crucify

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The Greek that is translated into English as “crucify” is translated in various ways:

  • Naro: xgàu or “to stretch” (as is done with a skin after slaughtering in order to dry it. The word is also widely accepted in the churches.) (Source: Gerrit van Steenbergen)
  • Balinese / Toraja-Sa’dan: “stretch him” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Rendille: lakakaaha or “stretched and nailed down” (source: Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 33)
  • Ghari: “hammer to the cross” (source: David Clark)
  • Lambya: “to nail on a cross” (source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Loma: “fasten him to a spread-back-stick” (source: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Sundanese: “hang him on a crossbeam” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Aguaruna: “fasten him to the tree”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “nail him to the cross”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “fasten him to the cross” (source for this and two above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125)
  • Noongar: “kill on a tree” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Apali: “nail to a tree piece put cross-wise, lift up to stand upright (for the crucified person) to die (and in some contexts: “to die and rise again”)” (source: Martha Wade)

In British Sign Language it is signed with a sign that signifies “nails hammered into hands” and “arms stretched out.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Crucify” or “crucifixion” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

See also the common sign language sign for Jesus.

Following is a painting by Wang Suda 王肅達 (1910-1963):

Housed by Société des Auxiliaires des Missions Collection – Whitworth University
(click image to enlarge)

Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing how crucifixion was done in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also cross, hang on a tree, and this devotion on YouVersion .

soldier

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “soldier” in English didn’t have a direct equivalent in Enlhet so it was translated with “those that bind us” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ) and in Noongar it is mammarapa-bakadjiny or “men of fighting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

complete verse (John 19:32)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 19:32:

  • Uma: “so, the soldiers really went to break the legs of the two people who were crucified with Yesus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore the soldiers went there and broke first the lower-legs of the two companions of Isa nailed on the post.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “So he sent his soldiers, and they went there and they broke the legs of one of those who were nailed with Jesus. And then they broke the legs of the other.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “That being so, the soldiers went and fractured the legs of the two were who crucified (lit. crossed) with Jesus -in-the-middle.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Pilato consented, therefore the legs of those two who were there with Jesus were broken by the soldiers.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The soldiers went to break the legs of one person. Then they went to where Jesus was hanging and saw that he was already dead. Therefore they didn’t break his legs.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 19:32

No indication is given why the soldiers first broke the legs of the men on either side of Jesus before going to Jesus himself. It may be that Jesus already appeared to be dead, and the soldiers wanted to put to death the men who were obviously alive.

In some languages one cannot translate the word broke without indicating how the legs were broken. As already suggested, it was accomplished by a severe blow with a heavy instrument, probably with a large mallet, a sledge hammer, or a club.

Who had been put to death with Jesus is more literally “who had been crucified with him.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on John 19:32

19:32a

So the soldiers came: It is implied that Pilate agreed to order the soldiers to break the men’s legs. Then they went to where the men were crucified, and the place is also implied. In some languages it will be natural to include this implied information in the translation. For example:

⌊Pilate agreed⌋ . So ⌊he⌋ sent his soldiers to ⌊where the three men were crucified/executed⌋ .

19:32b

and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and those of the other: The phrases the first man who had been crucified with Jesus and the other refers to the two thieves on the crosses next to Jesus. The soldiers broke the legs of both of the men who were still alive. For example:

broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified with Jesus, first the one and then the other (NET Bible)

broke the legs: This phrase indicates that the soldiers broke the bone in the leg below the knee. Roman soldiers broke legs by hitting the lower part of the legs with a heavy iron mallet (large hammer or club).

crucified with Jesus: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus is literally “he,” as in the New Revised Standard Version. The Berean Standard Bible sometimes uses names instead of pronouns in order to clarify the person to whom the author is referring. Refer to Jesus in a way that is natural in your language.

General Comment on 19:32a–b

In some languages it may be natural to mention the crucified men in 19:32a rather than 19:32b. For example:

The soldiers accordingly came to the men crucified with Jesus and broke the legs of each in turn. (Revised English Bible)

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