ClaimThe Bible and the translationverified1980sExplicit statement

La Bible et la traduction · Claim record

L’appendice de la Kingdom Interlinear Translation dit, à propos de Matthieu 27:40, qu’“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” [“Rien ne prouve que le mot grec stau·rosʹ désignait ici une croix comme celle que les païens ont utilisée comme symbole religieux pendant de nombreux siècles avant Christ”], et poursuit en disant que les rédacteurs du Nouveau Testament employaient ce mot “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.” [“dans le même sens qu’en grec classique, à savoir un simple poteau, ou pieu, sans traverse d’aucune sorte ni à aucun angle. Il n’existe aucune preuve du contraire.”] Le lexique classique de référence, Liddell, Scott et Jones, donne comme deuxième sens de σταυρός “cross, as the instrument of crucifixion” [“croix, en tant qu’instrument de crucifixion”], cite Matthieu 27:40 parmi les passages relevant de ce sens, et rapporte que Lucien décrit la forme comme la lettre grecque T.

Claim ID claim-bible-torture-stake-lsjConcerns 1985Déclaration explicite

L’affirmation et ses preuves

Déclaration explicite · 1985 Vérifié

L’appendice de la Kingdom Interlinear Translation dit, à propos de Matthieu 27:40, qu’“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” [“Rien ne prouve que le mot grec stau·rosʹ désignait ici une croix comme celle que les païens ont utilisée comme symbole religieux pendant de nombreux siècles avant Christ”], et poursuit en disant que les rédacteurs du Nouveau Testament employaient ce mot “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.” [“dans le même sens qu’en grec classique, à savoir un simple poteau, ou pieu, sans traverse d’aucune sorte ni à aucun angle. Il n’existe aucune preuve du contraire.”] Le lexique classique de référence, Liddell, Scott et Jones, donne comme deuxième sens de σταυρός “cross, as the instrument of crucifixion” [“croix, en tant qu’instrument de crucifixion”], cite Matthieu 27:40 parmi les passages relevant de ce sens, et rapporte que Lucien décrit la forme comme la lettre grecque 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

Position de l’organisation ou explication ultérieure : L’appendice de l’organisation fonde son argumentation sur le sens classique du mot ainsi que sur W. E. Vine, Hermann Fulda (1878) et Paul Wilhelm Schmidt (1904) ; la note d’étude actuelle sur Matthieu 20:19 répète qu’en grec classique le verbe signifiait “to fence with pales, to form a stockade, or palisade” [“entourer de pieux, former un retranchement ou une palissade”].

Afficher les preuves (3 sources)
Publication primaire des Témoins de Jéhovah Vérifié

The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, “Appendix 3C: “Torture Stake””

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).

Note de provenance et de vérification for The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, Appendix 3C: “Torture Stake”

Note sur la fiabilité. 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.

Corroboré par. src-nwtv-lsj-stauros

Notes. The appendix concludes: 'Evidence is, therefore, completely lacking that Jesus Christ was crucified on two pieces of timber placed at right angles.'

Date de consultation. 19 septembre 2026 · Identifiant de la source. src-nwtv-int-app3c

Évalué par des pairs / universitaire Vérifié

A Greek-English Lexicon (Liddell, Scott and Jones), “σταυρός”

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.

Note de provenance et de vérification for A Greek-English Lexicon (Liddell, Scott and Jones), σταυρός

Note sur la fiabilité. 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.

Provenance de la numérisation. 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.

Date de consultation. 19 septembre 2026 · Identifiant de la source. src-nwtv-lsj-stauros

Publication primaire des Témoins de Jéhovah Vérifié

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), “Study note on Matthew 20:19, 'executed on a stake'”

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.

Note de provenance et de vérification for New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), Study note on Matthew 20:19, 'executed on a stake'

Note sur la fiabilité. Study note read on the nwtsty Matthew chapter 20 page on wol.jw.org, 19 September 2026.

Corroboré par. src-nwtv-int-app3c

Date de consultation. 19 septembre 2026 · Identifiant de la source. src-nwtv-nwtsty-note-matt-20-19

Page de l’affirmation Corriger ou mettre à jour

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/fr/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.