Why in the original Greek New Testament when the word Cross is used were there different word forms?

Tons of different references verify that Jesus died on a stake. Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT words is the most detailed.

http://www.antioch.com.sg/cgi-bin/bible/vines/get_...

Cross, Crucify [Noun]

stauros denotes, primarily, "an upright pale or stake." On such malefactors were nailed for execution. Both the noun and the verb stauroo, "to fasten to a stake or pale," are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed "cross." The shape of the latter had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd cent. A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the "cross" of Christ.

As for the Chi, or X, which Constantine declared he had seen in a vision leading him to champion the Christian faith, that letter was the initial of the word "Christ" and had nothing to do with "the Cross" (for xulon, "a timber beam, a tree," as used for the stauros, see under TREE).

The method of execution was borrowed by the Greeks and Romans from the Phoenicians. The stauros denotes

(a) "the cross, or stake itself," e.g., Matt_27:32;

The judicial custom by which the condemned person carried his stake to the place of execution, was applied by the Lord to those sufferings by which His faithful followers were to express their fellowship with Him, e.g., Matt_10:38.

http://www.studylight.org/isb/bible.cgi?query=Matt... Click on cross or stauron

The word for "cross" or to cross over something in Greek is diaperao not any of the forms of stauros. Stauroo is a verb meaning to nail to the stake, etc. You can see these on Vine's link.

I have tons more references and a variety of Bibles even that use stake in the text instead of cross. I found them online searching for all these things myself to share with others.

Debbie debbiepittman@yahoo.com

22 year Jehovah's Witness

The Greek word stau‧ros′ is translated “cross” in various English Bibles. But what did stau‧ros′ mean in the first century when the Greek Scriptures were written? An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, by W. E. Vine, says: “Stauros . . . denotes, primarily, an upright pale or stake. On such malefactors were nailed for execution. Both the noun [stau‧ros′] and the verb stauroō, to fasten to a stake or pale, are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed cross. The shape of the latter had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt.”

Also, he Companion Bible, under the heading “The Cross and Crucifixion,” notes: “Our English word ‘cross’ is the translation of the Latin crux; but the Greek stauros no more means a crux than the word ‘stick’ means a ‘crutch.’ Homer uses the word stauros of an ordinary pole or stake, or a single piece of timber. And this is the meaning and usage of the word throughout the Greek classics. It never means two pieces of timber placed across one another. . . . There is nothing in the Greek of the N[ew] T[estament] even to imply two pieces of timber.”

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This is to define how we identify a cross, the cross we know is like the "t" which as mentioned above is the initial for the god Tammuz. If like other beliefs tainted by paganism, we have to be a bit cautious as to how we view "cross." It's not more to the translation but the appearance of the cross we know...this is one of the pagan symbols given Christian meanings to help the pagans adapt the new religion popularized by Constantine.

Should christians s be the propriety of venerating the instrument used to kill Jesus. Whether it was an upright single torture stake, a cross, an arrow, a lance, or a knife, should such an instrument be used in worship? I would think not...

reguardless, idols are against God..he clearly stated that in the ten commandments..

A tradition of the Church which our fathers have inherited, was the adoption of the words "cross" and "crucify." These words are nowhere to be found in the Greek of the New Testament. These words are mistranslations, a "later rendering," of the Greek words stauros and stauroo. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says, "STAUROS denotes, primarily, an upright pole or stake...Both the noun and the verb stauroo, to fasten to a stake or pole, are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two-beamed cross. The shape of the latter had its origin in ancient Chaldea (Babylon), and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name)...By the middle of the 3rd century A.D. the churches had either departed from, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the pretige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross piece lowered, was adopted..." [1]

Dr. Bullinger, The Companion Bible, appx. 162 states, "crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian Sun-god...It should be stated that Constantine was a Sun-god worshipper...The evidence is thus complete, that the Lord was put to death upon and upright stake, and not on two pieces of timber placed at any angle." [2]

Rev. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, pp. 197-205, frankly calls the cross "this Pagan symbol...the Tau, the sign of the cross, the indisputable sign of Tammuz, the false Messiah...the mystic Tau of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) and Egyptians--the true original form of the letter T--the initial of the name of Tammus...the Babylonian cross was the recognized emblem of Tammuz." [3]

In the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, vol. 14, p. 273, we read, "In the Egyptian churches the cross was a pagan symbol of life borrowed by the Christians and interpreted in the pagan manner." Jacob Grimm, in his Deutsche Mythologie, says that the Teutonic (Germanic) tribes had their idol Thor, symbolised by a hammer, while the Roman Christians had their crux (cross). It was thus somewhat easier for the Teutons to accept the Roman cross. [4]

So Daniel 7:13 is wrong (The "Son of man" aka Jesus "will receive the worship of men and angels")? And the instances where Jesus was worshiped in the gospel accounts don't fit the JW idea. Hebrews 1:6 says the angels worship him. It is true that one normally prays to God the Father, but one is also meant to pray in the name of Jesus. No-one worships the cross, but if that is what he was crucified on, then that explains why it is used as a christian symbol. It was a standard method of execution used by the Romans. They have found crosses in christian art from the 1C, I can't give you the reference though, but it was from a book I was reading about the Syriac Sinaiticus manuscript.

the Jehovah's Witnesses mind come up short and because they are hostile which can never through hostility sow the righteous seed, are blinded.

Think about where they get wood especially in that day, A tree is cut down then cut in half length wise. And when it comes to crucifying someone, they didn't care about the condition an spend time sanding and carving beautiful lines and placing decals on them.

Each piece OR stake had a flat side and a round side, because tree's are round duh JW 's.

So then two pieces placed crossing each other becomes a cross. Listen cross stake tree what the heck is the diff, why screen at a nat then swallow a camel.

Let the stupid be stupid still

I don't know what source you are using for your greek, but the Strong's concordance shows that every time the word cross is used it is always "stauros", with no variations in spelling. Look online for Strong's #4716 for a definition. In any case, greek often has minor variations in spelling to account for different situations. The root word "stao" is the same no matter what (Strong's #2476)

Even if the JW's are right about the stake thing, they are wrong on so many other points it shouldn't matter what they say. Keep in mind that the JW's primary greek translator only had one or two seemsters of modern conversational greek, and was NOT fluent in ancient greek used in the New Testament. Do an online search for info about the guy who did the greek translation for the New World Translation (the bible version that the JW's use).

Humans argue over the most ridiculous issues. The important issue is that Jesus was the ultimate and final sacrifice for the redemption of the sin of mankind. Whether it was on a cross or a stake is insignificant.

Just like in the English language, one word can have different meanings. And a few words can mean the same thing.

These are all the same word, different cases, that's all. I never have understood the JWs' objection to the idea of a cross.

I take it you've never studied a foreign language. One of the unique things about English is its lack of declensions. Most languages have nouns that change form depending on how they are used, as subject, object, possessive, etc., and as singular or plural. "Stauros" is nominative (subject),"stauron" is accusative (direct object).