Difference between revisions of "Crucifixion"

<p> <strong> CRUCIFIXION </strong> </p> <p> 1. Its nature . [[Crucifixion]] denotes a form of execution in which the condemned person was affixed in one way or another to a cross (Lat. <em> crux </em> ) and there left to die. The Gr. term rendered ‘cross’ in the Eng. NT is <em> stauros </em> ( <em> stauroô </em> = ‘crucify’), which has a wider application than we ordinarily give to ‘cross,’ being used of a single stake or beam as well as of a cross composed of two beams. The crucifixion of living persons does not meet us on OT ground (unless it be in Ezra 6:11; see RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), though death by hanging does ( Esther 7:10 . The <em> stauroô </em> of LXX [Note: Septuagint.] here renders the Heb. <em> talah </em> = ‘to hang’); but the hanging up of a dead body, especially on a tree, is familiar ( Jos 10:26; cf. 1 Samuel 31:10 , 2 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 21:12 ), and is sanctioned by the Law ( Deuteronomy 21:22 ), with the proviso that a body thus hung, as something accursed, must be removed and buried before nightfall ( Deuteronomy 21:23 ). This enactment explains John 19:31 , Galatians 3:13 , as well as the reff. in the NT to the cross as a tree ( Acts 5:30; Acts 10:39; Acts 13:29 , 1 Peter 2:24 ). </p> <p> <strong> 2. Its origin and use </strong> . The origin of crucifixion is traced to the PhÅ“nicians, from whom it passed to many other nations, including both [[Greeks]] and Romans. [[Among]] the latter it was exceedingly common, but was confined almost exclusively to the punishment of slaves, foreigners, or criminals of the lowest class, being regarded as incompatible with the dignity of any [[Roman]] citizen (cf. Cic. <em> in Verr </em> . i. 5, v. 61, 66). This explains why, as tradition affirms, St. [[Paul]] was beheaded, while St. Peter and other Apostles, like the [[Master]] Himself, were put to death on the cross. </p> <p> <strong> 3. Forms of the cross </strong> . The primitive form was the <em> crux simplex </em> a single post set upright in the earth, to which the victim was fastened; or a sharp stake on which he was impaled. The Roman cross was more elaborate, consisting of two beams, which, however, might be put together in different ways. Three shapes are distinguished: (1) The <em> crux commissa </em> (T), shaped like a capital T, and commonly known as St. Anthony’s cross; (2) the <em> crux immissa </em> (+), the form with which we are most familiar; (3) the <em> crux decussata </em> (X), shaped like the letter X, and known as St. Andrew’s cross. [[Early]] [[Christian]] tradition affirms that it was on (2) that [[Jesus]] died ( <em> e.g. </em> Iren. <em> Hær </em> . ii. 24, § 4; Justin, <em> [[Trypho]] </em> , 91); and this is confirmed by the statements of the [[Gospels]] as to the ‘title’ that was set above His head ( Matthew 27:37 , Mark 15:26 , Luke 23:38 , John 19:19 f.). </p> <p> <strong> 4. Method and accompaniments of crucifixion </strong> . These are very fully illustrated in the [[Gospel]] narratives of the death of Jesus, to which we shall now especially refer. [[Immediately]] after being condemned to the cross, a prisoner was brutally scourged. [In the case of Jesus the scourging appears to have taken place before His condemnation ( John 19:1 ), and to have been intended by [[Pilate]] as a compromise with the [[Jews]] between the death sentence and a verdict of acquittal ( Luke 23:22 ).] The cross-beam ( <em> patibulum </em> ), not the whole cross, was then laid on his shoulders, and borne by him to the place of execution, while his <em> titulus </em> ( John 19:19 f., Gr. <em> titlos </em> , Eng. ‘title’) or tablet of accusation hung around his neck, or was carried before him by a herald. If it was only the <em> patibulum </em> that Jesus carried, the probable failure of His strength by the way, leading to the incident of [[Simon]] the [[Cyrenian]] ( Matthew 27:32 ||), must be attributed not to the weight of His burden, but to sheer physical exhaustion aggravated by loss of blood through scourging, as well as to the anguish that pressed upon His soul. </p> <p> Arrived at the place of execution, which both with the Romans and the Jews was outside of the city (see art. Golgotha), the condemned was stripped of his clothing by the soldiers detailed to carry out the sentence, who immediately appropriated it as their lawful booty (Matthew 27:35 ||). He was then laid on the ground, the crossbeam was thrust beneath his shoulders, and his hands were fastened to the extremities, sometimes with cords, but more usually, as in the case of Jesus ( John 20:25 , Luke 24:39 f.; cf. Colossians 2:14 ), with nails. The beam was next raised into position and securely fixed to the upright already planted in the ground. On the upright was a projecting peg ( <em> sedile </em> ) astride of which the victim was made to sit, thereby relieving the strain on the pierced hands, which might otherwise have been torn away from the nails. [[Finally]] the feet were fastened to the lower part of the upright, either with nails ( Luke 24:39 f.) or with cords. </p> <p> The cross was not a lofty erection much lower than it is usually represented in Christian art (cf. Matthew 27:48 ||). [[Hanging]] thus quite near the ground, Jesus, in the midst of His last agonies, was all the more exposed to the jeers and insults of the bystanders and passers-by. It was a custom in [[Jerusalem]] to provide some alleviation for the physical tortures and mental sufferings of the crucified by giving him a stupefying draught. This was offered to Jesus before He was nailed to the cross; but He refused to take it ( Matthew 27:34 ). He would drink every drop of the cup that His Father had given Him, and go on to death with an unclouded consciousness. But for this we could hardly have had those ‘Seven Words from the Cross’ which come to us like the glorious rays that shoot from a sun sinking in awful splendour. </p> <p> In crucifixion the pains of death were protracted long sometimes for days. Even when the victims were nailed and not merely tied to the cross, it was hunger and exhaustion, not loss of blood, that was the direct cause of death. Sometimes an end was put to their sufferings by the <em> crurifragium </em> the breaking of their legs by hammer-strokes. It is not likely that in ordinary circumstances the Jews would induce a Roman governor to pay any attention to the law of Deuteronomy 21:22 f. But, as the day following our Lord’s crucifixion was not only a Sabbath, but the [[Sabbath]] of [[Passover]] week, Pilate was persuaded to give orders that Jesus and the two robbers crucified along with Him should be despatched by the <em> crurifragium </em> and their bodies removed ( John 19:31 ). The soldiers broke the legs of the robbers first, but when they came to Jesus they found that He was already dead. One of them, either in sheer brutality or to make sure of His death, ran a spear into His side. The blood and water that gushed out ( John 19:34 , cf. 1 John 5:6; 1 John 5:8 ) have been held by some medical authorities to justify the opinion that the [[Saviour]] died of a broken heart. His death being certified, [[Joseph]] of Arimathæa, who had begged the body from Pilate, removed it from the cross and laid it in his own sepulchre ( Matthew 27:57 ff. ||). </p> <p> J. C. Lambert. </p>

<p> <b> CRUCIFIXION. </b> —Crucifixion was originally an Oriental punishment. It was practised by the [[Persians]] (Herod. ix. 122), by the Phœnicians and their colonists the Carthaginians (Valer. ii. 7), and by the [[Egyptians]] (Thuc. iv. 110). It was practised also by the Greeks, probably in imitation of the Persians (Plut. <i> Alex </i> . [Note: Alexandrian.] 72. § 2), and by the Romans, who, though Cicero ascribes its introduction to [[Tarquinius]] Superbus, probably learned it from their enemies the Carthaginians. [[Regarding]] it, however, as an ignominious doom, the Romans reserved it for slaves (whence it was called <i> servile supplicium </i> ), the worst sort of criminals such as robbers (Sen. <i> Ep. </i> vii.), and provincials. To inflict it on a [[Roman]] citizen was reckoned an impiety (Cic. <i> in Verr </i> . v. 66). It was a horrible punishment. Cicero designates it <i> crudelissimum teterrimumque supplicium </i> . The verb cognate to <i> crux </i> , ‘cross,’ was <i> cruciare </i> , ‘to torture’ (cf. ‘excruciating’). </p> <p> There were two kinds of cross: </p> <p> <b> 1. </b> The <i> crux simplex </i> , which was a single stake. Sometimes the victim was fastened to it by his hands and feet, the former being extended above his head. Usually, however, it was a sharpened stake (σκόλοψ), and the victim was impaled upon it. It passed through the length of his body, issuing from his month. Cf. Sen. <i> Ep. </i> xiv.: ‘adactum per medium hominem qui per os emergat stipitem’; cf. <i> de Consol. ad Marc. </i> xx. The former method was called <i> affixio </i> , the latter <i> infixio </i> . </p> <p> <b> 2. </b> The <i> crux compacta </i> , which was composed of two pieces. It had three forms: (1) The <i> crux decussata </i> <b> X </b> , called also the <i> crux Andreana </i> , because it is said to be the cross on which St. [[Andrew]] suffered at Patrae. It was this form of cross that the [[Fathers]] had in view when in the crossing of Jacob’s hands as he blessed [[Ephraim]] and [[Manasseh]] (Genesis 48:13-14) they saw a prophecy of the Crucifixion. Cf. Tert. <i> de Bapt </i> . § 8; Isid. Pel. <i> Epp </i> . i. 362. (2) <i> The crux commissa </i> or St. Anthony’s cross, resembling the letter <b> T </b> . Cf. Barn. <i> Ep. </i> § 9; Luc. <i> Jud. [[Vocal]] </i> . § 12. The upright was called <i> stipes or staticulum </i> , and the transom <i> patibulum </i> or <i> antenna </i> . (3) The <i> crux immissa </i> , which had the top of the upright protruding above the transom, <b> † </b> ; From the middle of the upright there projected a peg, the seat ( <i> sedile </i> ) or horn ( <i> cornu </i> ), on which, to support its weight, the body rested as on a saddle. Cf. Iren. <i> adv. Haer. </i> ii. 36. § 2: ‘Ipse habitus crucis fines et summitates habet quinque, duos in longitudine et duos in latitudine, et unum in medio in quo requiescat qui clavis affigitur’; Just. Mart. <i> Dial. circa (about) </i> <i> Tryph </i> . p. 318 C (ed. Sylburg.): τὸ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ πηγνύμενον ὡς κέρας καὶ αὐτὸ ἔξεχον ἐστίν, ἐφʼ ᾦ ἐποχοῦνται οἱ σταυρούμενοι. </p> <p> It was generally assumed in early times that the cross on which [[Jesus]] suffered was a <i> crux immissa </i> . [[Thus]] [[Augustine]] ( <i> in [[Psalm]] </i> ., ciii. § 14) finds in Ephesians 3:18 a mystic allusion to the cross: ‘breadth’ being the transom on which His hands were outstretched; ‘length,’ the upright on which His body was fastened; ‘height,’ the head of the upright protruding above the transom; ‘depth,’ the lower end buried in the earth. And it is a confirmation of this opinion that the board inscribed with His name and accusation was put up over His head (Matthew 27:37), apparently on the projection of the upright. </p> <p> The early [[Apologists]] fancifully defended the sacred symbol of the cross against the sneers of unbelievers by pointing to its appearance everywhere, as though nature and art alike did homage to it. It is seen in the quarters of the heaven, two transverse lines, as it were, running from N. to S. and from E. to W.; in a bird soaring upward with spread wings; in a man swimming or praying with outstretched hands; in the nose and eyebrows of the human face; in a ship’s mast and yard; in a galley’s oars projecting on either side; in the yoke of a plough and the handle of a spade; in the shape of trophies and <i> fasces </i> .* [Note: Mart. Apol. ii., ed. Sylburg. p. 90 C–E; Tert. Apol. § 16; Jer. on Mark 15:21. Cf. Lips, de Cruc. i. ix.] See Tree. </p> <p> The <i> cruciarius </i> was spared no circumstance of ignominy. He was required to carry the transom to the place of execution;† [Note: de Ser. Num. Vind. § 9; Artemidor. Oneir. ii. 61; Wetstein on Matthew 10:38.] he was driven thither with goad and scourge along the most frequented streets, that the populace might profit by so signal an exhibition of the terrors of justice; and a herald went before, bearing a board whereon the victim’s name and offence were inscribed.‡ [Note: HE v. 1; Lightfoot on Matthew 27:31.] Thus burdened and tormented, Jesus went His sorrowful way from the [[Praetorium]] till He reached the gate of the city (Matthew 27:32); and there His strength failed, and He could go no farther. Tradition has it that He fell. The soldiers relieved Him of His burden, and, impressing [[Simon]] of Cyrene, laid it on his shoulders. Even then Jesus was unable to walk unsupported, and had to be borne along to the scene of His crucifixion. Cf. Mark 15:22 φέρουσιν αὐτόν. </p> <p> On arrival at the place of execution (See Golgotha), four soldiers were told off by the centurion in charge to do the work (cf. John 19:23). They proceeded in the customary way. First of all, the <i> cruciarius </i> was stripped naked, his garments being regarded as the rightful perquisites of his executioners.* [Note: Wetstein on Matthew 27:35.] Then he was laid on his back over the transom and his hands fastened to either end. Thereafter the transom was hoisted on the upright and his feet were fastened to the latter. Usually the hands were nailed through the palms and the feet were fixed either by two nails, one through each instep, or by a single nail transfixing both through the Achilles tendon; sometimes, however, the hands and feet were simply tied.† [Note: Lips, de Cruc. ii. viii.] [[Though]] less painful at the moment, the latter was the more terrible method, since it protracted the victim’s sufferings. He hung till he died of hunger and exhaustion, or was devoured by birds and beasts of prey.‡ [Note: ib. xii.–xiii.] The hands of Jesus were certainly nailed, but it seems that His feet were only tied (cf. John 20:20; John 20:25; John 20:27).§ [Note: Ευ. Petr. § 6: τότε ἀτέστασαν τοὺς ἥλους ἀτο͂ τὥν χειρῶν τοῦ Κυριου] The sole Evangelic authority for supposing that they were nailed is Luke 24:39 [40], which is probably assimilated to Psalms 22:16. From two circumstances, (1) that a soldier could reach the lips of Jesus with a short reed (Matthew 27:48 = Mark 15:36 = John 19:29), and (2) that wild beasts could tear out the entrails of the <i> cruciarius </i> as he hung,|| [Note: | Cf. Lips. de Cruc. ii. xiii.] it appears that the cross was of no great height. It was enough if the feet cleared the ground. </p> <p> There was a humane custom among the Jews, based on Proverbs 31:6, that a potion of medicated wine should be administered to the <i> cruciarii </i> in order to deaden their sensibility. The merciful draught was provided by a society of charitable ladies in Jerusalem.¶ [Note: Lightfoot on Matthew 27:34; Wetstein on Mark 15:23. See art. Gall.] It was offered to Jesus ere the nails were driven through His hands, and He raised it to His thirsty lips; but on tasting what it was He would not drink it. What was His reason for rejecting it? It was not that the endurance of physical pain was necessary to the efficacy of His sacrificial death;** [Note: * Cf. Calv.: ‘Nam et haec pars sacriflcii et obedientiae ejus erat, languoris moram ad extremum usque sufferre.’] nor was it merely that He had a sentimental repugnance to the idea of dying in a state of stupefaction.†† [Note: † Cf. Dr. Johnson: ‘I will take no more physic, not even my opiates; for I have prayed that I may render up my soul to [[God]] unclouded.’] It was rather because He was bent on doing to the last the work which had been given Him to do. It was well for the penitent brigand that Jesus did not drink the potion. </p> <p> It was usual for the victims of that frightful punishment, maddened by terror and pain, to shriek, entreat, curse, and spit at their execntioners and the bystanders;‡‡ [Note: ‡ Cf. Cic. in Verr. i. 3, pro Cluent. 66; Jos. BJ iv. vi. 1, vii. vi. 4; Sen. de Vit. Beat. 19.] but Jesus endured the torture meekly. A cry broke from His lips as they were hammering the nails through His hands; but it was a prayer—not an appeal to them for mercy on Himself, but an appeal to God for mercy on them: ‘Father, forgive them: for they know not what they are doing.’§§ [Note: § Luke 23:34, an interpolation, but unquestionably an authentic fragment of the Evangelic tradition. Cf. Wfi, Notes.] The transom with its quivering load was hoisted on the upright, and there He hung, conscious of all that passed around Him. It is said that St. Andrew, as he hung upon his cross at Patrae, taught the people all the while;|||| [Note: ||| Ahdiae, Hist. Apost. iii. 41.] and Jesus also in His anguish was mindful of others. Two brigands had been crucified with Him, two of those outlaws who infested the steep road from [[Jericho]] to Jerusalem, and by their deeds of violence gave it the grim name of ‘the [[Ascent]] of Blood’ (cf. Luke 10:30); and when one of them, recognizing the majesty of the meek Sufferer, turned to Him and prayed Him to remember him when He ‘came in his kingdom,’ He granted more than he sought, promising him a place that very day in Paradise. And He thought of His mother, as she stood by distracted with grief, and commended her to the care of the beloved disciple. While He hung, He was compassed with insults. The [[Jewish]] rulers, exulting in their seeming triumph, mocked Him, and the multitude joined in the poor sport. So did the soldiers who were charged with the duty of watching the crosses lest a rescue should be attempted.* [Note: Petron. Sat.: ‘Cruciarii unius parentes ut viderunt noctn laxatam custodiam, detraxere pendentem’; Jos. Vit. 75: three cruciarii taken down; one recovered from his wounds.] [[Heated]] by their labour, they were refreshing themselves from their jar of <i> posea </i> , the vinegar which was the only drink allowed to soldiers on duty (See Vinegar). Jesus was in their eyes a pretender to the Jewish throne, a rebel against the imperial government; and, hearing the gibes of the rulers, they joined in, and, holding up their cups in mock homage, drank His Majesty’s health (Luke 23:36). </p> <p> [[Crucifixion]] was a lingering doom. The victims sometimes hung for days ere they died of hunger, exhaustion, loss of blood, and the fever of their wounds,† [Note: Lips, de Cruc. ii. xii.] unless they were despatched either by a spear-thrust or by the <i> coup de grace </i> of the <i> crurifragium </i> , a brutality which the Romans practised usually on slaves, beating the life out of them by shattering blows with a heavy mallet.‡ [Note: ib. xiv.] It was, however, contrary to the Jewish law (Deuteronomy 21:23; Deuteronomy 21:23) that they should hang overnight; and it was the more necessary that the requirement should he observed in this instance, since the next day was not only the [[Sabbath]] but the Sabbath of the [[Paschal]] week, a day of special solemnity (John 19:31). [[Therefore]] the rulers waited on Pilate, and requested that Jesus and the brigands might be despatched by the <i> crurifragium </i> , and their bodies taken down from the crosses ere 6 o’clock that evening, when the Sabbath would begin. [[Pilate]] consented, and the soldiers set about the brutal work. They despatched the two brigands, but when they came to Jesus, He was already dead. There was no need to strike Him with the mallet; but one of them, to ensure that He was really dead, drove his spear into His side. See [[Blood]] and Water. </p> <p> The prominent characteristic of crucifixion was the ignominy of it (cf. Galatians 3:13, Hebrews 12:2). This constituted ‘the stumbling-block of the cross’ (Galatians 5:11) in Jewish eyes. Since it was expected that the [[Messiah]] would be a glorious and victorious King, it seemed incredible that one who was slain, and not only slain but crucified, should be the Messiah. In the eyes of the NT writers, on the contrary, its very ignominy constituted its supreme suitability to the Messiah. It identified Him utterly with sinners, making Him a sharer in the worst extremity of their condition. St. John recognized a providential dispensation in the enslavement of the [[Jews]] to the Romans, inasmuch as it brought about the Crucifixion (John 18:31-32). Had they been free, Jesus would have been stoned as a blasphemer; but since they were vassals of Rome, it was not lawful for them to put any one to death (John 18:31). The Sanhedrin’s sentence had to be referred to the procurator. It was invalid without his ratification, and it was executed by his authority after the Roman manner. </p> <p> It is remarkable that, unlike the mediaeval artists, who loved to depict the Man of Sorrows as He hung on the cross abused and bleeding, the [[Evangelists]] have drawn a veil over the scene, detailing none of the ghastly particulars, and saying merely: ‘They crucified him.’ They recognized in the Crucifixion not the triumph of human malice but the consummation of a [[Divine]] purpose—‘the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God’ (Acts 2:23). At the moment all was dark to the disciples; but when their minds were illumined by the [[Holy]] Spirit, they saw not only ‘the sufferings that befell Messiah’ but ‘the glories that followed these’ (1 Peter 1:11). Their Lord had never seemed so kingly in their eyes as when He ‘reigned from the tree.’* [Note: To the LXX version of Psalms 96:10 many codices add ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου after ὁ Κύριος ἑβασίλευσεν. So Old Lat. and Copt. versions, Just. Mart., Tert, Aug.; cf. Venant. Fortunat. Hymn. de Pass. Dom.: </p> <p> ‘Impleta sunt quae concinit </p> <p> [[David]] fideli carmine, </p> <p> Dicens: In nationibus </p> <p> Regnavit a ligno Deus.’] </p> <p> In early days, according to some authorities, Luke 9:31 ran: ‘They were speaking of <i> the glory </i> which He was about to fulfil at Jerusalem.’† [Note: in Matth. lvii.: τὴν δόξαν ἣν ἒμδλλε σληροῦν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ. τούτεστιν, τὸ πάθος καὶ τὸν σταυρόν. οὓτω γάρ αὑτὸ καλοῦσιν ἀεί. Euth. Zig. on Matthew 17:3 : τινὰ δὲ τῶν βιβλίων οὑκ ἕξοδον ἀλλὰ δόξαν γρἀφουσι. δόξα γὰρ καλεῖται καὶ ὁ σταυρός.] So Chrysostom quotes the passage; and this is the constant conception of the NT. ‘We look upon Jesus,’ says the author of the [[Epistle]] to the Hebrews, ‘because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour’ (Hebrews 2:9; cf. Philippians 2:8 f.). </p> <p> [[Throughout]] His ministry Jesus recognized the inevitable necessity of His Passion. He had come to die. Cf. Matthew 9:15 = Mark 2:20 = Luke 5:35; Matthew 16:21 = Mark 8:31 = Luke 9:22; Matthew 17:22-23 = Mark 9:31 = Luke 9:44; Matthew 20:18; Matthew 20:13 = Mark 10:33-34 = Luke 18:32-33. As early as the close of the 2nd cent. [[Celsus]] stumbled at the idea that Jesus foreknew and foretold all that happened to Him (Orig. <i> circa (about) </i> <i> Cels. </i> ii. 13). Strauss pronounces those intimations mere <i> vaticinia ex eventu </i> . A crucified Messiah was ‘to Jews a stumbliog-block and to [[Gentiles]] foolishness’ (1 Corinthians 1:23); and the Apostles, eager to remove ‘the stumbling-block of the Cross,’ represented the Crucifixion as no ignominious catastrophe, but ‘a link in a chain of higher knowledge, part of a Divine plan of salvation.’ Keim, on the other hand, regards the announcement as ‘the expression of a natural, reasonable, correct anticipation,’ suggested by the fate of the [[Baptist]] and the difficulties wherewith Jesus was beset. The definite details, however, must be pruned away. In point of fact, the Lord’s prescience of the end is insxtricably interwoven with the [[Gospel]] history. The cross was His goal, and He knew it all along. </p> <p> Literature.—In addition to the works quoted in the art. and the standard <i> [[Lives]] </i> of Christ, reference may be made to Fairbairn, <i> Studies in the Life of [[Christ]] </i> , ‘The Crucifixion’; Newman, <i> Selected Sermons </i> , pp. 175–188; Liddon, <i> Bampton Lect. </i> 8 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] p. 472 ff.; Farrar, <i> Christ in [[Art]] </i> , pp. 389–423; Dale, <i> [[Atonement]] </i> 7 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , p. 436 ff. </p> <p> David Smith. </p>

<p> Crucifixion. [[Crucifixion]] was in used among the Egyptians, [[Genesis]] 40:19, the Carthaginians, the Persians, Esther 7:10, the Assyrians, Scythains, Indians, Germans, and from the earliest times, among the [[Greeks]] and Romans. [[Whether]] this mode of execution was known to the ancient [[Jews]] is a matter of dispute. Probably, the Jews borrowed it from the Romans. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death. </p> <p> [[Among]] the Romans, the degradation was also a part of the infliction, and the punishment, if applied to freemen, was only used in the case of the vilest criminals. The one to be crucified was stripped naked of all his clothes, and then followed the most awful moment of all. He was laid down upon the implement of torture. His arms were stretched along the cross-beams, and at the centre of the open palms, the point of a huge iron nail was placed, which, by the blow of a mallet, was driven home into the wood. Then through either foot separately, or possibly through both together, as they were placed one over the other, another huge nail tore its way through the quivering flesh. </p> <p> Whether the sufferer was also bound to the cross, we do not know; but, to prevent the hands and feet being torn away by the weight of the body, which could not "rest upon nothing but four great wounds," there was, about the centre of the cross, a wooden projection strong enough to support, at least in part, a human body, which soon became a weight of agony. Then, the "accursed tree", with its living human burden, was slowly heaved up and the end fixed firmly in a hole in the ground. The feet were but a little raised above the earth. The victim was in full reach of every hand that might choose to strike. </p> <p> A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly, - dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, tetanus, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of untended wounds, all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness. </p> <p> The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds, inflamed by exposure, gradually gangrened; the arteries, especially of the head and stomach, became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood; and, while each variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added to them, the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst. Such was the death to which [[Christ]] was doomed. - Farrar's "Life of Christ." </p> <p> The crucified was watched, according to custom, by a party of four soldiers, John 19:23, with their centurion, Matthew 27:66, whose express office was to prevent the stealing of the body. This was necessary from the lingering character of the death, which sometimes did not supervene even for three days, and was, at last, the result of gradual benumbing and starvation. But for this guard, the persons might have been taken down and recovered, as was actually done, in the case of a friend of Josephus. [[Fracture]] of the legs was especially adopted by the Jews to hasten death. John 19:31. </p> <p> In most cases, the body was suffered to rot on the cross by the action of sun and rain, or to be devoured by birds and beasts. Sepulture [burial or internment] was generally, therefore, forbidden; but in consequence of Deuteronomy 21:22-23, an express national exception was made in favor of the Jews. Matthew 27:58. This accursed and awful mode of punishment was happily abolished by Constantine. </p>

<p> (1): </p> <p> (n.) The state of one who is nailed or fastened to a cross; death upon a cross. </p> <p> (2): </p> <p> (n.) Intense suffering or affliction; painful trial. </p> <p> (3): </p> <p> (n.) The act of nailing or fastening a person to a cross, for the purpose of putting him to death; the use of the cross as a method of capital punishment. </p>

<p> [[Crucifixion]] was a most cruel and disgraceful punishment; the terms applied to it by ancient writers are, 'the most cruel and disgraceful,' 'the worst possible punishment,' 'the worst punishment in the world.' It was the punishment chiefly of slaves; accordingly the word 'cross-bearer' was a term of reproach for slaves, and the punishment is termed 'a slave's punishment.' Free-born persons also suffered crucifixion, but only those of low condition and provincials. Citizens could not be crucified. This punishment was reserved for the greatest crimes, as robbery, piracy, assassination, perjury, sedition, treason, and (in the case of soldiers) desertion. Its origin is ancient. In [[Thucydides]] we read of Inarus, an African king, who was crucified by the Egyptians. The similar fate of Polycrates, who suffered under the Persians, is detailed by Herodotus, who adds, in the same book, that no less than 300 persons were condemned to the cross by Darius, after his successful siege of Babylon. [[Valerius]] Maximus makes crucifixion the common military punishment of the Carthaginians. That the [[Greeks]] adopted it is plain from the cruel executions which [[Alexander]] ordered after the capture of Tyre, when 2000 captives were nailed to crosses along the sea-shore. With the Romans it was used under their early monarchical government, and was the death to which Horatius was adjudged for the stern and savage murder of his sister, where the terms employed show that the punishment was not at that time limited to any rank or condition. It appears also from the passage that scourging then preceded crucifixion, as undoubtedly was customary in later times. The column to which [[Jesus]] was fastened during this cruel infliction is stated by [[Jerome]] to have existed in his time in the portico of the holy sepulcher, and to have retained marks of his blood. The [[Jews]] received the punishment of crucifixion from the Romans. [[Though]] it has been a matter of debate, yet it appears clear that crucifixion, properly so called, was not originally a [[Hebrew]] punishment. The condemned, after having been scourged, had to bear their cross, or at least the transverse beam, to the place of execution, which was generally in some frequented place without the city. The cross itself, or the upright beam, was fixed in the ground. Arrived at the spot the delinquent was supplied with an intoxicating drink, made of myrrh and other bitter herbs, and having been stripped of his clothing, was raised and affixed to the cross, by nails driven into his hands, and more rarely into his feet; sometimes the feet were fastened by one nail driven through both. The feet were occasionally bound to the cross by cords, and Xenophon asserts that it was usual among the [[Egyptians]] to bind in this manner not only the feet but the hands. A small tablet, declaring the crime, was placed on the top of the cross. The body of the crucified person rested on a sort of seat. The criminal died under the most frightful sufferings—so great that even amid the raging passions of war, pity was sometimes excited. Sometimes the suffering was shortened and abated by breaking the legs of the criminal. After death, among the heathens, the bodies commonly remained on the cross till they wasted away, or were devoured by birds of prey. A military guard was set near the cross, to prevent the corpse from being taken away for burial; but among the Jews the dead body was customarily taken down and buried. The execution took place at the hands of the hangman, attended by a band of soldiers, and in Rome, under the supervision of the Triumviri Capitales. The accounts given in the [[Gospels]] of the execution of Jesus [[Christ]] are in entire agreement with the customs and practices of the Romans in this particular. The punishment continued in the [[Roman]] [[Empire]] till the time of Constantine, when it was abolished through the influence of the [[Christian]] religion. Examples of it are found in the early part of the emperor's reign, but the reverence which, at a later period, he was led to feel for the cross, induced him to put an end to the inhuman practice. </p> <p> Death by crucifixion (physically considered) is to be attributed to the sympathetic fever which is excited by the wounds, and aggravated by exposure to the weather, privation of water, and the painfully constrained position of the body. Traumatic fever corresponds, in intensity and in character, to the local inflammation of the wound. In the first stage, while the inflammation of the wound is characterized by heat, swelling, and great pain, the fever is highly inflammatory; and the sufferer complains of heat, throbbing headache, intense thirst, restlessness, and anxiety. As soon as suppuration sets in, the fever somewhat abates, and gradually ceases as suppuration diminishes and the stage of cicatrisation approaches. But if the wound be prevented from healing, and suppuration continue, the fever assumes a hectic character, and will sooner or later exhaust the powers of life. When, however, the inflammation of the wound is so intense as to produce mortification, nervous depression is the immediate consequence; and if the cause of this excessive inflammation of the wound still continues, as is the case in crucifixion, the sufferer rapidly sinks. He is no longer sensible of pain, but his anxiety and sense of prostration are excessive; hiccup supervenes, his skin is moistened with a cold clammy sweat, and death ensues. It is in this manner that death on the cross must have taken place, in an ordinarily healthy constitution. The wounds in themselves were not fatal; but, as long as the nails remained in them, the inflammation must have increased in intensity until it produced gangrene. [[De]] la Condamine witnessed the crucifixion of two women of those fanatic [[Jansenists]] called Convulsionnaires. One of them, who had been crucified thrice before, remained on the cross for three hours. They suffered most pain from the operation of extracting the nails; and it was not until then that they lost more than a few drops of blood from their wounds. After they were taken down, they seemed to suffer little, and speedily recovered. The probabilities of recovery after crucifixion would of course depend on the degree of constitutional irritation that had been already excited. [[Josephus]] relates that of three of his friends, for whom he had obtained a release from the cross, only one survived. The period at which death occurred was very variable, as it depended on the constitution of the sufferer, as well as on the degree of exposure and the state of the weather. It may, however, be asserted that death would not take place until the local inflammation had run its course; and though this process may be much hastened by fatigue and the alternate exposure to the rays of the sun and the cold night air, it is not completed before forty-eight hours, under ordinary circumstances, and in healthy constitutions; so that we may consider thirty-six hours to be the earliest period at which crucifixion would occasion death in a healthy adult. [[Many]] of the wounded at [[Waterloo]] were brought into the hospitals after having lain three days on the field, and even then sometimes recovered from severe operations. It cannot be objected that the heatof an [[Eastern]] climate may not have been duly considered in the above estimate; for many cases are recorded of persons having survived a much longer time than is here mentioned, even as long as eight or nine days. [[Eusebius]] says that many of the martyrs in Egypt, who were crucified with their heads downwards, perished by hunger. This assertion, however, must not be misunderstood. It was very natural to suppose that hunger was the cause of death, when it was known that no food had been taken, and when, as must have happened in lingering cases of crucifixion, the body was seen to be emaciated. But it has been shown above that the nails in the hands and feet must inevitably have given rise to such a degree of inflammation as to produce mortification, and ultimately death; and it is equally certain that food would not, under such circumstances, have contributed to support life. Moreover, it may be added that after the first few hours, as soon as fever had been fully excited, the sufferer would lose all desire for food. The want of water was a much more important privation. It must have caused the sufferer inexpressible anguish, and have contributed in no slight degree to hasten death. As-Sujuti, a celebrated Arabic writer, gives an interesting account of a young Turk who was crucified at [[Damascus]] A.D. 1247. It is particularly mentioned that his hands and feet were nailed, and even his arms (but not as if it was in any way remarkable). He complained of intense thirst on the first day, and his sufferings were greatly increased by his continually seeing before him the waters of the Barada, on the banks of which he was crucified. He survived two days, from the noon of Friday to the noon of Sunday. </p>