WAS JESUS CRUCIFIED ON A CROSS OR TREE?

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In the English Bible, several verses stated that Jesus was crucified on a cross, yet several others stated that it was on a tree. Which one is it?

(Mark 15:21 KJV) And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

(Matthew 27:40 KJV) And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

(John 19:19 KJV) And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.

(1 Corinthians 1:18 KJV) For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

(Acts 10:39 KJV) And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

(Galatians 3:13 KJV) 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:

(Acts 5:30 KJV) The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

(1 Peter 2:24 KJV) Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

(Acts 13:29 KJV) And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

The word translated "cross" or "tree" in the New Testament comes from the Greek word stauros. It simply means "stake" or "pole" or "tree trunk" and it is used to refer to pieces of wood of various shapes, including wooden cross. Many have misinterpreted and mistranslated the Greek word "stauros" to only mean cross, when really the term might have been anything such as a "pole or a tree trunk. Please note that the Romans are known to have used living trees as stauron for crucifixions. There is no description in the Bible of the specific stauros on which Christ died. However, it is most likely to be a wooden cross.

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