Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text: Ideas
The customs, offices and ideas a first reader knew without being told, what each meant then, and the nearest thing you already know.
Crucifixion
Rome's public, shaming death for rebels, after flogging, with the charge posted for passers-by to read.
First, in plain English
The bodies along the highway were the message. Crucifixion was how Rome killed people who resisted it. It was slow, public and humiliating on purpose.
What it meant then
Wright writes, "The cross was a political symbol long before it became a religious symbol." It announced that Rome was in charge. Rome crucified thousands of Jewish rebels during Jesus' boyhood and thousands more in AD 70, and polite Romans avoided even the word. Outside Italy, treason was normally punished by crucifixion. Flogging came first, by Roman practice until the flogger tired, with a whip that could tear the flesh. Prisoners often carried the crossbeam, through jeering crowds. Men were usually executed naked and could not drive off birds or flies. Most died of shock or dehydration. Crosses were often low, and the execution squad, typically four men, could keep the prisoner's clothes (Keener). The only crucified man's bones yet found, those of Jehohanan from Giv'at ha-Mivtar, show a nail through the heel, and he was buried in his family tomb. Romans preferred public places such as major roads, so that passers-by would learn the danger of resisting Rome. A tablet could state the charge. Wright's glossary says crucifixion would have been seen as clear proof that a man was not the Messiah. The Jewish king Alexander Jannaeus crucified about 800 Pharisees, and Qumran texts applied Deuteronomy 21:23 to Roman crucifixion. It was the most shameful and painful death in the Roman world. It was kept for non-Roman criminals who were slaves or the lowest free persons, and no one wanted to be linked with the crucified. The ESV Study Bible calls it "a public statement by Rome that the crucified one was beyond contempt."
The bridge to today
An analogy: a hanging left on display at a crossroads in a frontier town. It punishes one man and warns everyone who rides past.
What it changes in the reading
Crucifixion was Rome's death for rebels, so a call to take up the cross, as in Matthew 10:38, meant walking the road of the condemned. The forced carrying of the beam, the stripping and the posted charge in Mark 15:21-26 follow Roman practice. Paul calls the cross a stumbling block in 1 Corinthians 1:23.
Where the analogy breaks
Not a quick death. A hanging kills fast. A crucified man was flogged first, hung naked where he could not drive off birds or flies, and died slowly of shock or dehydration, a death so shameful that it was kept for slaves and the lowest free persons.
Passages where it appears
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-10-16-42\/","n":"Matthew 10:16-42, Wolves, floggings, a sword and a cup of water","s":"Jesus warns the Twelve of councils, floggings in synagogues and trials before governors and kings, of family turned against family, and promises that whoever receives them receives him.","r":"Matthew 10:16-42"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-16-13-28\/","n":"Matthew 16:13-28, The rock, the keys and the cross","s":"At Caesarea Philippi Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and is called the rock and given the keys. When Jesus speaks of his death, Peter rebukes him and is called Satan.","r":"Matthew 16:13-28"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-27-1-26\/","n":"Matthew 27:1-26, Blood money, Pilate and Barabbas","s":"At dawn the council hands Jesus to Pilate. Judas returns the silver and hangs himself, the priests buy a potter's field, and Pilate, warned by his wife's dream, releases Barabbas and washes his hands.","r":"Matthew 27:1-26"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-27-27-56\/","n":"Matthew 27:27-56, Mock king, the cross and the torn curtain","s":"Soldiers dress Jesus as a mock king. He is crucified as king of the Jews between two rebels, cries out in the words of Psalm 22 and dies; the curtain tears, the earth shakes, and women watch from a distance.","r":"Matthew 27:27-56"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-10-32-45\/","n":"Mark 10:32-45, James and John ask for the best seats","s":"On the road to Jerusalem Jesus predicts his death a third time. James and John ask to sit at his right and left, and he tells them the first must be slave of all.","r":"Mark 10:32-45"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-15-1-20\/","n":"Mark 15:1-20, Before Pilate","s":"The chief priests hand Jesus to Pilate as king of the Jews. Pilate releases Barabbas to the crowd, has Jesus flogged, and the soldiers mock him as a king.","r":"Mark 15:1-20"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-15-21-41\/","n":"Mark 15:21-41, The cross","s":"Jesus is crucified as king of the Jews between two bandits, mocked by passers-by, and dies with a loud cry. The temple curtain tears, and women watch from a distance.","r":"Mark 15:21-41"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-23-26-49\/","n":"Luke 23:26-49, The road to the cross, paradise, and the ninth hour","s":"Simon of Cyrene carries the cross, the women of Jerusalem mourn, and Jesus warns them of days to come. Crucified between two criminals, he promises one of them paradise and dies at the ninth hour.","r":"Luke 23:26-49"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-19-1-16\/","n":"John 19:1-16, Flogged, mocked, and no friend of Caesar","s":"Pilate has Jesus flogged, the soldiers crown him with thorns and hail him as king, and Pilate shows him to the crowd. Warned that releasing him makes Pilate no friend of Caesar, he sits on the judgment seat at the Stone Pavement and hands him over.","r":"John 19:1-16"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-19-16-30\/","n":"John 19:16-30, The cross, the notice in three languages, and his mother","s":"Jesus carries his own cross to Golgotha. Pilate's notice, King of the Jews, is written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek; soldiers cast lots for his seamless tunic; he gives his mother to the beloved disciple, takes the sour wine and says it is finished.","r":"John 19:16-30"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-19-31-42\/","n":"John 19:31-42, Legs unbroken and a hundred pounds of spices","s":"Because the coming Sabbath is a high day, the leaders ask for the bodies to be taken down. The soldiers find Jesus already dead and pierce his side; Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bury him with a lavish weight of spices in a new tomb in a garden.","r":"John 19:31-42"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-21-15-25\/","n":"John 21:15-25, Feed my sheep, and stretch out your hands","s":"Three times Jesus asks Peter whether he loves him and three times tells him to tend his sheep. He foretells Peter's death and answers his question about the beloved disciple, whose testimony closes the book.","r":"John 21:15-25"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-22-22-29\/","n":"Acts 22:22-29, A Roman citizen under the lash","s":"When Paul speaks of his mission to the Gentiles, the crowd erupts again. The tribune orders him examined by flogging, until Paul asks the centurion whether it is lawful to flog an uncondemned Roman citizen.","r":"Acts 22:22-29"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1corinthians-1-18-2-5\/","n":"1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5, The foolishness of the cross","s":"Paul sets the message of a crucified Messiah, folly to Greeks and a stumbling block to Jews, against the wisdom and eloquence Corinth admired, and reminds the believers that few of them were wise, powerful or well born.","r":"1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/2corinthians-1-1-11\/","n":"2 Corinthians 1:1-11, The God of all comfort and the sentence of death","s":"Paul opens by blessing the God of all comfort and tells the Corinthians that in Asia he was so crushed that he felt he had received the sentence of death, so that he learned to rely on the God who raises the dead.","r":"2 Corinthians 1:1-11"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/galatians-2-11-21\/","n":"Galatians 2:11-21, Peter leaves the table at Antioch","s":"At Antioch Peter, who had been eating with Gentile believers, draws back when people come from James, and Paul rebukes him in front of everyone, arguing that Jews and Gentiles alike are put right with God through Christ and faith, not by doing what the law requires.","r":"Galatians 2:11-21"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/galatians-3-1-14\/","n":"Galatians 3:1-14, Who bewitched you? Abraham's blessing and the law's curse","s":"Paul asks the Galatians who has bewitched them, since they received the Spirit by believing, then argues from Abraham that those who believe share his blessing, while Christ took the law's curse by being hung on a tree.","r":"Galatians 3:1-14"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/galatians-6-11-18\/","n":"Galatians 6:11-18, Large letters in his own hand, and the marks of Jesus","s":"Taking the pen himself, Paul writes in large letters that the rivals want the Galatians circumcised so they can boast in their flesh and avoid persecution, while he boasts only in the cross; he blesses those who follow this rule and the Israel of God, and says he bears the marks of Jesus.","r":"Galatians 6:11-18"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/ephesians-2-11-22\/","n":"Ephesians 2:11-22, The dividing wall torn down, and a new temple","s":"Paul reminds Gentile believers that they were once far off, shut out of Israel's citizenship and covenants, and tells them Christ has broken down the dividing wall and built Jews and Gentiles into one household and one temple.","r":"Ephesians 2:11-22"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/philippians-2-1-11\/","n":"Philippians 2:1-11, The form of a slave, a cross, and every knee","s":"Paul urges humility and concern for others, then sets out Christ, who did not exploit his equality with God but took the form of a slave and died on a cross, and whom God exalted so that every knee will bow.","r":"Philippians 2:1-11"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/hebrews-5-11-6-12\/","n":"Hebrews 5:11-6:12, Milk, solid food and no way back","s":"The readers should be teachers by now but still need milk, so the writer urges them past the elementary teachings. Those who have been enlightened and shared in the Holy Spirit and then fall away cannot be brought back to repentance, though he is confident of better things for his readers.","r":"Hebrews 5:11-6:12"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/hebrews-12-1-13\/","n":"Hebrews 12:1-13, The race, the shame and the Father's discipline","s":"Surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, believers are to throw off every weight and run with endurance, eyes fixed on Jesus, who endured the cross and scorned its shame. Their hardships are a father's discipline, which only legitimate children receive.","r":"Hebrews 12:1-13"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/hebrews-13-7-17\/","n":"Hebrews 13:7-17, Foods, an altar and outside the camp","s":"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and for ever, so the readers must not be carried away by strange teachings about foods. Believers have an altar the tabernacle priests may not eat from; as the bodies of the sin offerings were burned outside the camp, Jesus suffered outside the gate, and they must go out to him, bearing his disgrace, seeking the city to come.","r":"Hebrews 13:7-17"}
Related ideas
Sources
- N. T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, comments on Mark 15:1-15 and Mark 15:16-32, and Glossary, entry Messiah
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Mark 10:34, 15:2, 15:24, 15:26 and 15:29, and note on Matthew 27:26
- ESV Study Bible, study notes on Mark 15:15 and 15:21
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Matthew 10:38
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, introduction to Galatians 6:11-18
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Galatians 6:14
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Philippians 2:8
- ESV Study Bible, study note on Philippians 2:8
- David E. Garland, Mark, in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, on Mark 15:24
- Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew, in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, on Matthew 27:35
- J. Randall Price and H. Wayne House, Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology, Matthew 27:35 Archaeological Evidence for the Crucifixion
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, article The Crucifixion
