I’ve heard many times that the Romans usually tied condemned men to the cross. Nailing the wrists was supposed to be a rare, severe punishment, reserved for the very worst of felons.
From what I’ve read here, among other places, Jesus was a rather forgettable, run-of-the mill prisoner. Assuming that Jesus really did live, and really was crucified, for approximately the reasons we usually hear, why would he have gotten nails?
Maybe he didn’t. Since there is no Roman record of who was executed, why, and in what manner; there is really no way to know for sure.
What little physical evidence we have of crucifixion circa Jesus’ time and place indicates that nails were used.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/crucifixion.html
Because otherwise Jesus couldn’t have quoted from Psalm 22 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” which also includes the phrase “they have pierced my hands and feet” (verse 16).
Of course, Psalm 22:6 says “I am a worm and not a man,” so it’s not clear how literally Jesus or the Gospel writers meant it.
I should have read the OP more carefully. The question was “why nails instead of rope?” and not “why was he crucified?” Sorry.
Interestingly, this was almost assuredly not the case. When the Romans nailed people to a cross, the nails had to go through the wrist, not the hand. The hand cannot support the weight of the body in this manner and the body will not stay up.
I’ve never understood trying to argue against a palm crucifixion using the supported body weight issue. Why couldn’t the Romans have used rope and nails? Tie a man’s arms and legs to a cross. The rope supports his weight. Then drive nails through his extremities, for that extra Martha Stewart touch that makes every day a little more worthwhile. At the very least, the ropes will hold the man in place while the nails are being driven, since I don’t expect anyone but the son of God trying to make a point (no pun intended) to calmly relax during the process. The nails, therefore, aren’t meant to hold the man’s weight, but to inflict suffering that can last for days. Once the ropes are in place, the Centurian can choose wrist or palm as it suits him.
I became an atheist a long time ago, but it wasn’t over piddling nitpicky crap like this.
Nails provide far more drama.
More to the point, why do Christians believe that Jesus was nailed to the Cross?
Mark 15:25 “It was the third hour when they crucified him” but it doesn’t say how;
Matthew 27:35 “When they had crucified him…” again, nothing of how;
Luke 23:33 “When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals…” who, oddly enough, typically are portrayed as having ropes rather than nails;
John 19:18 “Here they crucified him, and with him two others…” same deal.
Luke 24:39-40 has Jesus say during his post-Resurrection appearance: “‘Look at my hands and feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.” No reference to any wounds on the hands & feet, simply that he has feet unlike a ghost.
It is only in John 20:25 where we hear Thomas say “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” (The word helos, “nails,” is used only in this verse.)
The Gospels do make a specific reference to the stabbing in Jesus’ side, but there is no similar reference in the narrative to nails.
<< When the Romans nailed people to a cross, the nails had to go through the wrist, not the hand. The hand cannot support the weight of the body in this manner and the body will not stay up. >>
It’s amazing how little we know, even from a reasonable well-documented era like the early Roman Empire. There is considerable debate as to whether the nails need to go through the wrist or hand; most experiments were done with dismembered limbs (there are very few live volunteers for experiments with being nailed to some beams) and although the evidence seems to favor the argument of nail-through-the-wrist, there is lots of medical evidence that implies that was not necessarily the case.
There is also considerable disagreement about the position, as it is fairly widely believed that most people who were crucified were hung upside down (feet up), but that obviously would have made for terrible iconography in the early church.
I understand that the bodies of victims of crucifixion have been found with wrist wounds. I could be mistaken though.
Cecil tackled the issue of whether the nails went through the wrist or the palm in his update of What’s the deal with stigmata?
Why not rope? Well, it’s obvious! The officer in charge would have had to say, “Knot the King of the Jews,” or “Knot the Messiah,” Jesus would have gone into a series of, “Am too!” replies. To save time they nailed Him.
Centurian: Next!
[man shuffles to the front of the line]
Centurian: Savior or common criminal?
Man: Criminal.
Centurian: Right then. [calls to crucifiers] Rope! Next!
[another man shuffles up]
Centurian: Savior or common criminal?
Man: Criminal.
Centurian: Rope! Next!
[Jesus walks up]
Centurian: Savior or common criminal?
Jesus: Savior.
Centurian: Ah! Good day to you then. We just got a shipment of the new Mark II nails. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them. [to crucifiers] Nails!
Jesus: Thank you, I’m sure I will.
Centurian: Nice day for it then, yes?
Jesus: Quite. [lies down on crucifix]
Centurian: Anesthetic before we nail you?
Jesus: No, but thanks for the offer. Wouldn’t quite be so symbolic would it?
Centurian: [chuckles] You’re the expert here.
Jesus: Here, now! You’re supposed to put the nails through my hands and feet. Why are you doing the wrists and ankles instead?
Centurian: Well, we had some problems with other Saviors falling off their crusifixes because the hands and feet couldn’t support the weight. Ankles and wrists are much better.
Jesus: But the symbolism! Everything’s already written! What am I supposed to do?
Centruian: [ponders, then brightens] I’ve got it! We’ll do it both ways! That way you don’t fall off and you get you want for your religious texts!
Jesus: Brilliant! Let’s do it then!
nahtanoj
Crucifiction was the common punishment for traitors; when Spartacus’ revolt was crushed, the crucified bodies of the traitors lined the road to Rome.
In a Roman-occupied territory, any one claiming to be King of that territory would be considered a traitor and therefore crucified.
Except that in those days, they thought of the hand as being all the way to the elbow.
Please don’t critique if you don’t have the info.
Why do people keep saying that you wont be held up if the nails go into the hands? Have good studies been done?
Are you serious or are you being sarcastic?
gazpacho: Cecil mentions it in update to the column Loopus linked to.
Serious.