Galatians 3:13 - Explained

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."

The Bible talks about Jesus Christ being hung on a tree, and other times it says Jesus died on a cross. The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that Jesus died on a cross like most of Christianity. They believe he actually died on a stake, with his arms above his head rather than out to the side. They will point to verses like this one that say he was hung on a tree and say, see, he was not hung on a cross — that idea is false.

There are actually several reasons why the Bible mentions him dying both on a tree and on a cross, and they are perfectly consistent with each other.

The first reason is that the reference to a tree is tying together an Old Testament curse from the book of Deuteronomy about someone who hangs on a tree. When the Bible mentions tree in this context, the original readers would immediately identify it with that passage in Deuteronomy, making sense of the curse of someone dying on a tree. That is exactly what Galatians 3:13 is actually saying.

Another reason is that a cross is made from a tree. A cross is made out of wood that comes from a tree, so it would be perfectly reasonable to refer to the cross as a tree. Another reason is that a tree actually resembles a cross in many ways — a cross has a vertical beam and a horizontal beam, and a tree has a big thick trunk with branches that stick out to the side. In many ways the shape is very similar. There is also symbolism going all the way back to the Garden of Eden with the tree of life, and many verses carry that symbolism through.

But the verse that makes the Jehovah's Witnesses look completely foolish is John 20:25. Thomas said: "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." Notice the word nails — plural. What Thomas is saying is there are multiple nails, one for the left hand and one for the right. But if you look at Jehovah's Witnesses pictures of the crucifixion, the hands are together above the head with only one nail. Yet Thomas said the print of the nails — plural — in his hands. Why? Because there is a nail on one side and a nail on the other side. Nails plural, not one nail like the Jehovah's Witnesses teach.

So the Bible says tree and the Bible says cross, and there is nothing wrong with saying Jesus died on a cross — because a cross is actually made from a tree.

Pastor Matthew Stucky