Did Jesus Die on a Cross or a Stake?

Jehovah’s Witnesses say Jesus died on an upright stake, not on a cross. Their page grants that the Bible does not draw the shape, and it still concludes a stake because the Greek word σταυρός can mean an upright pole. John 20:25John 20:25 · King James VersionThe 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 · King James VersionOpen source has Thomas demand the print of the nails, plural, in his hands. Matthew 27:37Matthew 27:37 · King James VersionAnd set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.Matthew 27:37 · King James VersionOpen source sets the written accusation over his head. Justin Martyr, in the second century, describes one beam upright and another beam fitted across it. Jesus is God. The death and the resurrection are Was Jesus Raised Bodily?.

Key Points

• Did Jesus Die on a Cross? (1) says no one can know the shape with absolute certainty, and that the Bible’s evidence is an upright stake.
• The same page says σταυρός is often translated “cross,” and that many scholars take the basic meaning as “upright stake.” It quotes a lexicon: the word “never means two pieces of wood joining each other at any angle.”
• It treats ξύλον, “wood” or “tree,” as a synonym, and quotes a conclusion that nothing in the Greek implies two pieces of timber.
• John 20:25John 20:25 · King James VersionThe 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 · King James VersionOpen source (3) says “the print of the nails” in his hands. Matthew 27:37Matthew 27:37 · King James VersionAnd set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.Matthew 27:37 · King James VersionOpen source (4) says the accusation was set up over his head.
• Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 91 (2) says one beam is placed upright and the other beam is fitted on to it, the ends appearing on both sides.
• John 19:16John 19:16 · King James VersionThen delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.John 19:16 · King James VersionOpen source (5) says Pilate delivered him to be crucified. Galatians 3:13Galatians 3:13 · King James VersionChrist 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:Galatians 3:13 · King James VersionOpen source (7) says he hung on a tree. The two words name one death.

What Jehovah’s Witnesses Say

Their Bible-questions page states the case:

However, the Bible does not describe the instrument of Jesus’ death, so no one can know its shape with absolute certainty. Still, the Bible provides evidence that Jesus died, not on a cross, but on an upright stake.

Did Jesus Die on a Cross? (1) says the Bible generally uses stau·rosʹ for the instrument, at Matthew 27:40 and John 19:17. It says translations often render the word “cross,” and that many scholars agree the basic meaning is “upright stake.” It quotes A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament: stau·rosʹ “never means two pieces of wood joining each other at any angle.” It says xyʹlon means “wood,” “timber,” “stake,” or “tree,” and it quotes The Companion Bible: “There is nothing in the Greek of the N[ew] T[estament] even to imply two pieces of timber.” The page also calls a single stake a crux simplex.

That is a real concession, and it is theirs: the New Testament does not include a diagram, and in classical Greek σταυρός can be an upright stake. The word page is σταυρός. The verb is σταυρόω.

The same page adds a second claim: the cross should not be used in worship, because God rejects images, first-century Christians did not use the cross as a cult object, and later churches kept a pagan sign. This article is about the shape of the instrument on which he died.

The Nails and the Title

John 20:25John 20:25 · King James VersionThe 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 · King James VersionOpen source (3) is Thomas:

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 · King James Version

The word is nails, plural, and the place is his hands. A single upright stake, with the hands together above the head on one nail, is the picture their conclusion requires. The sentence Thomas speaks counts more than one nail in the hands. Matthew 27:37Matthew 27:37 · King James VersionAnd set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.Matthew 27:37 · King James VersionOpen source (4) says they set up over his head his accusation, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Mark 15:26Mark 15:26 · King James VersionAnd the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.Mark 15:26 · King James VersionOpen source says the superscription was written over. A title set over the head fits a beam where the head is below the crosspiece, or a sign nailed above the hands. It is not a sentence that says the hands were stacked on one spike.

John 19:19John 19:19 · King James VersionAnd Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.John 19:19 · King James VersionOpen source (6) says, “And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross.” The King James word is “cross.” The Greek noun there is σταυρός. The English of 1611 is a translation choice. The nails and the title are the details the narrative does give.

What Justin Martyr Describes

Justin Martyr, writing in Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 91 (2), treats the cross as two beams:

For the one beam is placed upright, from which the highest extremity is raised up into a horn, when the other beam is fitted on to it, and the ends appear on both sides as horns joined on to the one horn.

Justin is not a New Testament verse. He is a second-century Christian describing the instrument he believed Jesus died on, and he describes a crosspiece. Jehovah’s Witnesses can answer that he wrote later and that the Gospels still lack a sketch. The Christian claim is that the earliest Christian description we have of the shape, together with the plural nails in the hands, is a cross, and that “stake” as the only meaning of σταυρός does not fit those lines.

A Tree or a Cross?

Galatians 3:13Galatians 3:13 · King James VersionChrist 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:Galatians 3:13 · King James VersionOpen source (7) says Christ was made a curse for us, “for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” Acts 5:30Acts 5:30 · King James VersionThe God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.Acts 5:30 · King James VersionOpen source says they slew him and hanged him on a tree. 1 Peter 2:241 Peter 2:24 · King James VersionWho his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.1 Peter 2:24 · King James VersionOpen source says he bare our sins in his own body on the tree. Their page is right that ξύλον is wood. The same death is called σταυρός in the Gospels and ξύλον in these sentences. A tree, in that usage, is the timber he hung on. It does not decide that the timber was one pole. John 19:16John 19:16 · King James VersionThen delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.John 19:16 · King James VersionOpen source (5) says Pilate delivered him to them to be crucified, and they led him away. Matthew 27:26Matthew 27:26 · King James VersionThen released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.Matthew 27:26 · King James VersionOpen source says, after the scourging, Pilate delivered him to be crucified. The actors in the narrative are the governor and the crowd that had asked for it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe Jesus Died on the Cross?

Their page says he died on an upright stake. They also say the shape cannot be known with absolute certainty. Both sentences are on Did Jesus Die on a Cross? (1).

Which Verse Describes the Instrument?

They cite Matthew 27:40 and John 19:17 for the word σταυρός. The details of nails and of a title over the head are John 20:25John 20:25 · King James VersionThe 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 · King James VersionOpen source (3) and Matthew 27:37Matthew 27:37 · King James VersionAnd set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.Matthew 27:37 · King James VersionOpen source (4).

Where Did Jesus Go After He Died?

Luke 23:46Luke 23:46 · King James VersionAnd when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.Luke 23:46 · King James VersionOpen source says, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” What that day means, and where their Bible puts the comma in the paradise promise, is What Does Luke 23:43 Mean?. Whether the dead cease to exist is Do the Dead Cease to Exist?.

Who Had Jesus Crucified?

John 19:16John 19:16 · King James VersionThen delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.John 19:16 · King James VersionOpen source (5) says Pilate delivered him to be crucified. Matthew 27:26Matthew 27:26 · King James VersionThen released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.Matthew 27:26 · King James VersionOpen source says the same after Barabbas was released.

Did Jesus Die on a Tree?

Galatians 3:13Galatians 3:13 · King James VersionChrist 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:Galatians 3:13 · King James VersionOpen source (7), Acts 5:30Acts 5:30 · King James VersionThe God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.Acts 5:30 · King James VersionOpen source, and 1 Peter 2:241 Peter 2:24 · King James VersionWho his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.1 Peter 2:24 · King James VersionOpen source say tree. The Gospels say σταυρός. The section above is how those words sit together.

What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?

The instrument of Jesus’ death is not a verse about sexual intimacy. That subject is What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?.

Keep Reading

• Was Jesus Raised Bodily?
• What Does Luke 23:43 Mean?
• σταυρός
• Is Jesus God?