‘Executed’ or ‘raised up’ or ‘crucifed’?
In the Greek texts, the main word used is:
- stauroo (σταυρόω) - literally means ‘to fence with stakes’ or ‘to impale’.
This word doesn’t specify the shape of the execution device. It only describes the act of executing someone by attaching them to an upright pole or stake. It does not specify other pieces of wood that were often used to create a variety of shapes.
Similarly, in the Aramaic texts, the word often translated as ‘crucify’ is a verb meaning to make erect, or to be lifted up, or raised up. The key term is:
- zqiyp (ܙܩܝܦ) - means ‘high up’, ‘straight up’, ‘hanged’, and later came to mean ‘crucified’.
It’s similar to our English word ‘hung’ where it means more than just being hung like a picture on a wall – the cultural context of the word really means executed.
The word ‘crucifixion’ is actually from the Latin crucifixus, a later term that’s been retroactively applied to these passages.