Ask Bur a question!
Answered Questions
[click question for pic with answer]
- What prevented the nails in a crucifixion victim’s hands from tearing through the fingers, causing the victim to fall forward off the cross?
Cheryl
Those being crucified typically carried the crossbeam to the execution site, while the upright post remained secured in its position.
The victim was stripped and placed on the cross-beam. The nails were driven through the middle of the forearm to ensure they would rest between the two arm bones. Small wooden plaques were probably used as large washers to keep the arms from slipping off the nails. Once it was secured, the crosspiece was lifted over the upright and lowered into place. once hung, the weight of the body would pull the arm nails up the forearm until they became lodged in the wrist.
In 1968, the bones of a crucified man were discovered in a grave just north of Jerusalem. The man was about 26 years old and 5.5 feet tall. A nail was still embedded in the heel bone. An examination revealed that the nail had struck a knot in the upright, bent, and become stuck to it. The foot had to be removed from the body, and the upright sawed off above and below the nail, and placed in the grave.
Medical examination revealed that the legs had been broken to hasten death. The angle of the breaks suggested that the legs had been bent underneath the victim. Further investigation indicated that each heel was attached individually on either side of the cross.
Scripture says, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree” (Gal 3:13). Archaeological evidence suggests that the victim was often dragged from the city, with the crossbeam hanging from the branches of a nearby tree and the feet nailed to either side of the trunk. The Synoptics indicate that Jesus was crucified at a site known for such executions, which likely points to the upright being a permanent feature of the location.
- Why does the book of Judges emphasize that Ehud was left-handed?
Jason
In Judges chapter 3, God sent Ehud, Israel’s second judge, to deliver the nation from Moabite oppression. “The Lord raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Ehud…a left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin” (v. 15).
The Hebrew for “left-handed” literally means “restricted in the right hand.” Chapter 20:16 states, “Among Benjamin’s elite troops, 700 were left-handed, and each of them could sling a rock and hit a target within a hairsbreadth without missing.”
Did the Benjamites intentionally “restrict the right hand” of their young boys, or was this trait genetic? If it was intentional, why would being right- or left-handed matter?
Ancient city walls were often designed so that invading armies had to attack by exposing their right side to the defenders on the wall (ex: Lachish, tel Dan). Right-handed soldiers carried their shields in their left hand and their sling in their right, making it very difficult to protect themselves while attacking defenders. A left-handed soldier, however, could hold his shield in his right hand and shoot his sling with his left, making his attack much more effective.
In 1 Chronicles 12:2, some Israelites came to support David while he ruled in Hebron. Two dozen ambidextrous warriors who could use either the bow or the sling “could shoot arrows or sling stones with their left hand as well as their right.” Interestingly, they were all from the tribe of Benjamin.
- Why did God punish Moses so severely?
Judah
I’ve walked in the Valley of Zin, where the canyon walls often have small cracks leaking water caused by underground water moving laterally to those weak spots. God told Moses to speak to the rock, but in his anger toward the people, he struck the rock instead. Everyone knew the water was there, but by striking the rock, Moses disobeyed God and stole the miracle that was meant to draw the people’s loyalty to Yahweh. It was not only his disobedience that prevented Moses from entering the Promised Land; it was the destruction of the people’s dependence on God that resulted in such a severe punishment.