How did Jehovah's Witnesses come to the conclusion that Jesus died on a torture stake (pole) and not a cross?

Question

One of the primary teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses is that Jesus Christ died on a torture stake and not a literal crucifixion on the cross. When Jesus Christ makes his return to the earth during the Millenium to establish his earthy Kingdom for 1,000 years, what will you do when you see the piercings in his hands? I respect the faith that Jehovah's Witnesses have to their beliefs, but the New World Translation is NOT the correct Bible translation...it's a man-made translation that has many human errors. Eating blood is another example of this misinterpretation. There is nothing wrong with giving and receiving blood transfusions. Many people in this world have been cured of many diseases via blood transfusions. You have to understand that people who get STDs made the choice to partake in a sexual sin or drugs and there are consequences to be faced with every decision we make. God does not punish people. We punish OURSELVES by the decisions we make and not choosing the right

Answer 1

The premise of this question is misleading, if not entirely disingenuous. As nearly the OPPOSITE of what this questioner pretends, Jehovah's Witnesses work hard to teach others that Jesus Christ actually was LITERALLY impaled on a LITERAL torture stake.

The exact shape of Christ's instrument of death is hardly a central doctrine of the faith, but Jehovah's Witnesses do happen to believe that Jesus was likely impaled on a simple stake, rather than a cross of two intersecting beams. Of course the Romans had the ability to create a cross, and probably did. But ask yourself: why they would have bothered when a simple stake would have worked just as well or better?

The bible most assuredly does NOT offer any proof that the stake was actually a cross of two intersecting beams. The actual facts of the bible may be enlightening to examine...

You may be interested to see how your own copy of the bible translates Acts 5:30, Galatians 3:13, Deuteronomy 21:22, 23, and Acts 10:39. The King James, Revised Standard, Dyaglott, and Jerusalem Bible translate the instrument of Christ's death simply as "stake" or "tree" because the original wording simply does not support the idea that this was more than a piece of upright wood.

It is also eye-opening to examine how the first-century Christians felt about idols of any kind, much less one that glorified an instrument of death.

(1 John 5:21) Guard yourselves from idols.

Answer 2

Jesus said in prayer to his Father "Sanctify them by means of the truth. Your word is truth (John 17:17) and the apostle Paul stated at Titus 1:2 that God cannot lie .(also see Numbers 23:19). Therefore, as witnesses of Jehovah and followers of Jesus Christ, they adhere to the Bible as the foremost authority on religion (the way of life). Therefore, it is important to Jehovah's Witnesses that not only the manner in which Jesus died be accurate but all things regarding Jehovah God, his purpose and his son, Jesus, be accurate according to God's word, the Holy Scriptures (the Bible).) Regarding the use of the word "cross", Vines Expository Dictionary on Words of the New Testament states that the primary translation of the word "stauros" is an upright stake or pole. The words used in the Greek Interlinear Scriptures regarding the means of Jesus' death are "stauros" (primarily an upright stake or pole) not "crux" (cross) and "stauroo" (hung on a stake) not "crucified". Also, the result of being impaled to a stake with the hands nailed above the head and the legs straight down with the feet nailed to the stake would cause the tkdiaphragm to collapse due to the lack of the expanding of the chest and lungs within a short period of time resulting in the inability to breathe, and certain death. The Jews were responsible to execute Jesus (John 19:5-7, 14-16; Luke 23:20-25; Mark 20:10-15), not the Romans. True, the Israelites under the Mosaic Law had certain requirements for offering blood sacrifices; however, the ones serving Jehovah God under his son's (Jesus Christ's) appointed rulership are not under the law of Moses--Hebrews 9:1-13, 23, 24. Hence, under the new covenant (Luke 22:19, 20) Jesus presented his ransom sacrifice to God in heaven as a propitiatory sacrifice for mankind's sins (1 John 2:2).

Answer 3

Why do Watch Tower publications show Jesus on a stake with hands over his head instead of on the traditional cross?

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.

Was that 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 4

Cross: Jesus did not die on a cross. He died on a pole, or a stake. The Greek word translated "cross" in many Bibles meant just one piece of timber. The symbol of the cross comes from ancient false religions. The cross was not used or worshiped by the early Christians. Therefore, do you think it would be right to use a cross in worship?—Deuteronomy 7:26; 1 Corinthians 10:14.
And if you ask many Bible societies, they will tell you at best, that the New World Translation is the best, and at worst, that it is one of the best translations of the Bible...who are you to question them? We took it directly from the dead sea scrolls.
And if you go to See Leviticus 7:26, 27; 17:10-14; Deuteronomy 12:23-25; 15:23; Acts 15:20, 28, 29; 21:25 you will see why we refuse blood. There are many alternatives to blood, and many doctors will tell you that many of the doctors that insist on using blood are the careless doctors.

Answer 5

The Greek stauros has the primary meaning of a pole or stake. Although the word often refers to more complex constructions, such as the cross. The Latin word crux usually translated "cross," was also at times used to refer to a mere stake.

The Romans sometimes did execute prisoners on crosses. The horizontal bar of such crosses was called the patibulum, and the slaves to be executed were customarily made to carry the patibulum to the place of execution. (Seneca, De Vita Beata 19:3; Epistola 101:12; Tacitus, Historiae, IV, 3)

Since the Bible only says "stauros" it could be a stake, pole or a cross, which one the Romans used is Unknown. They may have used the "+" or "T" as a cross. As the answer before said timber was in short supply and sometimes had to be brought in from 10 miles or more on foot.

Answer 6

Keichi has it ... there's more but I don't have time to type it out right now (I don't cut and paste)...may come back to this question tomorrow.

Quickly, we know that Jesus hands were nailed....above his head.

We don't believe that bad things happen because God is punishing us. We believe we suffer because of what it says in 1 John 5:19.

I want to go further but can't at the moment...will try to get back to this tomorrow.

Great question though and the suggestion to make an appointment with a local JW for a no obligation answer to your question is a good one.

Note: We don't knock on doors at 7:00 a.m. What an exaggeration!!

Answer 7

I'm not sure how they came to the conclusion that Jesus didn't die on a cross, but the problem is much more basic than that. Since the Watchtower Society insists that historical "Christendom" is corrupt and that only their version of the Bible is correct, since they have a bad foundation, anything is possible. The first link below has other questions about Watchtower doctrine.

Answer 8

Sir: being wood was of short supply the cross/ stake pole would most likely be an X shape not the cross as you picture it. By any name the method used to KILL your GOD was one of torture, most men took five to ten days to die when put to death this way. Your Christ died in less than one day, that is why many still argue that he did not die on the cross: but was still alive when removed from the cross. In either case the hands would have been nailed to the X, cross, or torture pole so in any case there would still be wounds in his hands. That will prove nothing! I studied your Christan Faith for years and found to many contradictions in it to put much faith in it. I now fallow the living God WalTonka.

Answer 9

That’s a good question but it seems to raise another: How do Christians know that Jesus died on a cross or that Jesus even existed in the first place. How can you criticize one religion using a book, written hundreds of years after the fact, by quite a few different authors, and which has been contradicted by scientific fact on many occasions (I guess we weren’t supposed to take those parts literally?), as the basis for your argument. If you want people to respect your entitlement to your religious myths respect theirs.

Answer 10

There is no stake. Jesus, King of the Jew was the inscription on the cross.