what kills you when you are crucified?

Question

if you were to bleed to death it would take days,

Answer 1

JAMA published an article in 1986 on the physical death of Jesus.

It said that the actual cause of Jesus' death, like that of other crucified victims, may have been caused by multiple factors and related primarily to hypovolemic shock, exhaustion asphyxia, perhaps acute heart failure, or a fatal cardiac arrhythmia. they said 'it remains unsettled whether Jesus died of cardiac rupture or of cardiorespiratory failure.

It also said his death was likely hastened simply by his state of exhaustion and by the severity of the scourging with its resultant blood loss and preshock state, particularly since he was not even able to carry his own patibulum.

Answer 2

They don't bleed to death. They usually suffocate to death and it does take a few days to do it. Which is why after the first or second day of being crucified, they broke the legs.... The person who is crucified usually suffocates within a half a day or so then.... From gravity pulling on the body, the lungs get constricted from the rest of the insides.... With broken legs, they can't raise their body up straight in order to catch their breath. Which is why so many claim that Jesus did not die at the crucifixion. According to the Bible he was only up there for, at the very most, 9 hours. He was taken down the same day, buried that day... and did not have his legs broken.

Answer 3

Sometimes, it would take days. It really depended on how severe a beating you took before the actually crucifixion as to how long it took for exhaustion to overtake you. The main reason they crucified people was to torture them or to make them pay for their crimes. If it was over in a few hours, they wouldn't have time to suffer and think about all the things they had done wrong. Just imagine hanging on a tree, bleeding with your hands and feet nailed to where you couldn't move them. Think of the birds of prey coming and feeding on your flesh and eyes with nothing that you could do to defend yourself. Use your imagination and picture this scene of someone hanging and bleeding in agony, wishing for their last breath, yet still hauted by what put them on that cross.

Answer 4

Those who are hung on a cross take a long time to die, because they die of exposure, and thirst.

Doctors believe Jesus died of suffocation.

To accomplish this it would have to be as the Greek word sturos means as a stake.

Those who hang with their hands directly above there head suffocate, being sped up by the breaking of the legs.

Hanging on a cross with your arms spread out, does not cause suffocation, breaking the legs only makes death more painful, but does not speed it up.

Jesus and the other two had to die "that day" because of the Sabbath.

Answer 5

I could be wrong, but this is what a friend of mine told me:

He said that the position of someone being crucified is really unnatural and hard for a body to handle. Imagine holding your own weight mostly by your hands when they're spread out like that. Having someone's arms spread out like that also puts a lot of stress on the muscles in the chest, including the heart. All this stress causes the heart to work really hard and eventually it gives out. He also said something about the person's blood separating into plasma and all the cells, but I didn't really understand it.

It sounds like a really horrible way to die...

Answer 6

It's actually death by suffocation. While your hands and feet are nailed on the cross, your positioning on the cross can't support your lungs very well to keep oxygen flowing allowing you to breathe. The only support is the muscles in your arms and legs which are nailed to the wood. Eventually, you succumb to the pain and suffocate. It's my understanding that if you weren't dying in a timely manner then the guards would physically break your legs taking away your last support beams. Jesus died before this, undoubtedly weakened by the beating he was given.

Answer 7

Well, it would be a combination of things. Not just bleeding, but the shock and trauma of being crucified, plus asphyxiation from hanging suspended only by your wrists (if we're assuming the Jesus type crucifixion)

Answer 8

Its mainly asphyxiation.

It really is an incredibly horrific way to kill anyone, let alone a nice guy like Jesus.

I was put in the crucifix position in a religious education class many years ago (luckily I wasn't nailed up) and I had to come down after only a few minutes because I wasn't able to breathe properly.

Answer 9

First you are hanging in an exhale position.When you try to raise up to breathe in air,you would have to push up on the nails in your feet to get high enough to breathe.Next,since you are in the exhale position,fluid would start to build up around the lungs.It's almost like smothering and drowning at the same time.Then whoever nailed you there,if they follow tradition,would come by and break your legs to where you can't hold your own weight up.You would die in a matter of hours or minutes depending on how long you could hold out.

Answer 10

Asphyxiation is part of it. The arms are held wide and the weight makes it hard to breath.

Exhaustion

Blood loss

Climate

Starvation

Dehydration

Take your pick. All of these occured to combine for a very painful death.

Plus, they often broke your legs and stabbed you if you took too long to die.