of people, and they used
a straight post. Whether they fashioned an actual cross for
Jesus is up for debate. Nevertheless, the cross is in the
form of a human body, and is a symbol of Christ's death.

Answer 10

Crosses actually have their roots in Paganism. Crosses were used in ancient Egyptian worship and other Pagan nations as well, it just figures that apostate Christians would adopt the cross along with other Pagan traditions. I have a book with pictures of stone carvings of people impaled on poles from times related to B.C. and the early C.E. centuries.