Cross

Cross (σταυρός, a pointed stake, prob. from ἵστημι, to stand upright), in the New. Test., signifies properly the instrument of crucifixion; and hence (by metonymy) crucifixion itself, namely, that of Christ (Eph 2:16; Heb 12:2; 1Co 1:17-18; Ga 5:11; Ga 6:12,14; Php 3:18). It is also put figuratively (in the phrases "take up [or bear] the cross," etc.) for any severe suffering, including the idea of exposure to contumely and death (Mt 10:38; Mt 16:24; Mr 8:34; Mr 10:21; Lu 9:23; Lu 14:27). (See below.)

I. Designations. — Except the Latin crux there was no word definitively and invariably applied to this instrument of punishment. The Greek word σταυρός properly, like σκόλοψ, means merely a stake (Homer, Od. 14:11; II. 24:453). So Eustathius and Hesychius both define it. The Greeks use the word to translate both palus and crux; e.g. σταυρῷ προσδεῖν in Dion. Cass. (49. 22) is exactly equivalent to the Latin ad palum deligare. In Livy even crux means a mere stake (28. 29), just as vice versa the fathers use σκόλοψ, and even stipes, of a cross proper. In consequence of this vagueness of meaning, impaling (Herod. 9:76) is sometimes spoken of, loosely, as a kind of crucifixion, and ἀνασκολοπίζειν is nearly equivalent to ἀνασταυροῦν (Seneca, Consol. ad Marc. 20; and Ep. 14). Other words occasionally applied to the cross are patibulum and furca, pieces of wood in the shape of II or Y and A respectively (Dig. 48, tit. 13; Plautus Mil. Gl. 2:47; and Sallust, fr. ap. Non. 4:355, seems clearly to imply crucifixion). After the abolition of this mode of death by Constantine, Trebonianus substituted furca figendos for crucifigendos wherever the word occurred. More generally the cross is called arbor infelix (Livy, 1:26; Seneca, Ep. 101), or lignum infelix (Cicero, pro Rab. 3);and in Greek ξύλον (Sept. at De 21:22): comp. "the accursed tree." The fathers in controversy used to quote the words ὁ Κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν, "The Lord reigned" (ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου), from Ps 45:10, or Psalm 96, as a prophecy of the cross; but these words are a gloss (adulterina et Christiana devotione addita), though Geuebrardus thought them a prophetic addition of the Sept., and Agellius conjectures that they read עֵוֹ for אִŠ (Schleusner's Thesaur.). The Hebrews had no word for a cross more definite than עֵוֹ, "wood" (Ge 40:19, etc.), and so they called the transverse beams שׁתַי ועֵרֶב, "warp and woof" (Pearson, On the Creed, art. 4), like ξύλον δίδυμον, of the Sept. Crux is the root of crucio, and is often used proverbially for what is most painful (as Colum. 1:7; Terence, Phorm. 3, 3, 11), and as a nickname for villains (Plautus, Poan. 2:5, 17). Rarer terms are ἴκριον (Eusebius, 8:8), σάνις (?), and gabalus (Varro ap. Non. 2:373; Macrinus ap. Capitol. Macr. 11). This last word is derived from גָּבִל, "to complete."

II. Forms of the Cross. — In its simplest shape, consisting of two pieces of wood, one standing erect, the other crossing it at right angles, the cross was known at an early age in the history of the world. Its use as an instrument of punishment was probably suggested by the form so often taken by branches of trees, which seem to have been the first crosses that were employed. It was certainly customary to hang animals on trees. Cicero (Rabir. 3) appears to consider hanging on a tree and crucifixion as of the same import, and Seneca (Ep. 101) uses similar language. (See above.) Trees are known to have been used as crosses (Tertull. Ap. 8:16), and to every kind of hanging which bore a resemblance to crucifixion, such as that of Prometheus, Andromeda, etc., the name was commonly applied. Among the Scythians, Persians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, and the ancient Germans, traces are found of the cross as an instrument of punishment. The sign of the cross is found as a holy symbol among several ancient nations, who may accordingly be named, in the language of Tertullian, "crucis religiosos," devotees of the cross. Among the Indians and Egyptians the cross often appears in their ceremonies, sometimes in the shape of the letter T, at others in this shape +. At Susa, Ker Porter saw a stone cut with hieroglyphics and cruciform inscriptions, on which in one corner was the figure of a cross, thus, $. The cross, he says, is generally understood to be symbolical of the divinity or eternal life, and certainly a cross was to be seen in the temple of Serapis as the Egyptian emblem of the future life, as may be learned in Sozomen and Rufinus. Porter also states that the Egyptian priests urged its being found on the walls of their temple of Serapis as an argument with the victorious army of Theodosius to save it from destruction. From the numerous writings on this subject by La Croze, Jablonski, Zoega, Visconti, Pococke, Pluche, Petit Radel, and others, the symbol of the cross appears to have been most various in its significations. Sometimes it is the Phallus, sometimes the planet Venus, or the Nilometer, or an emblem of the four elements, or the seasons (Creuzer's Symbolik, p. 168-9). It is therefore not surprising that ancient and even modern Christian writers should on this subject have indulged in some degree of refinement and mysticism. Justin Martyr (Apol. 1, § 72) says, "The sign of the cross is impressed upon the whole of Nature. There is hardly a handicraftsman but uses the figure of it among the implements of his industry. It forms a part of man himself, as may be seen when he raises his hands in prayer." In like manner Minutius Felix (c. 29): "Even Nature itself seems to have formed this figure for us. We have a natural cross on every ship whose sails are spread, in every yoke that man forms, in every outspreading of his arms in prayer. Thus is the cross found both in the arrangements of Nature and among the heathen." We may tabulate thus the various descriptions of cross. (Lipsius, De Cruce, 1; Godwyn's Moses and Aaron, lib. 5, cap. 9, and Carpzov's Annotations thereon):