religous rumor, is it tru?

Question

i've heard many variations of the bible and stuff, although im not very religous myself, i was wondering (heard rumor) that the original bible in greek i've heard, that there was a word mistranslated into our known english version known as the cross, assuming that jesus did not die on a cross but on a straight pole. is this true? thank you

Answer 1

The Greek word rendered “cross” in many modern Bible versions (“torture stake” in NW) is stau·ros´. In classical Greek, this word meant merely an upright stake, or pale. Later it also came to be used for an execution stake having a crosspiece. The Imperial Bible-Dictionary acknowledges this, saying: “The Greek word for cross, [stau·ros´], properly signified a stake, an upright pole, or piece of paling, on which anything might be hung, or which might be used in impaling [fencing in] a piece of ground. . . . Even amongst the Romans the crux (from which our cross is derived) appears to have been originally an upright pole.”—Edited by P. Fairbairn (London, 1874), Vol. I, p. 376.

This was the case in connection with the execution of God’s Son. It is noteworthy that the Bible also uses the word xy´lon to identify the device used. A Greek-English Lexicon, by Liddell and Scott, defines this as meaning: “Wood cut and ready for use, firewood, timber, etc. . . . piece of wood, log, beam, post . . . cudgel, club . . . stake on which criminals were impaled . . . of live wood, tree.” It also says “in NT, of the cross,” and cites Acts 5:30 and 10:39 as examples. (Oxford, 1968, pp. 1191, 1192) However, in those verses KJ, RS, JB, and Dy translate xy´lon as “tree.” (Compare this rendering with Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 21:22, 23.)

The book The Non-Christian Cross, by J. D. Parsons (London, 1896), says: “There is not a single sentence in any of the numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two pieces nailed together in the form of a cross. . . . It is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers to translate the word stauros as ‘cross’ when rendering the Greek documents of the Church into our native tongue, and to support that action by putting ‘cross’ in our lexicons as the meaning of stauros without carefully explaining that that was at any rate not the primary meaning of the word in the days of the Apostles, did not become its primary signification till long afterwards, and became so then, if at all, only because, despite the absence of corroborative evidence, it was for some reason or other assumed that the particular stauros upon which Jesus was executed had that particular shape.”—Pp. 23, 24; see also The Companion Bible (London, 1885), Appendix No. 162.

Thus the weight of the evidence indicates that Jesus died on an upright stake and not on the traditional cross.

Answer 2

Greek was the most popular language in use for writings, at the time the Apostles were doing their writings. The word you refer to means a branchless tree. Many religions play this off by saying that Christ carried the horizontal cross piece on his way to his execution, but the method used in Israel was hanging on a pole with the hand bound or nailed directly about the head. This causes the lungs to collapse and you suffocate. If you try to hold yourself up using your legs, than they break them.

The Romans didn't begin using the cross as a standard form of execution for another 40 years and took days for the person to die, which is not in keeping with Jewish laws. Judea was under the control of Rome, but they didn't push it too far when it came to disrespecting their traditions.

I might add that tonight I have been running Jewish educators between restaurants and their hotels. They are in town for a conference.

Answer 3

Parts of the bible were written in Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic, so yes, when it was translated to different languages some of the words would be different. Some in some language's have different meanings in Greek then in English.

Some believe that Christ was put on a stake (pole)

Jehovah's Witnesses claim that Jesus died on a torture stake, and that the cross is a pagan symbol that was adopted later. If Jesus were crucified on a torture stake, His hands would be placed above His head and nailed with one nail (like His feet). However, the Bible indicates that Jesus had nails (plural) in His hands. Nails require that Jesus was crucified on a cross, not a stake:

The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. (John 20:25) [Plural nails requires a cross, not a stake!]
The Bible also indicates that the Romans placed a sign over Jesus' head, again indicating that He died on a cross and not a stake.

And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. (Matthew 27:37) [If on a stake, the sign would have been over His hands, not His head!]

Answer 4

It is believed that Jesus probably spoke Greek as one of his languages. He was a carpenter by trade and traveled quite a bit to and from different towns and the Greeks were plentiful in that area at that time. The first written account of Jesus in the New Testament was written 400 years after his death so the accounting may have been wrong but I don't know if the Greeks were still around by then.

No, Crucifixion uses a cross, it wouldn't work with a stake.

There have been idiots throughout history that just want to spread as much hurt as they possibly can. If your not religious why do you even care.

Bashing somebody's beliefs is not cool or funny or wise or clever and I can't understand why some people get so much joy in it.

Answer 5

The original 'Bible' as you call it was written in Aramaic for the OT and Greek for most of the NT.

There is some debate over the appearance of the cross.

What is not considered by most of the debaters is the Roman description of that same cross. The Romans had only one version of this event.

Answer 6

I think what you are referring to is that romans more often crucifed people on poles, and not always crosses. Even amongst the Romans the crux (from which our cross is derived) appears to have been originally an upright pole both in meaning and in usage to crucify people. This 'rumor' is most likely true, if a person named Jesus was actually crucified, then he would have bee crucified not on a traditional christian cross, but just a pole.

Answer 7

The Romans crucified thousands and didn't make crosses
for it. They used a straight pole. If they made a cross
for Jesus, I don't know. I wasn't there. But the Cross is
the symbol of Christs crucifixion. Using the symbol of the four directions, the equal sided cross, and lengthening the bottom to take on a more human form.

Answer 8

Some of the Bible was written in Greek, but I have never heard about this mistranslation.

Answer 9

Been talking to some Jehova's witnesses, have you?

There are places in the Bible that say He died on a cross, there are places where it says He died on a tree.
But the MOST important question is WHO DIED? was Jesus God in the flesh? The Jehova's witnesses say "NO". They come up with some of the craziest things just to dis-credit the Bible, and to distract you from the REAL issue.

The Deity of Jesus Christ is the issue. And they have come up with their own corrupt translation of the Bible in order to strip Christ of His deity.
Most of them are simply decieved themselves because they came from a Catholic or other religious background, but never really had a saving faith in Christ to begin with. That is why they target nominal Christians, and those with limited Bible knowledge.

For more on the Jehova witness CULT,

http://www.carm.org/witnesses.htm

Answer 10

Nope, not true. Study the ancient Roman execution practices. They used crosses and crucified those who were condemned to die. But note that it was not a nice polished cross. It was a tree with it's branches lopped off. Jesus suffered much on that uneven cross.