The crucifixion and burial of Jesus

What the text actually says

Text

A faithful retelling, step by step. Nothing added, nothing smoothed over.

Mark 15:21
Soldiers force Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, to carry Jesus' cross. Mark identifies him as the father of Alexander and Rufus.
Read it in context
²¹Now Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry the cross of Jesus.
Mark 15:22–23
They bring Jesus to Golgotha, a name meaning the place of the skull. He is offered wine mixed with myrrh but refuses it.
Read it in context
^15:22They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull. ²³There they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.
Mark 15:24–32
Soldiers crucify Jesus and cast lots to divide his clothes. Mark says it is the third hour. The inscription states the charge against him: the King of the Jews. Two others are crucified beside him. Passers-by, chief priests, scribes and the men crucified with him mock him.
Read it in context
^15:24And they crucified Him. They also divided His garments by casting lots to decide what each of them would take. ²⁵It was the third hour when they crucified Him. ²⁶And the charge inscribed against Him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. ²⁷Along with Jesus, they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left. ²⁹And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰come down from the cross and save Yourself!” ³¹In the same way, the chief priests and scribes mocked Him among themselves, saying, “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself! ³²Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” And even those who were crucified with Him berated Him.
Mark 15:33–36
Darkness covers the land from the sixth hour to the ninth. At the ninth hour, Jesus cries out with the opening of Psalm 22, asking why God has forsaken him. Some think he is calling Elijah. Someone offers him sour wine on a sponge and speaks of waiting for Elijah.
Read it in context
^15:33From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. ³⁴At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ³⁵When some of those standing nearby heard this, they said, “Behold, He is calling Elijah.” ³⁶And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine. He put it on a reed and held it up for Jesus to drink, saying, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.”

Continue the retelling (4 more paragraphs)

Mark 15:37–39
Jesus gives another loud cry and dies. Mark then describes the temple curtain tearing from top to bottom. The centurion sees how Jesus dies and declares him to be God's Son.
Read it in context
^15:37But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last. ³⁸And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹When the centurion standing there in front of Jesus saw how He had breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Mark 15:40–41
Women watch from a distance. Mark names Mary Magdalene, Salome and another Mary, whose sons are James the younger and Joses.
Read it in context
^15:40And there were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹These women had followed Jesus and ministered to Him while He was in Galilee, and there were many other women who had come up to Jerusalem with Him.
Mark 15:43–46
Joseph, whom Mark describes as a council member, receives Jesus' body. Pilate is surprised that Jesus has died and checks with the centurion before releasing the body. Mark describes a simple burial cloth and a tomb cut into rock, with a stone at its entrance.
Read it in context
^15:43Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent Council member who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so. ⁴⁵When Pilate had confirmed it with the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶So Joseph bought a linen cloth, took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in the cloth, and placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
Mark 15:47
Mary Magdalene and the mother of Joses see where Jesus' body is laid.
Read it in context
⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where His body was placed.

The evidence

Evidence

Each historical claim judged on its own, never a verdict on the whole story.

Supported
Jesus died following his execution under Pontius Pilate.
Mark narrates the centurion confirming the death to Pilate; John narrates soldiers finding Jesus dead before the spear wound.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: high
Mark narrates the centurion confirming the death to Pilate; John narrates soldiers finding Jesus dead before the spear wound. Tacitus reports Christus' execution under Pilate; Richard Carrier argues the clause is a fourth-century interpolation, and Ivan Prchlík answers that the arguments cast suspicion but do not prove forgery. The received text of JosephusJosephusA Jewish historian (37–after 100 CE), according to Steve Mason and the Jewish Encyclopedia. Mason explains that his Antiquities, completed in 93/94 CE, retells Judean history from creation to the eve of the war against Rome.From: Mason; Mason; Gottheil; Mason; MasonAll terms → says Pilate condemned Jesus to the cross, a clause Meier's reconstruction (reported by David Allen) keeps. Habermas, Kopel and Shaw hold the death established even if its cause is uncertain.^{8 sources}8 sources21. Mark 15:44–45 22. John 19:31–33 23. John 19:34–35 24. Church 1876 25. Prchlík 2017 26. Whiston 27. Allen 2023 12. Habermas 2021
Cross-community agreement · Habermas, Kopel and Shaw, David Friedrich Strauss and the skeptic Richard Carrier reject survival; Leonard Eisenberg proposes a brief survival, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community presents Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's survival account. (as of 2026-11-08)
Open
Asphyxiation was the principal cause of Jesus' death.
Habermas, Kopel and Shaw survey medical views and find asphyxiation-centred theories the leading position, about twice as many as all other options combined.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: high
Habermas, Kopel and Shaw survey medical views and find asphyxiation-centred theories the leading position, about twice as many as all other options combined. McGovern and colleagues argue that the suffocation theory rests on a torture unrelated to crucifixion, that no evidence directly links the two, and that it may be time to abandon it. Maslen and Mitchell count at least ten theories, find most unsubstantiated, and conclude that individuals likely died of different causes. These are disputes over the mechanism, not over whether Jesus died.^{5 sources}5 sources28. Habermas 2021 29. al. 2022 30. Maslen 2006 31. Maslen 2006 32. Maslen 2006
Contested · Habermas, Kopel and Shaw (2021) favour asphyxiation-centred explanations; McGovern and colleagues (2022) reject suffocation, and Maslen and Mitchell (2006) judge the exact cause unknown. (as of 2026-11-08)
What would change this verdict: Evidence capable of distinguishing the proposed causes in Jesus' own case.
Open
Mark's and John's stated hours can be reconciled.
Mark 15:25 dates the crucifixion to the third hour; John 19:14 puts Pilate's final presentation of Jesus at about the sixth.
Why this verdict
Claims about the text
Confidence: high
Mark 15:25 dates the crucifixion to the third hour; John 19:14 puts Pilate's final presentation of Jesus at about the sixth. Kubiś argues that John, like the others, counted daytime hours from sunrise, and finds Ramsay's rounding not fully convincing because John also names the seventh and tenth hours. He reports that the proposal of Eusebius and others, a copyist's confusion of the numerals for three and six, is rejected as a forced harmonisation, and leaves possible theological choices of hour as one explanation.^{10 sources}10 sources33. Mark 15:25 34. Mark 15:33 17. John 19:14 35. John 19:16 36. Kubiś 2021 37. Kubiś 2021 38. Kubiś 2021 39. Kubiś 2021 40. Kubiś 2021 41. Kubiś 2021
Contested · Kubiś (2021) rejects the two-system harmonisation of Westcott, Robertson and Hendriksen and the copyist-error proposal; Ramsay and the Jehovah's Witnesses' note offer rounding explanations, and Augustine a two-stage reading. (as of 2026-11-08)
Open
John's and the Synoptics' festival dates for Jesus' death can be reconciled.
A straightforward reading places the execution on Nisan 14 in John and Nisan 15 in the Synoptics.
Why this verdict
Claims about the text
Confidence: medium
A straightforward reading places the execution on Nisan 14 in John and Nisan 15 in the Synoptics. Joel Marcus favours a supper before Passover that still had Passover elements. Mariusz Rosik favours either a Passover peculiar to Jesus' group or a reading based on the meaning of the festival term. The Jehovah's Witnesses' note places both the meal and the death on Nisan 14, starting that day the previous evening.^{8 sources}8 sources16. John 18:28 17. John 19:14 18. Mark 14:12 19. Humphreys 1992 42. Marcus 2013 43. Rosik 2020 44. Rosik 2020 45. New World Translation (Study Edition), John 19, study note "the day of Preparation"
Contested · Marcus (2013) concludes that the Last Supper probably took place on the night before Passover, as in John, with elements of the seder; Rosik (2020) judges two hypotheses most convincing, a Passover peculiar to Jesus and his followers or a philological reading of the word; the Jehovah's Witnesses' note dates the meal and the trial to Nisan 14. (as of 2026-11-08)
Supported
No single Gospel contains all seven traditional sayings from the cross.
Zawadzki identifies one saying shared by Matthew and Mark, three found only in Luke and three only in John; no Gospel has more than three.
Why this verdict
Claims about the text
Confidence: high
Zawadzki identifies one saying shared by Matthew and Mark, three found only in Luke and three only in John; no Gospel has more than three. The seven are a collection from the accounts, not a sequence narrated by one Gospel. The BSB flags manuscripts without Luke's forgiveness prayer.^{6 sources}6 sources7. Zawadzki 2012 8. Luke 23:34 9. John 19:26–27 10. Mark 15:34 46. this site's data 47. this site's data
Cross-community agreement · Zawadzki (2012), a Catholic priest-scholar, reports the distribution: three sayings only in Luke, three only in John and one in Matthew and Mark. The Jewish scholars Montefiore (1909) and Klausner (1925) both argue that Luke replaced Mark's cry of forsakenness with the Psalm 31 prayer. (as of 2026-11-08)
No outside evidence · silence partly expected
Darkness covered the land during Jesus' crucifixion.
Mark, Matthew and Luke narrate darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour; Luke adds that the sun's light failed.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: medium
Mark, Matthew and Luke narrate darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour; Luke adds that the sun's light failed. The works of Thallus and Phlegon are lost. Julius Africanus reports that Thallus called the darkness a solar eclipse, a view Africanus rejected, and Africanus and OrigenOrigenA Christian scholar and teacher of Alexandria, born in 185 and deceased probably in 253 or 254, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. Marco Rizzi explains that he interpreted the Septuagint allegorically, like Philo.From: Prat; Prat; Prat; Rizzi; PratAll terms → report Phlegon's eclipse under Tiberius. Richard Carrier dates Thallus to the second century; Humphreys and Waddington say Africanus wrongly attributed 'at full moon' to Phlegon. N. P. L. Allen argues that these references authenticate neither Jesus' life nor his ministry.^{9 sources}9 sources34. Mark 15:33 48. Matthew 27:45 49. Luke 23:44–45 50. 6)51. Carrier 1999 52. Carrier 1999 53. 4)54. Humphreys 1992 55. Allen 2018
What would change this verdict: An independently dated observation demonstrably referring to this darkness.
Against
An ordinary solar eclipse accounts for the crucifixion darkness at Passover.
Africanus points out that Passover falls at full moon, when the moon is opposite the sun rather than in position for a solar eclipse.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: high
Africanus points out that Passover falls at full moon, when the moon is opposite the sun rather than in position for a solar eclipse. Allen also rejects the proposed eclipse. That objection concerns an ordinary solar eclipse; it does not decide whether a different darkness occurred or whether the narrative describes divine action.^{50 55}
Cross-community agreement · Africanus rejects a solar eclipse at Passover's full moon; Allen rejects a total solar eclipse at Jerusalem in the period; Humphreys and Waddington identify Phlegon's eclipse with that of 24 November AD 29. (as of 2026-11-08)
No outside evidence · silence partly expected
Raised saints appeared in Jerusalem as Matthew describes.
Only Matthew among the canonical Gospels reports these saints.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: medium
Only Matthew among the canonical Gospels reports these saints. The checked dossier identifies no independent ancient non-Christian attestation. Kohler and Hirsch and van Aarde offer apocalyptic readings; ChrysostomJohn ChrysostomBishop of Constantinople from 398 (about 347–407), called “golden-mouthed” for his eloquence. The Catholic Encyclopedia calls him the chief representative of Antioch’s grammatical-historical interpretation, which opposed Origen’s allegorical reading.From: Baur; Baur; Baur; BaurAll terms → treats the appearances as a real sign. Geisler objects to Licona's symbolic proposal; Licona later allows both readings. Matthew describes appearances to many, making corroboration relevant, but this bounded search cannot establish universal silence or falsity.^{10 sources}10 sources56. Matthew 27:51 57. Matthew 27:52 58. Matthew 27:53 59. Kohler 1903 60. 10)61. Ezekiel 37:12 62. Aarde 1999 63. Today 2011 64. Geisler 2011 65. Licona 2011
What would change this verdict: Independent ancient testimony identifiable with Matthew's reported appearances.
No outside evidence · silence partly expected
The temple curtain tore around the time of Jesus' death.
Mark, Matthew and Luke narrate a torn curtain, with Luke placing it before the death.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: high
Mark, Matthew and Luke narrate a torn curtain, with Luke placing it before the death. No independent corroboration was identified in the saved sources searched. Josephus describes the temple's curtains without mentioning a tearing in that description. This limited silence establishes neither the event nor its falsity.^{4 sources}4 sources66. Mark 15:38 67. Luke 23:45 56. Matthew 27:51 68. Josephus
Supported
A crucified person could receive burial rather than remain exposed.
Josephus describes crucified people being buried before sunset.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: high
Josephus describes crucified people being buried before sunset. PhiloPhilo of AlexandriaA Jewish philosopher of Alexandria (about 20 BCE–after 40 CE). The Jewish Encyclopedia describes his effort to harmonize Greek philosophy with Hebrew religion through allegorical interpretation of the Bible.From: Toy; ToyAll terms → describes bodies released to relatives on an imperial festival. Yehohanan's remains were placed in a tomb. These sources establish possibilities and practices; they do not identify Jesus' burial place.^{69 70 71}
Contested · Nicolotti, and Craig Evans and John Granger Cook as he cites them, answer the view that the condemned were necessarily left unburied or put in a mass grave; Crossan holds that Jesus ended up in a mass grave. (as of 2026-11-08)
Open
Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus as the Gospel accounts describe.
Mark narrates the release of the body to Joseph.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: medium
Mark narrates the release of the body to Joseph. Craig argues that Joseph, as a member of the Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus, is unlikely to be a Christian invention. Ehrman notes that Paul's burial statement does not name Joseph and allows a communal grave. Nicolotti judges a handover for burial likely but reads the Gospel accounts as a progressive ennoblement of the burial; he reports a view that Joseph acted by the Sanhedrin's assignment, and quotes Murphy-O'Connor's doubt that the evangelists knew anything reliable about him.^{8 sources}8 sources21. Mark 15:44–45 72. Craig 2006 73. 1 Corinthians 15:4 74. Craig 2006 71. Nicolotti 2020 75. Nicolotti 2020 76. Nicolotti 2020 77. Nicolotti 2020
Contested · Craig defends Joseph's historicity; Ehrman allows a communal grave, and Murphy-O'Connor, as Nicolotti quotes him, doubts the evangelists knew anything reliable about Joseph; Nicolotti accepts a probable burial whose telling grows in honour. (as of 2026-11-08)
What would change this verdict: Independent evidence identifying who received Jesus' body and where it was placed.
Open
The place of the crucifixion can be identified at a surviving site.
John says the place was near the city, and Hebrews that Jesus suffered outside the gate.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: medium
John says the place was near the city, and Hebrews that Jesus suffered outside the gate. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1908) puts the question as whether the wall now enclosing the traditional Calvary existed in Jesus' day, and reports that of sixteen modern plans collated by Zimmermann (1876) only four put Golgotha inside the second wall. It calls Gordon's Calvary, or Skull Hill, near the Damascus Gate the most popular alternative; Chadwick dates Otto Thenius's proposal of it to 1842, the encyclopedia to 1849.^{4 sources}4 sources78. John 19:20 79. Hebrews 13:12 80. Meistermann 81. Chadwick 2003
Contested · The Catholic Encyclopedia (1908) defends the traditional Calvary and calls the arguments for new sites unproven; Chadwick (2003) argues that burial restrictions would likely have excluded crucifixion at the Holy Sepulchre site. (as of 2026-11-08)
What would change this verdict: Excavated evidence fixing the line of the city wall in Jesus' day, or an inscription naming the place.
Open
Jesus' tomb can be identified at a surviving site.
Eusebius reports that Constantine's workers found the tomb under a shrine to Venus, 'contrary to all expectation'.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: medium
Eusebius reports that Constantine's workers found the tomb under a shrine to Venus, 'contrary to all expectation'. P. W. L. Walker judges that the fourth-century evidence 'speaks loudly in favour of the Holy Sepulchre', while allowing that Eusebius may have been mistaken. Jeffrey R. Chadwick rejects that site on burial-location grounds, and agrees with Gabriel Barkay that the Garden Tomb was first cut centuries before Jesus, unlike John's new tomb. The Garden Tomb's supporters call it 'a possible site'.^{6 sources}6 sources82. Caesarea 83. Walker 1990 84. Chadwick 2003 85. John 19:41–42 86. Matthew 27:60 87. Friends of the Garden (Garden Tomb, Jerusalem), home page
Contested · Walker (1990) favours the Holy Sepulchre; Chadwick (2003) rejects it and the Garden Tomb, agreeing with Barkay; the Garden Tomb's supporters call their site possible. (as of 2026-11-08)
Supported
Jesus' crucifixion was carried out under Roman authority.
Tacitus reports Christus' execution under Pilate.
Why this verdict
What the text narrates
Confidence: high
Tacitus reports Christus' execution under Pilate. The Jewish Encyclopedia calls the crucifixion an act of Roman government, with the inscription naming a crime under Roman law, and says crucifixion was not a penalty of Jewish law. Mark Allan Powell writes that Jesus was a Jewish victim of Roman violence, condemned by a Roman governor and executed by Roman soldiers, while recognising particular Jewish authorities and a stirred-up crowd. The received text of Josephus has Pilate act 'at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us'.^{5 sources}5 sources24. Church 1876 59. Kohler 1903 88. Kohler 1903 13. Powell 2017 26. Whiston
Cross-community agreement · Mark Allan Powell and the Jewish Encyclopedia (1903) both identify Roman condemnation and execution. (as of 2026-11-08)
Outside what evidence can settle
Jesus' death reconciles humanity to God.
Catholic teaching and the Westminster Confession describe reconciliation through Jesus' self-offering.
Why this verdict
Theological claims
Confidence: high
Catholic teaching and the Westminster Confession describe reconciliation through Jesus' self-offering. This is a claim about the death's saving meaning, outside what evidence can settle.^{11 89}

What people get wrong

Text

Things people commonly believe the text says, checked against it.

A common belief among believers
Myth One Gospel records all seven sayings from the cross in sequence.
Actually Zawadzki's comparison gathers seven sayings across the accounts: Matthew and Mark share one, while Luke and John each have three particular to them. No Gospel gives more than three.^{4 sources}4 sources7. Zawadzki 2012 8. Luke 23:34 9. John 19:26–27 10. Mark 15:34
A common belief among believers
Myth An ordinary solar eclipse confirms the darkness at Jesus' death.
Actually Africanus already rejected a solar eclipse at Passover's full moon. Allen disputes the eclipse identification, and the reports of Thallus and Phlegon do not establish an independently observed crucifixion darkness.^{4 sources}4 sources50. 6)55. Allen 2018 53. 4)54. Humphreys 1992
A common belief among believers
Myth The exact medical cause of Jesus' death is settled as suffocation.
Actually Habermas, Kopel and Shaw favour asphyxiation-dominant explanations. McGovern and colleagues challenge suffocation, and Maslen and Mitchell find the precise cause unresolved. Their disagreement about mechanism does not itself establish survival.^{4 sources}4 sources28. Habermas 2021 29. al. 2022 32. Maslen 2006 12. Habermas 2021

Show 6 more misconceptions

A common belief among skeptics
Myth Roman crucifixion always meant that the victim could not receive burial.
Actually Josephus and Philo describe bodies of crucified people released for burial, and Yehohanan's remains were buried in a tomb. This establishes a possibility, not the details of Jesus' own burial.^{69 70 71}
A common belief among skeptics
Myth Josephus' recovered acquaintance establishes that Jesus survived too.
Actually Josephus describes removal alive and treatment by physicians. He does not identify Jesus as that survivor. Mark narrates confirmation of Jesus' death; John narrates soldiers finding him dead before the spear wound.^{4 sources}4 sources90. Whiston 21. Mark 15:44–45 22. John 19:31–33 23. John 19:34–35
A common belief among skeptics
Myth Every Muslim account says that Jesus survived crucifixion and later died in India.
Actually That is the Ahmadiyya account presented through Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's treatise. Ibn KathirIbn KathirAn Arab historian and scholar who taught at Damascus (1301–1373), according to the first Encyclopaedia of Islam. He wrote a universal history and a commentary on the Qur’an.From: Islam; Islam; IslamAll terms → instead relates a volunteer's substitution and Jesus' raising to heaven. The cited Qur'an verses do not establish one interpretation held by all Muslims.^{5 sources}5 sources91. Jesus in India, by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (book page)92. 1373)93. Qur'an 94. Qur'an 95. Qur'an
A common belief among believers
Myth Matthew makes all Jews and their descendants responsible for Jesus' death.
Actually Matthew narrates one crowd's declaration, not a verdict on all Jews. Nostra Aetate rejects charging the passion against all Jews then alive or Jews today; CatechismCatechism of the Catholic ChurchAn official summary of Catholic teaching that John Paul II ordered published in 1992, declaring it a sure norm for teaching the faith. He approved and promulgated its Latin typical edition in 1997.From: II; II; II; II; IIAll terms → 597 rejects extending responsibility to the Jews of Jerusalem as a whole or to Jews of other times and places. Powell identifies Roman condemnation and execution, alongside particular Jewish authorities.^{5 sources}5 sources96. Matthew 27:24 97. Matthew 27:25 98. Council 1965 99. Church 1997 13. Powell 2017
A common belief among skeptics
Myth Latter-day Saints' absence of displayed crosses means their teaching excludes Jesus' death from the Atonement.
Actually The Church's Gospel Topics pages place the atoning suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross, and say that members remember both with reverence despite not displaying the cross on Church buildings or in chapels and classrooms.^{100 101 102}
A common belief among believers
Myth Matthew says the raised saints entered Jerusalem at the instant Jesus died.
Actually Matthew places the opening of tombs and raising of bodies with the death scene, but places the saints' entry into the city after Jesus' resurrection.^{56 57 58}

Hard questions

The strongest case, the strongest responses, then a plain assessment of where the logic holds.

Did Jesus really die, or could he have survived the cross?

Jesus' death is supported; Josephus' survivor shows that recovery was possible for a man taken down alive, but no cited source shows that Jesus was.

See the argument

The strongest case

Josephus reports that of three crucified acquaintances he had taken down, one recovered under physicians' care. Leonard Eisenberg (2016) proposes that Jesus likewise survived the cross briefly, was given a decoy burial, then died and was buried anonymously; he admits the probability is low but 'far larger than the supernatural one'. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community presents Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's account in which Jesus survived, travelled east and died in old age in Kashmir. Maslen and Mitchell's table of medical theories lists Lloyd-Davies (1991) under 'didn't actually die'.^{16 sources}16 sources90. Whiston 103. Eisenberg 2016 91. Jesus in India, by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (book page)30. Maslen 2006 31. Maslen 2006 12. Habermas 2021 21. Mark 15:44–45 22. John 19:31–33 23. John 19:34–35 24. Church 1876 104. Strauss 1879 105. Carrier 93. Qur'an 94. Qur'an 95. Qur'an 92. 1373)

P1. Josephus reports one crucified man recovering after being taken down alive and treated by physicians; he does not say how long the men had hung.⁹⁰No listed response challenges this premise
P2. Jesus too may have been taken down alive, and a brief survival followed by an anonymous burial is more probable than a supernatural explanation.

→ Conclusion. Jesus' apparent death may have concealed a survival.

Strongest responses

Protestant: evangelical challenges P2

The death is established even if its cause is not. Habermas, Kopel and Shaw (2021) argue that even if the precise cause is hard to determine, the fact of Jesus' death is established historically, citing among other things the post-death spear wound and Strauss's critique of the swoon theory. The spear argument depends on John 19:34, itself a Gospel report; Mark separately narrates Pilate having the centurion confirm the death.^{12 23 21}

Academic (critical) challenges P2, the conclusion

A half-dead survivor would not inspire belief in victory over death. David Friedrich Strauss argued that a Jesus who had crept half-dead from the tomb, weak and needing medical care, could never have convinced the disciples that he had conquered death. His objection is to survival as an explanation of their belief, not a medical demonstration that survival was impossible.¹⁰⁴

Skeptic/secular challenges P2

The least probable natural explanation. Richard Carrier calls survival the least probable naturalistic explanation, putting its odds of explaining the evidence at 'less than 1 in 700', though he still judges it more probable than a miracle. The odds are his own estimate, and his essay carries a 2009 warning that it is dated.¹⁰⁵

Islamic challenges the framing

Substitution rather than survival. Ibn Kathir's commentary on Qur'an 4:157 relates that a volunteer was made to look exactly like Jesus and was crucified, and that Jesus was raised to heaven. On this reading Jesus was not crucified, so the question of surviving a crucifixion does not arise for him.^{4 sources}4 sources93. Qur'an 94. Qur'an 95. Qur'an 92. 1373)

Plain assessment

Josephus' survivor shows that a man taken down alive could recover; it does not show that Jesus was taken down alive. Eisenberg concedes his scenario's low probability, and Carrier, also a skeptic, ranks survival last among natural explanations. Mark's confirmation scene, John's death-before-piercing sequence and Tacitus' execution report support death, though the first two are Gospel reports. Strauss argues that survival would not explain the disciples' belief. Ibn Kathir's substitution account and the Ahmadiyya survival account are distinct Islamic readings.

What would change this assessment: Independent evidence of Jesus surviving removal from the cross.

Assessment uses: Jesus died following his execution under Pontius Pilate. · Asphyxiation was the principal cause of Jesus' death. · A half-dead survivor would not inspire belief in victory over death · The least probable natural explanation · Islamic · Islamic

Was Jesus crucified at the third hour, as Mark says, or still before Pilate at about the sixth, as John says?

Mark's and John's hours conflict on a sunrise count; the two-system harmonisation is challenged from ancient sources, and the checked sources leave the difference unresolved.

See the argument

The strongest case

Mark has Jesus crucified at the third hour, but John has him still before Pilate at about the sixth. A common harmonisation, which Kubiś (2021) attributes to Westcott, Robertson and Hendriksen among others, holds that John counted hours from midnight in the Roman way, so his sixth hour is 6 a.m., while Mark counted from dawn, so his third hour is 9 a.m., leaving time between sentence and crucifixion. The World English Bible's footnote on John 19:14 takes this view.^{16 sources}16 sources33. Mark 15:25 34. Mark 15:33 17. John 19:14 35. John 19:16 106. this site's data 107. Kubiś 2021 36. Kubiś 2021 108. Kubiś 2021 37. Kubiś 2021 109. New World Translation (Study Edition), Mark 15, study note "the third hour"40. Kubiś 2021 41. Kubiś 2021 38. Kubiś 2021 39. Kubiś 2021 110. Hippo 98. Council 1965

P1. Mark 15:25 dates the crucifixion to the third hour; John 19:14 puts Pilate's final presentation of Jesus, before he hands him over for crucifixion, at about the sixth hour.^{4 sources}4 sources33. Mark 15:25 34. Mark 15:33 17. John 19:14 35. John 19:16No listed response challenges this premise
P2. John counted the hours from midnight and Mark from sunrise, so John's sixth hour (6 a.m.) comes before Mark's third (9 a.m.).

→ Conclusion. Different ways of counting the hours reconcile the two times.

Strongest responses

Academic (critical) challenges P2

One way of counting daytime hours. Kubiś argues from ancient sources that, although Romans had two ways of fixing the start of the day, they counted the hours of the day as the Jews did; so John, like the other evangelists, counted from sunrise, and his sixth hour is about noon, after Mark's third.^{36 17 35}

Academic (critical) challenges P2

Too much to fit before 6 a.m.. Kubiś also finds John's hearing, scourging, mocking and further interrogation before the verdict hard to fit before 6 a.m., and cites Raymond Brown and Craig Keener for the same objection.¹⁰⁸

Academic (critical) challenges the framing

Approximate hours. Kubiś reports William Ramsay's argument that ancient people gave hours only roughly, so a crucifixion at about 10:30 a.m. could be both Mark's third hour and John's sixth, and perhaps nothing needs reconciling. Kubiś finds this not fully convincing, since John also names the seventh and tenth hours.³⁷

Jehovah's Witnesses challenges the framing

Different stages and rounded periods. The Jehovah's Witnesses' study note on Mark 15:25 suggests that Mark may count the scourging as the start of the execution while John refers only to the nailing, and that both may round to three-hour periods. It concedes that the Scriptures do not fully explain the difference.¹⁰⁹

Academic (critical) challenges the framing

Theological choices of hour. Kubiś reports a possible explanation: the evangelists may have chosen hours for theological reasons, Mark perhaps to stress darkness at noon and John perhaps to link Jesus' death with the offering of the Passover lambs. He closes by saying the discrepancy may be more apparent than real, and that its explanation must be sought elsewhere than in two systems of hours.^{40 41}

Early church: Latin challenges the framing

Two stages of crucifixion. AugustineAugustineA North African theologian (354–430), born at Tagaste, who served as bishop of Hippo from 396 until his death, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.From: Portalié; PortaliéAll terms → (Harmony of the Gospels 3.13) harmonises the hours by saying Jesus was crucified 'at the third hour by the voice of the Jews, and at the sixth by the hands of the soldiers'. The collective phrase is Augustine's; the Second Vatican Council's Nostra Aetate (1965) teaches that the passion cannot be charged against all Jews then alive, nor against Jews today.^{110 98}

Plain assessment

The two Gospels time successive events, and on a sunrise count John's presentation (about noon) falls after Mark's crucifixion (9 a.m.). The midnight harmonisation depends on a way of counting that Kubiś rejects from ancient sources, and on fitting John's trial before 6 a.m., which he, Brown and Keener find hard. Ramsay's and the Jehovah's Witnesses' rounding, Augustine's two-stage reading and possible theological choices of hour are other proposals; Kubiś finds rounding not fully convincing and the copyist-error proposal forced. The checked sources establish no single reconciliation.

What would change this assessment: Evidence establishing the relevant hour-counting practice or a better-supported explanation of the two time statements.

Assessment uses: third hour / about the sixth hour · Mark's and John's stated hours can be reconciled. · Too much to fit before 6 a.m. · Two stages of crucifixion

Does Matthew describe saints literally rising and appearing in Jerusalem?

Only Matthew reports the raised saints and the sources searched show no independent attestation; the cited interpreters divide between a literal event, an apocalyptic portrayal, and both at once.

See the argument

The strongest case

Only Matthew among the canonical Gospels reports the opened tombs and raised saints, who appeared to many in Jerusalem, and the sources searched for this page contain no independent ancient non-Christian attestation of them. The Jewish Encyclopedia (1903) calls the torn curtain, the darkness and the rising of the dead 'apocalyptic embellishments derived from Jewish Messianic eschatology'. Andries van Aarde (1999) argues that traditions such as Ezekiel 37 and 1 Enoch1 EnochAn anthology of at least five booklets, surviving complete only in Classical Ethiopic, according to Kelley Coblentz Bautch. It belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox biblical canon; Jude quotes material corresponding to 1 Enoch 1:9.From: Bautch; Jude 1:14; Bautch; EncyclopediaAll terms → could have helped Matthew compose the scene. Christianity Today (2011) reports Michael Licona's 2010 proposal that the saints are best read as an apocalyptic symbol that the Son of God had just died.^{10 sources}10 sources56. Matthew 27:51 57. Matthew 27:52 58. Matthew 27:53 59. Kohler 1903 61. Ezekiel 37:12 62. Aarde 1999 63. Today 2011 60. 10)64. Geisler 2011 65. Licona 2011

P1. Matthew alone among the canonical Gospels reports opened tombs and raised saints who, after Jesus' resurrection, entered the city and appeared to many; the sources searched identify no independent ancient non-Christian attestation.^{4 sources}4 sources56. Matthew 27:51 57. Matthew 27:52 58. Matthew 27:53 59. Kohler 1903No listed response challenges this premise
P2. The scene's apocalyptic imagery and scriptural background are better explained as Matthew's theological composition than as a report of a public event.

→ Conclusion. Matthew's raised saints are an apocalyptic portrayal rather than a report of an event.

Strongest responses

Early church: Greek challenges P2

A public sign of future resurrection. John ChrysostomJohn ChrysostomBishop of Constantinople from 398 (about 347–407), called “golden-mouthed” for his eloquence. The Catholic Encyclopedia calls him the chief representative of Antioch’s grammatical-historical interpretation, which opposed Origen’s allegorical reading.From: Baur; Baur; Baur; BaurAll terms → (Homily 88 on Matthew) reads the raised saints as a real sign of the future resurrection; he says they appeared to many in the city so that the event would not be thought an imagination.⁶⁰

Protestant: evangelical challenges P2

Dehistoricizing the scene violates inerrancy. In 2011 open letters Norman Geisler objected that Licona had dehistoricized Matthew 27, which Geisler argued violates biblical inerrancy, and compared it with Robert Gundry's treatment of Matthew, for which Gundry was asked to resign from the Evangelical Theological Society in 1983. Christianity Today reports that he called on Licona to recant.⁶⁴

Protestant: evangelical challenges the framing

An event described with apocalyptic language. Licona later wrote that he was 'just as inclined' to read the saints as a report of a literal event as an apocalyptic symbol, and that it may be a real event described partly in apocalyptic terms. A statement signed by other evangelicalEvangelicalThe National Association of Evangelicals describes evangelicals as people who take the Bible seriously and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; it derives the name from Greek euangelion, “good news” or “gospel”.From: EvangelicalsAll terms → scholars, published with his response, says his proposal is compatible with inerrancy, though most signers do not hold it.⁶⁵

No known response in these sources

Jewish: modern: No response recorded in the sources checked here.
Academic (critical): No response recorded in the sources checked here.
Jewish: modern: The Jewish Encyclopedia supplies the case; no other Jewish reading of this scene is in the checked sources.
Academic (critical): Van Aarde supplies the case; no critical scholar defending a literal event is in the checked sources.

Plain assessment

Matthew's report is explicit, and the sources searched supply no independent ancient non-Christian attestation, though a bounded search cannot establish universal silence. Kohler and Hirsch and van Aarde read the scene as apocalyptic composition; Chrysostom defends an actual sign, and Geisler defends its historicity on grounds of inerrancy. Licona's later statement allows a real event told in apocalyptic language. Neither the silence of the sources searched nor the presence of imagery establishes that the event did not happen.

What would change this assessment: Independent ancient attestation, or stronger evidence about how Matthew intends this scene's imagery to function.

Assessment uses: Raised saints appeared in Jerusalem as Matthew describes.

Was Jesus buried by Joseph, or could his body have received a different disposal?

Crucifixion did not preclude burial; the cited scholars dispute Joseph's role and the details of Jesus' burial.

See the argument

The strongest case

Nicolotti (2020) reports John Dominic Crossan's view that Jesus ended up in a mass grave at the mercy of wild animals and that the burial story is the result of his disciples' pious wishful thinking, a view Nicolotti says repeats Alfred Loisy (1907). In a 2006 debate Bart Ehrman said that Paul, writing about 25 years later, never mentions Joseph of Arimathea, who first appears in Mark 35 or 40 years after the fact, and that Paul's 'buried' may mean Jesus was 'tossed into a communal grave'. Nicolotti also quotes Jerome Murphy-O'Connor doubting that the evangelists knew anything reliable about Joseph.^{17 sources}17 sources111. Nicolotti 2020 73. 1 Corinthians 15:4 74. Craig 2006 76. Nicolotti 2020 77. Nicolotti 2020 112. Matthew 27:57 113. John 19:38 114. Mark 15:43 115. Luke 23:50 71. Nicolotti 2020 75. Nicolotti 2020 69. Whiston 70. Yonge 72. Craig 2006 116. Deuteronomy 21:22 117. Deuteronomy 21:23 118. John 19:31

P1. Paul's burial statement does not name Joseph of Arimathea, and the Gospels portray Joseph differently: a disciple in Matthew and John, a member of the Sanhedrin in Mark and Luke.^{7 sources}7 sources73. 1 Corinthians 15:4 74. Craig 2006 112. Matthew 27:57 113. John 19:38 114. Mark 15:43 115. Luke 23:50 76. Nicolotti 2020No listed response challenges this premise
P2. The Gospel burial story is pious wishful thinking rather than knowledge of what happened to Jesus' body.

→ Conclusion. Jesus' body may have gone to a mass or communal grave, and the tomb story may have grown from his followers' wishes.

Strongest responses

Academic (critical) challenges P2, the conclusion

Burial remains likely despite changes in its telling. Andrea Nicolotti argues that Roman governors decided whether to return bodies but generally preferred to comply with Jewish custom, so it is likely Jesus' body was handed over for burial. He also concludes that the Gospels show 'a process of progressive ennoblement' of what he describes as a dishonourable burial, from Mark's simple cloth to John's garden tomb and lavish spices.^{71 75}

Academic (critical) challenges the conclusion

Crucified people could be released and buried. Josephus writes that the Jews took down the crucified and buried them before sunset, and Philo had known crucified men given to their relatives for burial at the emperor's birthday festival. Nicolotti points out that the crucified man Yehohanan was buried in a tomb, not a mass grave, and cites Craig Evans and John Granger Cook as replies to the view that the condemned were necessarily left unburied or put in a mass grave.^{4 sources}4 sources69. Whiston 70. Yonge 71. Nicolotti 2020 111. Nicolotti 2020

Protestant: evangelical challenges P2

A council member is an unlikely invention. In the debate with Bart Ehrman, William Lane Craig argued that Joseph of Arimathea, as a member of the Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus, is unlikely to be a Christian invention, citing Raymond Brown.⁷²

Academic (critical) challenges the framing

Joseph acted for the council. Nicolotti reports a view that Joseph acted not out of sympathy but by assignment from the Sanhedrin, which would not let a crucified body stay unburied overnight, as Deuteronomy requires; Nicolotti says this may explain why Joseph never appears again as a disciple.^{5 sources}5 sources76. Nicolotti 2020 77. Nicolotti 2020 116. Deuteronomy 21:22 117. Deuteronomy 21:23 118. John 19:31

Plain assessment

Ehrman's objection limits what Paul's statement alone establishes, and Murphy-O'Connor doubts the evangelists' knowledge of Joseph. Against Crossan's mass grave, Josephus, Philo and Yehohanan's tomb show that crucified people could be buried, and Nicolotti judges a handover for burial likely while reading the Gospel accounts as growing in honour. Craig argues that a council member is an unlikely invention; others think Joseph acted for the council. Burial was possible and, in Nicolotti's judgement, likely; Joseph's role and the details remain disputed.

What would change this assessment: Contemporary evidence identifying the body's recipient, burial location or form of disposal.

Assessment uses: What the burial accounts add · A crucified person could receive burial rather than remain exposed. · Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus as the Gospel accounts describe. · Crucified people could be released and buried

Does Matthew's crowd scene justify blaming Jews collectively or calling Israel rejected by God?

Matthew's crowd scene does not make Jews collectively guilty: Carter calls permanent-rejection readings unsustainable, and the Catholic Church rejects collective guilt and the claim, outside what evidence can settle, that God rejected Israel.

See the argument

The strongest case

Only Matthew has Pilate washing his hands and 'all the people' taking Jesus' blood on themselves and their children. Catherine Sider Hamilton reports that Tertullian drew a straight line from the verse to Jerusalem's destruction and the end of Judaism, and that for Tertullian and Origen it implied God's rejection of Israel. She calls a judgement reading of the verse, final or limited, the older and standard one among commentators.^{12 sources}12 sources96. Matthew 27:24 97. Matthew 27:25 119. Hamilton 2013 120. Hamilton 2013 121. Hamilton 2013 98. Council 1965 122. Council 1965 123. Church 1997 13. Powell 2017 124. Levine 125. Bishops 1988 126. America 1994

P1. Matthew reports Pilate's handwashing and 'all the people' accepting responsibility for Jesus' blood for themselves and their children.^{96 97}No listed response challenges this premise
P2. The crowd spoke for Israel as a whole, so Jesus' death and Jerusalem's destruction show God's rejection of Israel.

→ Conclusion. The crowd's cry extends guilt and divine rejection beyond the people in the scene to Israel.

Strongest responses

Academic (critical) challenges P2, the conclusion

Permanent rejection is textually unsustainable. Warren Carter, quoted by Sider Hamilton, says that Christian interpretations of the verse have propagated virulent anti-Judaism and that readings asserting God's permanent rejection of Israel are textually unsustainable. Sider Hamilton also reports Davies and Allison's reading, which limits the judgement to Jerusalem's destruction rather than permanent rejection.¹²¹

Catholic challenges P2, the conclusion

No collective or inherited guilt. The Second Vatican Council's Nostra Aetate (1965) says the Jewish authorities and their followers pressed for Christ's death, but that his passion cannot be charged against all the Jews then alive, nor against the Jews of today, and that Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God. Catechism 597 calls the crowd's cry 'a formula for ratifying a judicial sentence' and says responsibility for the trial cannot be laid on the Jews of Jerusalem as a whole, still less extended to Jews of other times and places.^{98 122 123}

Protestant: Lutheran challenges the framing

Roman execution, and a growing tradition of blame. Mark Allan Powell writes that Jesus was a Jewish victim of Roman violence, condemned by a Roman governor and executed by Roman soldiers, while recognising particular Jewish authorities and a stirred-up crowd. He argues that early Christian tradition increasingly placed the blame on Jews and lessened the Romans', as in Matthew 27:25 and later the Gospel of Peter.¹³

Jewish: modern challenges the framing

Distinguish a harmful reception from historical responsibility. Amy-Jill Levine, a Jewish New Testament scholar, writes that Matthew's 'all the people' cry led to the Christian teaching that all Jews are Christ-killers, which the Catholic Church rejected in 1965 in Nostra Aetate. She reports that, whatever the debate over the New Testament's intent, it has been read in ways that promote hatred.^{124 127 128}

No known response in these sources

Early church: Latin: No response recorded in the sources checked here.
Early church: Latin: Tertullian supplies the case; no answering Latin patristic reading of this verse is in the checked sources.

Plain assessment

Matthew narrates the cry of a crowd in one scene. Carter calls permanent-rejection readings textually unsustainable, and Sider Hamilton reports Davies and Allison limiting the judgement to Jerusalem's destruction. Nostra Aetate rejects charging the passion against all Jews then alive or Jews today, and presenting Jews as rejected by God; Catechism 597 says responsibility cannot be extended to Jews of other times and places. Powell identifies Roman condemnation and execution and traces growing Christian blame of Jews.

What would change this assessment: Further evidence could refine individual participants' roles; the cited church statements reject extending those roles to all Jews or later generations.

Assessment uses: Jesus' crucifixion was carried out under Roman authority. · 'The Jews' in Christian reception, and the churches' later statements · Permanent rejection is textually unsustainable · No collective or inherited guilt · Roman execution, and a growing tradition of blame

Background

Which Gospel has which sayings? Text

Ryszard Zawadzki, a Catholic priest-scholar, writes that a collection of seven sayings has been attested in Christian tradition since the 16th century. Matthew and Mark share the cry from Psalm 22. Luke has the prayer for forgiveness, the promise to the criminal and the entrusting of Jesus' spirit. John has the words joining his mother and the beloved disciple, the expression of thirst and the declaration of completion. C. G. Montefiore and Joseph Klausner argue that Luke replaced Mark's cry of forsakenness with the Psalm 31 prayer.^{14 sources}14 sources7. Zawadzki 2012 8. Luke 23:34 9. John 19:26–27 10. Mark 15:34 46. this site's data 47. this site's data 129. John 19:25–27 130. John 19:28–30 131. Psalms 69:21 132. Luke 23:43 133. Luke 23:46 134. Psalms 31:5 135. Montefiore 1909 136. Klausner 1925

Roman execution and physical evidence Evidence

Seneca describes crosses made differently by different peoples; Josephus describes Roman soldiers nailing captives in different postures. The remains of Yehohanan from Jerusalem include a right heel bone pierced by an iron nail. They attest one victim's treatment, without establishing Jesus' posture or how he was fixed. David Tombs observes that the canonical Gospels do not explicitly mention nails in their Golgotha narratives; explicit nail marks appear in John's resurrection narrative.^{6 sources}6 sources137. Stewart 1889 138. Whiston 139. Tombs 2023 140. Daily 1985 141. John 20:25 142. Luke 24:39

Psalm 22 and the death narrative Scholarship

Jason Robert Combs argues that Mark alludes to Psalm 22 in reverse order, moving from the clothing to the mockery and finally the opening cry. Jennifer Garcia Bashaw reports John Dominic Crossan's view that Mark quotes the psalm to create a prophecy-fulfilment motif rather than to report what happened, Mark Goodacre's phrase 'history scripturalized', and the 'history remembered' view she says Raymond E. Brown assumed. Joseph Klausner argues that the troubling cry is unlikely to have been invented by the Church.^{143 144 136}

Show 3 more background topics (Which temple curtain?; What the burial accounts add; 'The Jews' in Christian reception, and the churches' later statements)

Which temple curtain? Text

Josephus describes a curtain before the sanctuary's golden doors and another separating the innermost room. The Gospels do not identify which curtain they mean. Mark places its tearing after Jesus' death; Luke places it before. Josephus' description does not report a tearing. Hebrews uses the curtain as an image of access through Jesus' flesh.^{5 sources}5 sources68. Josephus 66. Mark 15:38 67. Luke 23:45 56. Matthew 27:51 145. Hebrews 10:19–20

What the burial accounts add Scholarship

Mark reports Pilate checking the death before releasing the body. Matthew calls the tomb Joseph's own new tomb. John adds Nicodemus, abundant myrrh and aloes, and a nearby unused garden tomb. Mark names two women who see the burial place; Luke describes the women preparing spices and then observing Sabbath rest. Andrea Nicolotti reads the movement from Mark's cloth to John's costly burial as an increasing bestowal of honour.^{8 sources}8 sources21. Mark 15:44–45 85. John 19:41–42 86. Matthew 27:60 146. John 19:39–40 147. this site's data 5. Mark 15:47 6. Luke 23:55–56 75. Nicolotti 2020

'The Jews' in Christian reception, and the churches' later statements Tradition

Sider Hamilton reports Tertullian tying Matthew's crowd cry to Jerusalem's destruction and the end of Judaism. Augustine, harmonising the hours, has Jesus crucified 'at the third hour by the voice of the Jews'. Mark Allan Powell traces growing Christian blame of Jews rather than Romans. The World Council of Churches (1948) called antisemitism sin against God and man. Nostra Aetate and Catechism 597 reject charging the passion to all Jews; US Catholic bishops (1988) warned of 'stock ideas' about Jews in passion plays; the ELCA (1994) rejected LutherMartin LutherA German religious reformer (1483–1546), according to the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Henry Ganss’s Catholic Encyclopedia article reports that Luther translated the New Testament into German while at Wartburg.From: Lindsay; Lindsay; GanssAll terms →'s anti-Judaic invective.^{9 sources}9 sources119. Hamilton 2013 110. Hippo 148. Powell 149. Powell 150. Churches 1948 98. Council 1965 99. Church 1997 125. Bishops 1988 126. America 1994

Where translations differ

Text

Where the wording in different Bibles diverges, and why.

Mark 15:21 · “cross / stake” stauros

David Tombs notes that stauros means stake or pole in other settings and that it is often hard to know what ancient writers meant by it. Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus died on an upright stake, while acknowledging that the Bible does not describe the instrument's shape with certainty. Irenaeus describes a cross with five extremities, two in length, two in breadth and one in the middle on which the nailed person rests. The word alone does not settle the shape either way.^{4 sources}4 sources151. Tombs 2023 152. Tombs 2023 153. Witnesses 154. 1)

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Matthew 27:34 · Mark 15:23 · “wine / vinegar; gall / myrrh”

Mark 15:23 has wine mixed with myrrh, which Jesus does not take; Matthew 27:34 has wine mixed with gall, which he tastes and will not drink. At Matthew's verse the SBL Greek New Testament reads wine and the Byzantine text vinegar, so the BSB has wine and the KJV vinegar. This first drink is distinct from the later sponge of sour wine.^{5 sources}5 sources155. Mark 15:23 156. Matthew 27:34 131. Psalms 69:21 157. this site's data 158. this site's data

Compare the versions

Matthew 27:34

BSBthey offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.

KJV¶ They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

Show all 2 versions of 2 verses

Matthew 27:34

BSBthey offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.

KJV¶ They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

Mark 15:23

BSBThere they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.

KJVAnd they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.

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Mark 15:25 · John 19:14 · “third hour / about the sixth hour”

Mark places the crucifixion at the third hour; John places Pilate's final presentation of Jesus at about the sixth. The WEB note offers six in the morning under a Roman system or noon under a Jewish one; the BSB gives noon. Adam Kubiś argues that Romans and Jews both counted daytime hours from sunrise, rejecting this two-system solution.^{6 sources}6 sources33. Mark 15:25 34. Mark 15:33 17. John 19:14 35. John 19:16 106. this site's data 36. Kubiś 2021

Compare the versions

Mark 15:25

WEBIt was the third hour when they crucified him.

BSBIt was the third hour when they crucified Him.

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Mark 15:25

WEBIt was the third hour when they crucified him.

BSBIt was the third hour when they crucified Him.

John 19:14

WEBNow it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”

BSBIt was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”

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Show 9 more translation notes (“Golgotha / the Skull / Calvary”, “robbers / insurrectionists / criminals”, “the inscription on the cross”…)

Mark 15:22 · Luke 23:33 · John 19:17 · “Golgotha / the Skull / Calvary” Golgotha; kranion

Matthew, Mark and John use the name Golgotha, each glossing it as the place of a skull; Luke calls the place only the Skull (kranion). The Catholic Encyclopedia (1908) derives Calvary from the Latin calvaria, a skull. Why the place had that name is unknown. A letter of Paula and Eustochium preserved among JeromeJeromeA Latin Church Father associated with the Vulgate, born in the fourth century and deceased in 420. Birth dates differ: Louis Saltet gives about 340–342, while Dionisio Candido gives 347.From: Saltet; CandidoAll terms →'s letters repeats a tradition that Adam's skull was buried there, and Jordan J. Ryan writes that from Origen onward Christian authors strongly associate the place of the crucifixion with Adam's burial.^{7 sources}7 sources1. Mark 15:22 2. Luke 23:33 3. this site's data 4. this site's data 80. Meistermann 159. Paula 160. Ryan 2021

Mark 15:22

BSBThey brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull.

KJVAnd they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.

Luke 23:33

BSBWhen they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left.

KJVAnd when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

John 19:17

BSBCarrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.

KJVAnd he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

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Mark 15:27 · Luke 23:32–33 · “robbers / insurrectionists / criminals” lestai; kakourgoi

Mark uses lestai, rendered robbers in the BSB with insurrectionists as an alternative. Luke uses kakourgoi, criminals. The choice of word affects how politically the scene reads.^{161 162 163}

Mark 15:27

BSBAlong with Jesus, they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left.

KJVAnd with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.

Luke 23:32–33

BSBTwo others, who were criminals, were also led away to be executed with Jesus. When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left.

KJVAnd there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

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Mark 15:26 · Matthew 27:37 · Luke 23:38 · John 19:19–22 · “the inscription on the cross”

All four Gospels give the charge as the King of the Jews, but word it differently: Mark has only that title, Matthew prefixes 'This is Jesus', Luke 'This is', and John 'Jesus of Nazareth'. Only John gives its three languages, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, and says Pilate refused the chief priests' request to change it to a claim to be king. At Luke 23:38 the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus, followed by the KJV, add the three languages; the critical editions and the BSB do not. The Jewish Encyclopedia (1903) reads the inscription as naming his crime under Roman law: he was a rebel. Placards naming an offence are attested outside the Gospels: the churches' letter quoted by Eusebius tells of the martyr Attalus, led round the amphitheatre at Lyon in AD 177 behind a tablet naming him a Christian.^{9 sources}9 sources164. this site's data 165. John 19:20–22 166. this site's data 167. Luke 23:38 59. Kohler 1903 168. John 19:19 169. Mark 15:26 170. 1)88. Kohler 1903

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Mark 15:26

BSBAnd the charge inscribed against Him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

KJVAnd the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Mark 15:26

BSBAnd the charge inscribed against Him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

KJVAnd the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Matthew 27:37

BSBAbove His head they posted the written charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

KJVAnd set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Luke 23:38

BSBAbove Him was posted an inscription: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

KJVAnd a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

John 19:19–22

BSBPilate also had a notice posted on the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but only that He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

KJV¶ And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.

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Mark 15:28 · “the verse about transgressors”

Mark 15:28, the verse saying that the scripture about being numbered with transgressors was fulfilled, is in the KJV, the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus but absent from the SBL Greek New Testament and the BSB. The WEB keeps it, noting that NU omits it. The quotation is Isaiah 53:12, which Luke 22:37 puts in Jesus' mouth.^{171 172 173}

Compare the versions

KJVAnd the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.

WEBThe Scripture was fulfilled which says, “He was counted with transgressors.”

Mark 15:28

KJVAnd the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.

BSBNot present in this edition.

WEBThe Scripture was fulfilled which says, “He was counted with transgressors.”

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Mark 15:34 · Matthew 27:46 · Psalms 22:1 · “Eloi / Eli; sabachthani”

Mark's Eloi represents AramaicAramaicA Semitic language closely related to Hebrew. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary notes that parts of Ezra, Daniel and Jeremiah and a phrase in Genesis are written in Aramaic; Jesus probably spoke a Western Aramaic dialect.From: Daniel 2:4; Powell; Perrin; PowellAll terms →; Matthew's Eli represents Hebrew, though the Westcott-Hort and Nestle editions also print Eloi in Matthew. Sabachthani represents the Aramaic verb shbq, to leave. The Aramaic Targum of Psalms uses that verb in its rendering of the psalm's opening, where the Hebrew has a different verb, so the Gospels' Aramaic form was a natural rendering of the line; the TargumTargumAn Aramaic translation of the Bible. The Jewish Encyclopedia traces the practice to the Second Temple period and describes translators rendering biblical texts into Aramaic in the synagogue.From: Bacher; Bacher; LevineAll terms → itself does not refer to Jesus.^{6 sources}6 sources174. Matthew 27:46 175. this site's data 176. this site's data 177. Aramaic Targum to Psalms 22:2 (Mikraot Gedolot text, Sefaria; public domain)178. this site's data 179. this site's data

Mark 15:34

BSBAt the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

KJVAnd at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Matthew 27:46

BSBAbout the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

KJVAnd about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Psalms 22:1

BSBMy God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?

KJVMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

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Luke 23:34 · “prayer for forgiveness”

The BSB notes that some manuscripts lack Jesus' prayer for forgiveness. The SBL Greek New Testament apparatus records that Westcott and Hort printed it in double brackets. The prayer's textual status is disputed.^{46 47}

Luke 23:34

BSBThen Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.

KJV¶ Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Open in compare →

Luke 23:43 · “today and the comma”

The BSB, KJV, WEB and DRC attach today to the promise of being with Jesus in Paradise. The Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation instead attaches it to I tell you. Their note argues that the earliest Greek manuscripts had no consistent punctuation, cites the fifth-century Curetonian Syriac, and argues from Jesus' resurrection on the third day that the criminal could not be with him in Paradise that same day.^{132 180}

Compare the versions

KJVAnd Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

WEBJesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Luke 23:43

BSBAnd Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

KJVAnd Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

WEBJesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

DRCAnd Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.

Open in compare →

Mark 15:39 · Matthew 27:54 · Luke 23:47 · “Son of God; righteous / innocent”

Mark's Greek has huios theou without the article. The BSB, KJV and WEB render the Son of God; Darby and Young's Literal Translation have Son of God with no article, and C. G. Montefiore's 1909 translation of Matthew 27:54 reads a Son of God. Grammar alone does not settle the meaning. In Luke 23:47 the centurion calls Jesus dikaios: the BSB has righteous and footnotes innocent. Matthew C. Easter reports that many interpreters read political innocence and that the RSV, NRSV, ESV, NASB, NET and NLT translate innocent; he argues that Luke's centurion recognises the crucified Jesus as the Christ, not only as innocent.^{7 sources}7 sources181. this site's data 182. Montefiore 1909 183. Montefiore 1909 184. Luke 23:47 185. this site's data 186. Easter 2012 187. Easter 2012

Mark 15:39

BSBWhen the centurion standing there in front of Jesus saw how He had breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

KJV¶ And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

Matthew 27:54

BSBWhen the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

KJVNow when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

Luke 23:47

BSBWhen the centurion saw what had happened, he gave glory to God, saying, “Surely this was a righteous man.”

KJVNow when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

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Matthew 27:49 · John 19:34 · “the spear before or after death”

The SBL Greek New Testament apparatus records a double-bracketed addition at Matthew 27:49 in which another person takes a spear and pierces Jesus' side, and water and blood come out, before the death in 27:50. The BSB footnotes it and cross-references John 19:34. NA28, Tregelles and the Byzantine text omit it. John narrates the spear wound after the soldiers find Jesus dead, with blood and water in the reverse order.^{4 sources}4 sources188. this site's data 189. this site's data 22. John 19:31–33 23. John 19:34–35

Matthew 27:49

BSBBut the others said, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to save Him.”

KJVThe rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

John 19:34

BSBInstead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

KJVBut one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

Open in compare →

How it has been interpreted

Tradition

How different traditions have read the story, in their own terms.

Catholic · The Catechism on sacrifice and reconciliation

Catechism 613 calls Christ's death a sacrifice bringing redemption and a covenant sacrifice reconciling humanity to God. Paragraph 615 describes his obedience through the suffering servant, using substitution and satisfaction language. Paragraph 603 reads his cry as speaking in humanity's sinful condition, without making him a sinner rejected by God.^{11 190 191}

Protestant: Reformed · Westminster and Heidelberg

The Westminster Confession teaches that Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, fully satisfied the Father's justice and purchased reconciliation for those the Father has given him. The Heidelberg Catechism describes Christ bearing God's wrath against the sin of the whole human race; it connects crucifixion with bearing the curse, and his anguish with the creed's descent into hell.^{89 192 193}

Protestant: Lutheran · Luther on knowing God through suffering

In the Heidelberg Disputation, Martin LutherMartin LutherA German religious reformer (1483–1546), according to the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Henry Ganss’s Catholic Encyclopedia article reports that Luther translated the New Testament into German while at Wartburg.From: Lindsay; Lindsay; GanssAll terms → contrasts knowledge of God through suffering and the cross with a theology of glory, and calls for naming things as they are.¹⁹⁴

Show 9 more interpretations (Orthodox, Jewish: modern, Academic (critical)…)

Orthodox · The Orthodox Church in America on Holy Friday and Holy Saturday

The Orthodox Church in America describes twelve passion readings at Holy Friday Matins, usually on Thursday night. At Good Friday Vespers, an image of the dead Jesus painted on cloth is placed in a decorated tomb. Its explanation treats the death and burial services as contemplation of saving events in the light of the resurrection.^{195 196}

Jewish: modern · Joseph Klausner's reading of the cry

Klausner reads the cry as Jesus' recognition that his work had failed and that God had not helped him establish an earthly kingdom. He also defends the cry's authenticity, arguing that its difficulty for Christian belief makes invention unlikely.^{197 136}

Academic (critical) · Jennifer Garcia Bashaw on abandonment

Bashaw questions the reading that God had to turn away from Jesus because of sin. She asks whether interpreters have supplied abandonment beyond what Mark communicates and points to Psalm 22's movement from complaint to praise.^{198 199}

Early church: Latin · Augustine on the opened side

Augustine reads the opened side as the way through which the Church's sacraments flow: blood for forgiveness and water for baptism. He compares it with the ark's side-door and with Eve's formation from Adam's side.²⁰⁰

Early church: Greek · John Chrysostom on blood and water

Chrysostom reads the blood and water as constituting the Church, with water bringing new birth and blood giving nourishment.²⁰¹

Latter-day Saints · Suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that Jesus' atoning suffering begins in Gethsemane and continues on the cross. Its Gospel Topics explanation says the Church does not display the cross on its buildings or in classrooms and chapels, while remembering the suffering at both places with reverence.^{101 102 100}

Jehovah's Witnesses · Remembering Jesus' death

Jehovah's Witnesses observe the Memorial annually after sundown on Nisan 14, using their reconstruction of the first-century calendar. They teach that Jesus died on an upright stake, while acknowledging uncertainty about its shape.^{202 203 153}

Islamic · The Qur'an and Ibn Kathir

Qur'an 4:157 denies that those who claimed to have killed Jesus killed or crucified him; it 'appeared so unto them' (Pickthall). In 4:158 God takes him up to Himself, and in 3:55 God tells Jesus 'I will take thee and raise thee to Myself' (Yusuf Ali). Ibn Kathir's commentary relates, from many among the Salaf, that a volunteer was made to look like Jesus and was crucified, and that Jesus was raised to heaven. The verses alone do not settle one interpretation held by all Muslims.^{5 sources}5 sources93. Qur'an 94. Qur'an 95. Qur'an 204. The Qur'an 3:55, tr. M. M. Pickthall (1930) and A. Yusuf Ali (Project Gutenberg 16955)92. 1373)

Islamic · Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's survival account

The official website of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community presents Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's treatise Jesus in India as arguing that Jesus survived the crucifixion, travelled east and died a natural death in old age in Kashmir. It is a minority Islamic view, different from the substitution account in Ibn Kathir.^{91 92}

Where it fits

Mark 15:34 — Jesus cries out with the opening words of Psalm 22 in Mark's account of his death.^{10 205}
Mark 15:39 — The centurion makes his declaration after seeing how Jesus dies.^{206 207}
Luke 23:46 — Jesus' final prayer in Luke draws on Psalm 31 as he entrusts his spirit to the Father.^{133 134}

Show 2 more key verses

John 19:30 — John records Jesus' words of completion before he gives up his spirit.^{130 131}
Mark 15:47 — Two women see where Jesus is buried, and Mark names them.^{5 6}

Where else the Bible mentions it

Text

Psalms 22:1 The opening of this psalm supplies Jesus' cry in Mark and Matthew.
¹My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
Read in context →
Psalms 22:18 John explicitly connects the distribution of clothing with this psalm verse.
¹⁸They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
Read in context →
Psalms 22:16 Shon Hopkin, who argues for the reading pierced, notes that the Church Fathers relied heavily on this verse although the New Testament never quotes it. The site's verse note on Psalm 22:16 covers the pierced or like a lion question.
¹⁶For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
Read in context →

Show 7 more passages

Psalms 31:5 Luke's final prayer draws on this psalm's entrusting of the speaker's spirit to God.
⁵Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.
Read in context →
Psalms 69:21 The BSB note on John's sour-wine scene points to this psalm.
²¹They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
Read in context →
Deuteronomy 21:22–23 This law requires same-day burial of an executed person displayed on a tree.
^21:22If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, ²³you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Read in context →
Exodus 12:46 John's reference to unbroken bones corresponds to the Passover lamb rule as well as Psalm 34.
⁴⁶It must be eaten inside one house. You are not to take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of the bones.
Read in context →
Zechariah 12:10 John connects the piercing with this passage.
¹⁰Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
Read in context →
Hebrews 10:19–20 Hebrews uses the curtain as an image of access through Jesus' flesh.
^10:19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body,
Read in context →
1 Corinthians 15:3–4 Paul passes on tradition about Jesus' death and burial without naming Joseph of Arimathea.
^15:3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Read in context →

Test your understanding

Who carries the cross in Mark, and what does John say?

Mark names Simon of Cyrene; John describes Jesus carrying it and does not mention Simon.^{4 sources}4 sources208. Mark 15:21 209. Matthew 27:32 210. Luke 23:26 211. John 19:17

Mark 15:21 John 19:17

Which events receive the third and sixth hours?

Mark gives the third hour for crucifixion; John gives about the sixth for Pilate's final presentation of Jesus.^{4 sources}4 sources33. Mark 15:25 34. Mark 15:33 17. John 19:14 35. John 19:16

Mark 15:25 John 19:14

What check precedes the release of the body in Mark?

Pilate asks the centurion to confirm the death before granting the body to Joseph.²¹

Mark 15:44–45

Who sees the burial place in Mark?

Mary Magdalene and the mother of Joses see where Jesus is laid.^{5 6}

Mark 15:47

When does Matthew place the saints' entry into the city?

Matthew places their entry after Jesus' resurrection, following the opening of tombs and raising of bodies in the death scene.^{56 57 58}

Matthew 27:51–53

The full text

Text

Mark 15:21–47

^15:21Now Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry the cross of Jesus. ²²They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull. ²³There they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it. ²⁴And they crucified Him. They also divided His garments by casting lots to decide what each of them would take. ²⁵It was the third hour when they crucified Him. ²⁶And the charge inscribed against Him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Continue reading (20 more verses)

^15:27Along with Jesus, they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left. ²⁹And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰come down from the cross and save Yourself!” ³¹In the same way, the chief priests and scribes mocked Him among themselves, saying, “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself! ³²Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” And even those who were crucified with Him berated Him. ³³From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. ³⁴At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ³⁵When some of those standing nearby heard this, they said, “Behold, He is calling Elijah.” ³⁶And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine. He put it on a reed and held it up for Jesus to drink, saying, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.” ³⁷But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last. ³⁸And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹When the centurion standing there in front of Jesus saw how He had breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” ⁴⁰And there were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹These women had followed Jesus and ministered to Him while He was in Galilee, and there were many other women who had come up to Jerusalem with Him. ⁴²Now it was already evening. Since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent Council member who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so. ⁴⁵When Pilate had confirmed it with the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶So Joseph bought a linen cloth, took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in the cloth, and placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. ⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where His body was placed.

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Keep going

The resurrection: the empty tomb and the first appearances

Paul's received account moves from Jesus' death and burial to his raising on the third day and his appearances.²¹²

1 Corinthians 15:3–5

Cite this page

Plain citation

The crucifixion and burial of Jesus. Know the Text. Question lens, version 1, revised 2026-11-08, Fact-checked. https://knowthetext.com/question/stories/crucifixion/

Chicago-style note

Know the Text, “The crucifixion and burial of Jesus,” Question lens, version 1, revised 2026-11-08, Fact-checked, https://knowthetext.com/question/stories/crucifixion/.

BibTeX

@misc{knowthetext-crucifixion,
  author = {{Know the Text}},
  title = {The crucifixion and burial of Jesus},
  howpublished = {Know the Text, Question lens},
  url = {https://knowthetext.com/question/stories/crucifixion/},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Version 1; revised 2026-11-08; Fact-checked}
}

Sources

212 sources from 182 works

1
Mark 15:22↩^a ↩^b
2
Luke 23:33↩^a ↩^b
3
Checked in this site's verse database: Verses using Golgotha (G1115)↩^a ↩^b
How this was derived
SELECT group_concat(std_ref, ', ') FROM (SELECT DISTINCT std_ref FROM tokens WHERE root_strong='G1115' ORDER BY std_ref)
4
Checked in this site's verse database: Verses using kranion, skull (G2898)↩^a ↩^b
How this was derived
SELECT group_concat(std_ref, ', ') FROM (SELECT DISTINCT std_ref FROM tokens WHERE root_strong='G2898' ORDER BY std_ref)
5
Mark 15:47↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
6
Luke 23:55–56↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
7
Ryszard Zawadzki, “The Prayer of Jesus on the Cross (Verbum Vitae 22)” (2012), p. 94 n. 2↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
8
Luke 23:34↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
9
John 19:26–27↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
10
Mark 15:34↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
11
Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (1997), para. 613 (scborromeo.org reprint) (1997), para. 613↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
Gary R. Habermas, Jonathan Kopel and Benjamin C. F. Shaw, “Medical views on the death by crucifixion of Jesus Christ (Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings 34:6)” (2021)
- 12
  Conclusion↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
- 28
  abstract↩^a ↩^b
13
Mark Allan Powell, “The Crucifixion of Jesus and the Jews (Bible Odyssey, Society of Biblical Literature)” (2017), Bible Odyssey↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
Colin J. Humphreys and W. G. Waddington, “The Jewish Calendar, a Lunar Eclipse and the Date of Christ’s Crucifixion (Tyndale Bulletin 43.2)” (1992)
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  p. 332↩
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- 54
  p. 348↩^a ↩^b
Flavius Josephus (tr. William Whiston, 1737), Antiquities of the Jews (Project Gutenberg 2848; public domain)
- 15
  Antiquities 18.4.2 (Whiston)↩
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16
John 18:28↩^a ↩^b
17
John 19:14↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g ↩^h
18
Mark 14:12↩^a ↩^b
20
Eve-Marie Becker, “Dating Mark and Matthew as Ancient Literature (Tübingen repository)” (2011), p. 143↩
21
Mark 15:44–45↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
22
John 19:31–33↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
23
John 19:34–35↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
24
Tacitus (tr. A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb, 1876), Annals 15.44 (Perseus Digital Library; public domain translation) (1876), Annals 15.44↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
25
Ivan Prchlík, “Auctor nominis eius Christus: Tacitus’ Knowledge of the Origins of Christianity (AUC Philologica 2/2017)” (2017), n. 21↩
27
David Allen, “How Josephus Really Viewed Jesus (Revista Bíblica 85)” (2023), p. 334↩
29
Thomas W. McGovern et al., “Did Jesus Die by Suffocation?: An Appraisal of the Evidence (The Linacre Quarterly 90:1)” (2022), abstract↩^a ↩^b
30
Matthew W. Maslen and Piers D. Mitchell, “Medical theories on the cause of death in crucifixion (Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 99:185-188)” (2006), introduction and Table 1↩^a ↩^b
31
Matthew W. Maslen and Piers D. Mitchell, “Medical theories on the cause of death in crucifixion (JRSM 99), Table 1” (2006), Table 1↩^a ↩^b
32
Matthew W. Maslen and Piers D. Mitchell, “Medical theories on the cause of death in crucifixion (JRSM 99)” (2006), Discussion↩^a ↩^b
33
Mark 15:25↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
34
Mark 15:33↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
35
John 19:16↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
Adam Kubiś, “Roman versus Jewish Reckoning of Hours in the Gospel of John (The Biblical Annals 11/2)” (2021)
- 36
  abstract, p. 247↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 37
  p. 271↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 38
  p. 272 and n. 93↩^a ↩^b
- 39
  p. 272 n. 93↩^a ↩^b
- 40
  p. 273↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 41
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42
Joel Marcus, “Passover and Last Supper Revisited (New Testament Studies 59)” (2013), abstract↩
Mariusz Rosik, “The Dispute over the Date of the Last Supper: Its Chronology Revisited (Verbum Vitae 38.1)” (2020)
- 43
  abstract↩
- 44
  conclusion↩
45
“New World Translation (Study Edition), John 19, study note "the day of Preparation"”, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society↩
46
Checked in this site's verse database: BSB footnote on Luke 23:34↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
How this was derived
SELECT n.body FROM verse_notes n JOIN verses v ON v.id=n.verse_id WHERE v.std_ref='Luke.23.34' AND v.work_id='bsb' AND n.kind='footnote' AND n.body LIKE 'Some%'
47
Checked in this site's verse database: SBLGNT apparatus on Luke 23:34↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
How this was derived
SELECT raw_entry FROM apparatus_entries WHERE std_ref='Luke.23.34' ORDER BY id LIMIT 1
48
Matthew 27:45↩
49
Luke 23:44–45↩
50
Julius Africanus (ANF vol. 6), Extant Fragments of the Five Books of the Chronography (New Advent; public domain translation), fragment 18↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
Richard Carrier, “Thallus: An Analysis (Secular Web, 1999)” (1999)
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53
Origen (ANF vol. 4), Against Celsus, book 2 (New Advent; public domain translation), Against Celsus 2.33↩^a ↩^b
55
N. P. L. Allen, “Thallus and Phlegon: Solar Eclipse in Jerusalem c. 33 CE? (Akroterion 63)” (2018), abstract↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
56
Matthew 27:51↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
57
Matthew 27:52↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
58
Matthew 27:53↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
Kaufmann Kohler and Emil G. Hirsch, Crucifixion, Jewish Encyclopedia vol. 4 (1903; public domain), JewishEncyclopedia.com (1903)
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60
John Chrysostom (NPNF1 vol. 10), Homily 88 on Matthew (New Advent; public domain translation), Homily 88↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
61
Ezekiel 37:12↩^a ↩^b
62
Andries G. van Aarde, “Matthew 27:45-53 as the Turning of the Tide in Israel’s History (HTS Teologiese Studies 55.2/3)” (1999), p. 684↩^a ↩^b
63
Christianity Today, “Interpretation Sparks Theology Debate (November 2011)” (2011), quoting Licona↩^a ↩^b
64
Norman Geisler, “An Open Letter to Mike Licona on His View of the Resurrected Saints in Matthew 27:52-53 (normangeisler.com)” (2011), open letter↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
65
Michael R. Licona, “Press release: response to Norm Geisler (Credo House blog)” (2011), response to Geisler↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
66
Mark 15:38↩^a ↩^b
67
Luke 23:45↩^a ↩^b
68
Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 5.5.4-5 (tr. William Whiston, 1737; Project Gutenberg 2850)↩^a ↩^b
Flavius Josephus (tr. William Whiston, 1737), The Wars of the Jews (Project Gutenberg 2850; public domain)
- 69
  Jewish War 4.5.2 (Whiston)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 138
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70
Philo of Alexandria (tr. C. D. Yonge, 1854-55), Flaccus (earlyjewishwritings.com; public domain), Flaccus 83↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
Andrea Nicolotti, An Ignominious Burial: The Treatment of the Body of Jesus of Nazareth (in Cavicchioli and Provero, eds., Public Uses of Human Remains and Relics in History, Routledge 2020; author preprint, AperTO) (2020)
- 71
  p. 13↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
- 75
  p. 25↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 76
  p. 14↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 77
  p. 14, n. 11↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 111
  p. 24, n. 65↩^a ↩^b
William Lane Craig and Bart D. Ehrman, “Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus? Debate transcript, College of the Holy Cross” (2006)
- 72
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- 74
  Ehrman, first rebuttal↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
73
1 Corinthians 15:4↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
78
John 19:20↩
79
Hebrews 13:12↩
80
Barnabas Meistermann, “Mount Calvary (Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3, 1908; New Advent)”↩^a ↩^b
81
Jeffrey R. Chadwick, “Revisiting Golgotha and the Garden Tomb (Religious Educator 4, no. 1; BYU Religious Studies Center)” (2003)↩
82
Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine, Book III, ch. 26 (NPNF2 vol. 1; New Advent)↩
83
P. W. L. Walker, “Gospel Sites and 'Holy Places': The Contrasting Attitudes of Eusebius and Cyril (Tyndale Bulletin 41.1)” (1990), p. 98↩
84
Jeffrey R. Chadwick, “Revisiting Golgotha and the Garden Tomb (Religious Educator 4, no. 1)” (2003)↩
85
John 19:41–42↩^a ↩^b
86
Matthew 27:60↩^a ↩^b
87
“Friends of the Garden (Garden Tomb, Jerusalem), home page”, Friends of the Garden, Inc.↩
89
Westminster Assembly, “Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), ch. 8, sec. 5”, Orthodox Presbyterian Church↩^a ↩^b
90
Flavius Josephus (tr. William Whiston, 1737), The Life of Flavius Josephus (Project Gutenberg 2846; public domain), Life 75 (Whiston)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
91
“Jesus in India, by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (book page)”, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (alislam.org)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
92
Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), Tafsir, abridged English (quran.com API, tafsir 169), Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Q 4:157, on 4:157↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
Qur'an, tr. Yusuf Ali (Y), Pickthall (P) and Shakir (S) (Project Gutenberg 16955), Three translations of the Koran side by side
- 93
  4:157 (P)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 94
  4:157 (Y)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 95
  4:158 (P)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
96
Matthew 27:24↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
97
Matthew 27:25↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
98
Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate (1965), section 4 (text as reprinted by the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations, Dialogika) (1965), section 4↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
99
Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (1997), Part 1, Section 2, Ch. 2, Art. 4, Para. 2 (scborromeo.org reprint) (1997), para. 597↩^a ↩^b
100
“Cross (Gospel Topics, 2025)”, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints↩^a ↩^b
101
“Atonement of Jesus Christ (Gospel Topics)”, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints↩^a ↩^b
102
Doctrine and Covenants 19:18, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints↩^a ↩^b
103
Leonard Irwin Eisenberg, “A New Natural Interpretation of the Empty Tomb (International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 80; open access)” (2016), abstract↩
104
David Friedrich Strauss, A New Life of Jesus, vol. 1 (2nd ed., London 1879), archive.org Toronto scan (1879), vol. 1, p. 412, sect. 47↩^a ↩^b
105
Richard Carrier, “Why I Don't Buy the Resurrection Story (6th ed., 2004), Secular Web”, introduction↩^a ↩^b
106
Checked in this site's verse database: Footnotes on John 19:14 (WEB, BSB)↩^a ↩^b
How this was derived
SELECT v.work_id || ': ' || n.body FROM verse_notes n JOIN verses v ON v.id=n.verse_id WHERE v.std_ref='John.19.14' AND n.kind='footnote' ORDER BY v.work_id
107
Adam Kubiś, “Roman versus Jewish Reckoning of Hours in the Gospel of John: An Exegetical Misconception That Refuses to Die (The Biblical Annals 11/2)” (2021), pp. 248, 270↩
109
“New World Translation (Study Edition), Mark 15, study note "the third hour"”, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society↩^a ↩^b
110
Augustine of Hippo, The Harmony of the Gospels, Book III, ch. 13 (tr. S. D. F. Salmond, NPNF1 vol. 6; New Advent)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
112
Matthew 27:57↩^a ↩^b
113
John 19:38↩^a ↩^b
114
Mark 15:43↩^a ↩^b
115
Luke 23:50↩^a ↩^b
116
Deuteronomy 21:22↩^a ↩^b
117
Deuteronomy 21:23↩^a ↩^b
118
John 19:31↩^a ↩^b
Catherine Sider Hamilton, Innocent Blood Traditions in Early Judaism and the Death of Jesus in Matthew (PhD thesis, University of Toronto) (2013)
- 119
  p. 1, n. 3↩^a ↩^b
- 120
  p. 1↩
- 121
  p. 9↩^a ↩^b
122
Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate (28 October 1965), Dialogika text, Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations (1965), sect. 4↩^a ↩^b
123
Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (1997), para. 597 (scborromeo.org reprint) (1997), para. 597↩^a ↩^b
124
Amy-Jill Levine, “Is the New Testament Anti-Jewish? (Bible Odyssey, Society of Biblical Literature)”, Bible Odyssey↩^a ↩^b
125
US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, “Criteria for the Evaluation of Dramatizations of the Passion (1988), Dialogika text” (1988), Introduction↩^a ↩^b
126
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Church Council, “Declaration of the ELCA to the Jewish Community (18 April 1994), Dialogika text” (1994), para. 3↩^a ↩^b
Amy-Jill Levine, “Is the New Testament Anti-Jewish? (Bible Odyssey, SBL)”
- 127
  para. 3↩
- 128
  conclusion↩
129
John 19:25–27↩
130
John 19:28–30↩^a ↩^b
131
Psalms 69:21↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
132
Luke 23:43↩^a ↩^b
133
Luke 23:46↩^a ↩^b
134
Psalms 31:5↩^a ↩^b
135
C. G. Montefiore, The Synoptic Gospels, vol. 2 (Luke 23:46) (1909), p. 1082↩
Joseph Klausner, Jesus of Nazareth: His Life, Times, and Teaching (tr. Herbert Danby) (1925)
- 136
  p. 354↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 197
  (whole work)↩
137
Seneca (tr. Aubrey Stewart, 1889), Minor Dialogues (Project Gutenberg 64576; public domain) (1889), To Marcia 20↩
David Tombs, The Crucifixion of Jesus: Torture, Sexual Abuse, and the Scandal of the Cross (Routledge, open access) (2023)
- 139
  p. 49↩
- 151
  p. 53-54↩
- 152
  p. 54↩
140
Hershel Shanks (Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeology Society), “New Analysis of the Crucified Man, in “Roman Crucifixion Methods Reveal the History of Crucifixion” (reprint of BAR 11.6, 1985)” (1985), Shanks, quoting Zias and Sekeles (IEJ 35, 1985)↩
141
John 20:25↩
142
Luke 24:39↩
143
Jason Robert Combs, “An Extended Inverted Allusion to Psalm 22 in Mark 15: Reading Reversal in the Markan Passion (New Testament Studies 70)” (2024), pp. 23-24↩
Jennifer Garcia Bashaw, “Did God Forsake Jesus? Abandonment and Presence in Mark 15 (Currents in Theology and Mission 50:4)” (2023)
- 144
  p. 28 n. 4↩
- 198
  pp. 27-28↩
- 199
  p. 27↩
145
Hebrews 10:19–20↩
146
John 19:39–40↩
147
Checked in this site's verse database: BSB and WEB footnotes on John 19:39↩
How this was derived
SELECT v.work_id || ': ' || n.body FROM verse_notes n JOIN verses v ON v.id=n.verse_id WHERE v.std_ref='John.19.39' AND n.kind='footnote' ORDER BY v.work_id
Mark Allan Powell, “The Crucifixion of Jesus and the Jews (Bible Odyssey, SBL)”
- 148
  para. 4↩
- 149
  para. 6↩
150
World Council of Churches, First Assembly (Amsterdam), “The Christian Approach to the Jews (1948), Dialogika text” (1948), sect. on anti-Semitism↩
153
Jehovah’s Witnesses, “Did Jesus Die on a Cross? (jw.org)”, "Did Jesus Die on a Cross?"↩^a ↩^b
154
Irenaeus (ANF vol. 1), Against Heresies 2.24 (New Advent; public domain translation), Against Heresies 2.24.4↩
155
Mark 15:23↩
156
Matthew 27:34↩
157
Checked in this site's verse database: Matthew 27:34 in SBLGNT, Byzantine text, KJV and BSB↩
How this was derived
SELECT work_id || ': ' || text FROM verses WHERE std_ref='Matt.27.34' AND work_id IN ('sblgnt','byz','kjv','bsb') ORDER BY work_id
158
Checked in this site's verse database: Verses using smyrnizo, mix with myrrh (G4669)↩
How this was derived
SELECT group_concat(std_ref, ', ') FROM (SELECT DISTINCT std_ref FROM tokens WHERE root_strong='G4669' ORDER BY std_ref)
159
Paula and Eustochium (Jerome, Letter 46), Letter 46, to Marcella (NPNF2 vol. 6; New Advent)↩
160
Jordan J. Ryan, “Golgotha and the burial of Adam between Jewish and Christian tradition: Text and monument (Nordisk Judaistik 32.1)” (2021), abstract↩
161
Mark 15:27↩
162
Luke 23:32–33↩
163
Checked in this site's verse database: BSB footnote on Mark 15:27↩
How this was derived
SELECT n.body FROM verse_notes n JOIN verses v ON v.id=n.verse_id WHERE v.std_ref='Mark.15.27' AND v.work_id='bsb' AND n.kind='footnote' ORDER BY n.id
164
Checked in this site's verse database: The inscription in the four Gospels (BSB)↩
How this was derived
SELECT std_ref || ': ' || text FROM verses WHERE work_id='bsb' AND std_ref IN ('Mark.15.26','Matt.27.37','Luke.23.38','John.19.19') ORDER BY std_ref
165
John 19:20–22↩
166
Checked in this site's verse database: BSB footnote on Luke 23:38↩
How this was derived
SELECT n.body FROM verse_notes n JOIN verses v ON v.id=n.verse_id WHERE v.std_ref='Luke.23.38' AND v.work_id='bsb' AND n.kind='footnote'
167
Luke 23:38↩
168
John 19:19↩
169
Mark 15:26↩
170
Eusebius (NPNF2 vol. 1), Church History, book 5 (New Advent; public domain translation), Church History 5.1.44↩
171
Checked in this site's verse database: Editions that have Mark 15:28 (of six checked)↩
How this was derived
SELECT group_concat(work_id, ', ') FROM (SELECT work_id FROM verses WHERE std_ref='Mark.15.28' AND work_id IN ('kjv','byz','tr','web','bsb','sblgnt') ORDER BY work_id)
172
Checked in this site's verse database: WEB and BSB notes on Mark 15:28↩
How this was derived
SELECT v.work_id || ': ' || n.body FROM verse_notes n JOIN verses v ON v.id=n.verse_id WHERE n.kind='footnote' AND ((v.std_ref='Mark.15.28' AND v.work_id='web') OR (v.std_ref='Mark.15.27' AND v.work_id='bsb' AND n.body LIKE 'BYZ%'))
173
Isaiah 53:12↩
174
Matthew 27:46↩
175
Checked in this site's verse database: Lexicon glosses for Eloi (G1682), Eli (G2241) and sabachthani (G4518)↩
How this was derived
SELECT l.strong || ': ' || a.text FROM lexicon_links l JOIN lexicon_articles a ON a.lexicon=l.lexicon AND a.id=l.article_id WHERE l.strong IN ('G1682','G2241','G4518') ORDER BY l.strong
176
Checked in this site's verse database: BSB footnote on Matthew 27:46↩
How this was derived
SELECT n.body FROM verse_notes n JOIN verses v ON v.id=n.verse_id WHERE v.std_ref='Matt.27.46' AND v.work_id='bsb' AND n.kind='footnote' AND n.body LIKE 'NE%'
177
Aramaic Targum to Psalms 22:2 (Mikraot Gedolot text, Sefaria; public domain)↩
178
Checked in this site's verse database: Psalm 22:1 (Hebrew 22:2) in the Westminster Leningrad Codex↩
How this was derived
SELECT text FROM verses WHERE std_ref='Ps.22.1' AND work_id='wlc'
179
Checked in this site's verse database: Lexicon gloss for sabachthani (G4518)↩
How this was derived
SELECT a.text FROM lexicon_links l JOIN lexicon_articles a ON a.lexicon=l.lexicon AND a.id=l.article_id WHERE l.strong='G4518'
180
“New World Translation (Study Edition), Luke 23:43 and study note "Truly I tell you today"”, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society↩
181
Checked in this site's verse database: Mark 15:39 in SBLGNT, BSB, KJV, WEB, Darby, YLT↩
How this was derived
SELECT work_id || ': ' || text FROM verses WHERE std_ref='Mark.15.39' AND work_id IN ('sblgnt','bsb','kjv','web','darby','ylt') ORDER BY work_id
182
C. G. Montefiore, The Synoptic Gospels, vol. 2 (Luke 23:47) (1909), p. 1083↩
183
C. G. Montefiore, The Synoptic Gospels, vol. 2 (translation of Matthew 27:54) (1909)↩
184
Luke 23:47↩
185
Checked in this site's verse database: BSB footnote on Luke 23:47↩
How this was derived
SELECT n.body FROM verse_notes n JOIN verses v ON v.id=n.verse_id WHERE v.std_ref='Luke.23.47' AND v.work_id='bsb' AND n.kind='footnote'
186
Matthew C. Easter, “'Certainly This Man Was Righteous': Highlighting a Messianic Reading of the Centurion's Confession in Luke 23:47 (Tyndale Bulletin 63.1)” (2012), pp. 35-36 and n. 4↩
187
Matthew C. Easter, “'Certainly This Man Was Righteous' (Tyndale Bulletin 63.1)” (2012), p. 35 (summary)↩
188
Checked in this site's verse database: BSB footnote on Matthew 27:49↩
How this was derived
SELECT n.body FROM verse_notes n JOIN verses v ON v.id=n.verse_id WHERE v.std_ref='Matt.27.49' AND v.work_id='bsb' AND n.kind='footnote'
189
Checked in this site's verse database: SBLGNT apparatus on Matthew 27:49↩
How this was derived
SELECT raw_entry FROM apparatus_entries WHERE std_ref='Matt.27.49' ORDER BY id
190
Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (1997), para. 615 (scborromeo.org reprint) (1997), para. 615↩
191
Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (1997), para. 603 (scborromeo.org reprint) (1997), para. 603↩
192
Heidelberg Catechism (1563), “Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 37 (CRCNA translation)”, Christian Reformed Church in North America↩
193
Galatians 3:13↩
194
Martin Luther, Heidelberg Disputation (1518), theses 20-21 (bookofconcord.org)↩
195
“Holy Friday (The Orthodox Faith, vol. II: Worship)”, Orthodox Church in America↩
196
“Holy Saturday (The Orthodox Faith, vol. II: Worship)”, Orthodox Church in America↩
200
Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractate 120 (NPNF1 vol. 7; New Advent)↩
201
John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 85 (NPNF1 vol. 14; New Advent)↩
202
“Why Do Jehovah's Witnesses Observe the Lord's Supper Differently From the Way Other Religions Do? (jw.org FAQ)”, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society↩
203
“Memorial of Jesus' Death (jw.org)”, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society↩
204
The Qur'an 3:55, tr. M. M. Pickthall (1930) and A. Yusuf Ali (Project Gutenberg 16955)↩
205
Psalms 22:1↩
206
Mark 15:39↩
207
Matthew 27:54↩
208
Mark 15:21↩
209
Matthew 27:32↩
210
Luke 23:26↩
211
John 19:17↩
212
1 Corinthians 15:3–8↩

What the text actually says

Mark 15:21

Mark 15:22–23

Mark 15:24–32

Mark 15:33–36

Mark 15:37–39

Mark 15:40–41

Mark 15:43–46

Mark 15:47

The evidence

Jesus died following his execution under Pontius Pilate.

Asphyxiation was the principal cause of Jesus' death.

Mark's and John's stated hours can be reconciled.

John's and the Synoptics' festival dates for Jesus' death can be reconciled.

No single Gospel contains all seven traditional sayings from the cross.

Darkness covered the land during Jesus' crucifixion.

An ordinary solar eclipse accounts for the crucifixion darkness at Passover.

Raised saints appeared in Jerusalem as Matthew describes.

The temple curtain tore around the time of Jesus' death.

A crucified person could receive burial rather than remain exposed.

Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus as the Gospel accounts describe.

The place of the crucifixion can be identified at a surviving site.

Jesus' tomb can be identified at a surviving site.

Jesus' crucifixion was carried out under Roman authority.

Jesus' death reconciles humanity to God.

What people get wrong

Hard questions

Did Jesus really die, or could he have survived the cross?

The strongest case

Strongest responses

Plain assessment

Was Jesus crucified at the third hour, as Mark says, or still before Pilate at about the sixth, as John says?

The strongest case

Strongest responses

Plain assessment

Does Matthew describe saints literally rising and appearing in Jerusalem?

The strongest case

Strongest responses

No known response in these sources

Plain assessment

Was Jesus buried by Joseph, or could his body have received a different disposal?

The strongest case

Strongest responses

Plain assessment

Does Matthew's crowd scene justify blaming Jews collectively or calling Israel rejected by God?

The strongest case

Strongest responses

No known response in these sources

Plain assessment

Background

Which Gospel has which sayings? Text

Roman execution and physical evidence Evidence

Psalm 22 and the death narrative Scholarship

Which temple curtain? Text

What the burial accounts add Scholarship

'The Jews' in Christian reception, and the churches' later statements Tradition

Where translations differ

Mark 15:21 · “cross / stake” stauros

Matthew 27:34 · Mark 15:23 · “wine / vinegar; gall / myrrh”

Mark 15:25 · John 19:14 · “third hour / about the sixth hour”

Mark 15:22 · Luke 23:33 · John 19:17 · “Golgotha / the Skull / Calvary” Golgotha; kranion

Mark 15:27 · Luke 23:32–33 · “robbers / insurrectionists / criminals” lestai; kakourgoi

Mark 15:26 · Matthew 27:37 · Luke 23:38 · John 19:19–22 · “the inscription on the cross”

Mark 15:28 · “the verse about transgressors”

Mark 15:34 · Matthew 27:46 · Psalms 22:1 · “Eloi / Eli; sabachthani”

Luke 23:34 · “prayer for forgiveness”

Luke 23:43 · “today and the comma”

Mark 15:39 · Matthew 27:54 · Luke 23:47 · “Son of God; righteous / innocent”

Matthew 27:49 · John 19:34 · “the spear before or after death”

How it has been interpreted

Catholic · The Catechism on sacrifice and reconciliation

Protestant: Reformed · Westminster and Heidelberg

Protestant: Lutheran · Luther on knowing God through suffering

Orthodox · The Orthodox Church in America on Holy Friday and Holy Saturday

Jewish: modern · Joseph Klausner's reading of the cry

Academic (critical) · Jennifer Garcia Bashaw on abandonment

Early church: Latin · Augustine on the opened side

Early church: Greek · John Chrysostom on blood and water

Latter-day Saints · Suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross

Jehovah's Witnesses · Remembering Jesus' death