Shalom ah, and ahot (brothers and sisters),
I trust you all had a wonderful Ishtar/Ashtoreth/Estarte celebration on SUN-day (wink). Of course I am kidding, but in light of the coming Pesach, I thought I would open the discussion up to something Yada addressed in Yada Yahweh. First, let me say that I think Yada’s work is excellent, and I am not here to shoot down his findings.
That said, I am not so sure that Yahshua was not crucified on what we would describe as a cross. The Jehovah's Witnesses also argue that He was crucified on a stake, because the "cross" is a pagan symbol. Please consider the following:
1.) We also need to consider that we know quite a bit about 1st century Roman crucifixion and most of what we find (archeologically speaking) does indicate that there was an upright post and a cross beam used by the Romans of that time. Often times they would use a tree and nail a beam to it.
2.) Wouldn't it make sense that He was crucified on a pagan cross considering the Romans were (and still are) a pagan culture?
3.) The other issue is what takes place during crucifixion. Typically the victim dies (often after many days) of asphyxiation (suffocation). This is due to the fact that the arms are outstretched and the torso begins to sag, which makes taking a breath very difficult. The victim will often prolong the agony by pushing up with his feet to raise his torso, but eventually he will become exhausted and will suffocate due to his inability to hold himself up and take a breath. If the desired result is a quicker death, the guard will break the legs of the victim so that he can no longer push himself up, so he would die in a matter of minutes. Of course Yahshua had already given up His spirit, so there was no need to break his legs Yochanan 19:36 (fulfilling Exo 12:46, Num 9:12, and Psalm 34:20). So, in order for this to happen, the arms of the victim must be stretched out to the sides.
4.) Another point of interest is the last letter of the Phoenician and Paleo Hebrew Aleph-Beit (alpha bet) is Tav (or Taw). In Hebrew, each letter/character also provides a picture or symbol. For example, the Aleph is the sign of the bull or ox, and represents strength. The Tav (where we derive our letter T) is the form of a cross. The representation assigned to the Tav is that it is the sign of the covenant. Yahshua said He was The Aleph and the Tav and the covenant was in His blood.
5.) Lastly there is a very interesting study done by Dr. Chuck Missler (of khouse.com) which details the camp of Yisra-El. YaHWeH gave them specific instructions on how they were to set up the camp. When we take a look at the configuration, it seems to indicate that YaHWeH is saying that His sign/covenant/Tav would indeed be a cross.
http://ldolphin.org/camp.htmlNow, I would agree with the assertion that the scriptures do not use the term "cross". The term used in the Greek is starous which does mean stake. On a side note, I am also not so sure that the Byzantine and Alexandria Greek manuscripts are our earliest. There is strong evidence for the primacy of the Aramaic Pishetta… but that is another discussion.
In any case, could it be that the starous/upright pole/pillar that Yahshua hung on was indeed in the shape of what we would describe as a cross?
Just one of the issues I address above is not enough to "build doctrine on" but when you look at all of them (esp. the Tav symbolism). Could it be that the staurous was in the form of a cross?
Don't get me wrong, I hate the religious traditions and the lies that we have inherited. I just want to remain faithful to the truth, and not let my distain for religious tradition cloud my objectivity.
Of course, at the end of the day all that matters is what YaHWeH did so that we could have life.
I believe that I have much to learn. I look forward to your opinions, and further discussion.. :)
Shalom U'vracha,
Garrett-