The Kingdom Interlinear appendix says of Matthew 27:40 that “There is no evidence that the Greek word stau·rosʹ here meant a cross such as the pagans used as a religious symbol for many centuries before Christ”, and goes on to say that the New Testament writers used the word “to mean the same thing as in the classical Greek, namely, a simple stake, or pale, without a crossbeam of any kind at any angle. There is no proof to the contrary.” The standard classical lexicon, Liddell, Scott and Jones, gives as its second sense of σταυρός “cross, as the instrument of crucifixion”, cites Matthew 27:40 among the passages for that sense, and records Lucian describing the shape as the Greek letter T.
Claim ID claim-bible-torture-stake-lsjConcerns 1985Explicit statement
The Kingdom Interlinear appendix says of Matthew 27:40 that “There is no evidence that the Greek word stau·rosʹ here meant a cross such as the pagans used as a religious symbol for many centuries before Christ”, and goes on to say that the New Testament writers used the word “to mean the same thing as in the classical Greek, namely, a simple stake, or pale, without a crossbeam of any kind at any angle. There is no proof to the contrary.” The standard classical lexicon, Liddell, Scott and Jones, gives as its second sense of σταυρός “cross, as the instrument of crucifixion”, cites Matthew 27:40 among the passages for that sense, and records Lucian describing the shape as the Greek letter T. Source: The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, 1985Source: A Greek-English Lexicon (Liddell, Scott and Jones), 1940Source: New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), 2013
The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation's appendix rests its case on the classical sense of the word and on W. E. Vine, Hermann Fulda (1878) and Paul Wilhelm Schmidt (1904); the current study note on Matthew 20:19 repeats that in classical Greek the verb meant “to fence with pales, to form a stockade, or palisade”.
1985 · pp.1149-1151 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“There is no evidence that the Greek word stau·rosʹ here meant a cross such as the pagans used as a religious symbol for many centuries before Christ. … The inspired writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures wrote in the common (koi·neʹ) Greek and used the word stau·rosʹ to mean the same thing as in the classical Greek, namely, a simple stake, or pale, without a crossbeam of any kind at any angle. There is no proof to the contrary.”
The organisation's appendix on the cross. It cites W. E. Vine's Expository Dictionary, Lewis and Short's Latin dictionary, Hermann Fulda (1878), Paul Wilhelm Schmidt (1904) and an illustration of the crux simplex taken from Justus Lipsius, De cruce libri tres (Antwerp, 1629, p. 19).
Provenance and verification note for The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, Appendix 3C: “Torture Stake”
Confidence note. Appendix opened in full on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026; page markers 1149, 1150 and 1151 read from the page-number spans. I have not opened Vine, Fulda, Schmidt or Lipsius to check those citations against the printed originals.
Notes. The appendix concludes: 'Evidence is, therefore, completely lacking that Jesus Christ was crucified on two pieces of timber placed at right angles.'
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID.src-nwtv-int-app3c
1940 · entry σταυρός · Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, revised by Sir Henry Stuart Jones · Clarendon Press, Oxford; digital text hosted by the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University
“σταυρός, ὁ, A. upright pale or stake … of piles driven in to serve as a foundation, Hdt.5.16, Th.7.25. II. cross, as the instrument of crucifixion, D.S.2.18, Ev.Matt. 27.40, Plu.2.554a … its form was represented by the Greek letter T, Luc. Jud.Voc. 12. b. pale for impaling a corpse, Plu. Art. 17.”
The standard classical Greek lexicon gives both senses. Its second sense is 'cross, as the instrument of crucifixion', and among the passages it cites for that sense is Matthew 27:40 — the very verse the Kingdom Interlinear appendix uses to argue the opposite. It also records Lucian describing the shape of the σταυρός as the letter T.
Provenance and verification note for A Greek-English Lexicon (Liddell, Scott and Jones), σταυρός
Confidence note. The Perseus entry page was opened on 19 September 2026 and the entry text extracted and read directly from the page HTML. I did not consult a printed copy of LSJ, so no page number of the printed lexicon is recorded.
Scan provenance. Perseus Digital Library's digitisation of the 1940 ninth edition; the page itself carries the imprint 'Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.'
Notes. The Kingdom Interlinear's own parousia appendix (3B) cites Liddell and Scott approvingly; the same lexicon flatly contradicts its stauros appendix.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID.src-nwtv-lsj-stauros
2013 · study note, Matthew 20:19 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“This is the first of over 40 occurrences of the Greek verb stau·roʹo in the Christian Greek Scriptures. This is the verb for the Greek noun stau·rosʹ, rendered “torture stake.” … In classical Greek, it meant “to fence with pales, to form a stockade, or palisade.””
The current study note, which rests the case on the classical rather than the koine sense of the verb.
A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-bible-torture-stake-lsj/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.