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The Messiah’s Crucifixion Tree 83

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by being cursed for our sake, since scripture
says: Cursed be everyone who is hanged on a TREE (Galatians 3:13, Jerusalem Bible).

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is writ-
ten, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a TREE (Galatians 3:13, KJV).

He himself bore our sins in his body on the TREE...(1 Peter 2:24, NIV).

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the TREE...(1 Peter 2:24, KJV).

The Greek word xulou (or xulon) is translated “tree” in each of the above passages. This
Greek word refers to a LIVING TREE -- not a Roman cross! We should note that even as Yeshua
the Messiah was being led to his crucifixion, he made a direct reference to this act being carried out
“when the TREE is green” (Luke 23:31, NIV). The descriptive Greek word means “full of sap.”
Such a tree is clearly living.

Some might ask, “What about the ‘cross’ that Simon had to carry for the Messiah to the cru-
cifixion site on the Mount of Olives?” In reality this beam was not a Roman cross but rather a cross-
bar that was directly nailed to the crucifixion tree. According to The Zondervan Pictorial
Encyclopedia of the Bible it was to this plank of wood that Yeshua was nailed at the wrists. (We
should realize that the traditional depictions, showing nails through the hands, are physically im-
possible because the weight of the body would cause the nails to tear through the hands). The cross-
bar was then nailed to the TREE at which time nails were driven through the ankles into the tree
trunk.

In certain passages in the Bible another Greek word -- stauros -- has been translated “cross.”
According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, its primary mean-
ing is “upright pole” or “stake.” However, it can also refer to a crossbar -- see The Zondervan Pic-
torial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 1, p. 1038. The same word, therefore, may refer to the
CROSSBAR, the actual pole or TREE, or the crossbar/tree as a composite unit. Note the following:

As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene...and put the cross [crossbar] on him
and made him carry it behind Jesus (Luke 23:26, NIV).

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross [crossbar]. It read: Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews (John 19:19, NIV).

The height of the tree trunk to which the Messiah was crucified can be estimated from the
length of the hyssop branch, upon which a sponge soaked in sour wine was offered. The Zondervan
Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 1041-1042) estimates the reed was probably about
three feet in length, thus making the height of the tree trunk from seven to nine feet.

There is a very interesting passage in the Book of John which highlights another aspect of
the crucifixion –

The Berean Voice March-April 2003