Impalements in Antiquity (3B)

WARNING!: This post

may be upsetting to some.

Part 13B of the series: "The Romans NEVER CRUCIFIED the Way We Think They Did!" (Cont'd)

Previous in this series:

Part 13A - Impalements in Antiquity (3A).
Part 12 - Impalements in Antiquity (2).
Part 11 - Impalements in Antiquity (1).
Part 10 - Humiliations.
Part 9 - Utility Poles and Masts.
Part 8 - Crown of Thorns.
Part 7 - Crucifixion and Priapus.
Part 6 - From Wax Image to Exposed Body.
Part 5 - The First Crucifix.
Part 4 - The Tropaeum and the Furca.
Part 3 - Crux - Modern English Use and Ancient Quotidian Meanings.
Part 2 - Crux.
Part 1.

Previous Series - Crucifixion – The Bodily Support:

Part 4 - Physics of Crucifixion.
Part 3 - Manuscript Evidence.
Part 2 - Archaeological Evidence.
Part 1.

Part 13B - Impalements in Antiquity (3B)


D. Male Israelite, Female Midianite.

In Numbers chapter 25, there is to be a terrible execution where the persons to be executed are to undergo some kind of "dislocation."

And the LORD said unto Moses, "Take all the heads of the people and and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.

Numbers 25:4, KJV

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה קַ֚ח אֶת־כָּל־רָאשֵׁ֣י הָעָ֔ם וְהֹוקַ֥ע אֹותָ֛ם
לַיהוָ֖ה נֶ֣גֶד הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ וְיָשֹׁ֛ב חֲרֹ֥ון אַף־יְהוָ֖ה מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Numbers 25:4, Massoretic Text[47a]

Now the Hebrew for "hang them up" is וְהֹוקַ֥ע, (wə·hō·w·qa‘), perfect imperative of יָקַע (yaw-kah'): "be dislocated, alienated, unknown solemn form of execution, impale, expose, crucify, throw down" [48]

Gesenius's Lexicon explains the action for purpose of execution as follows: Hiphil הֹוקַ֥ע (hō·w·qa‘: "to hang upon a stake, to fix to a stake, a punishment by which the limbs were dislocated [Perhaps simply to hang, in which the neck is dislocated], Nu. 25:4; 2. Sa. 21:6, 9. Hophal, pass. 2 Sa. 21:13. [49]

Chapman has a more detailed discussion, wherein he cites several Hebrew lexicons and they have different ideas, such as "display with legs and arms broken, expose, stigmatize, put on display to public shame, condemn, arraign, hang, impale, crucify, etc. [50]

In the Septuagint, the word used for for the ordered execution is παραδειγμάτισον, "put on display for public shame." [51] Aquila's version has ἀνάπηξον, "transfix, impale." [52] Symmachus has κρεμάννυμι, "to hang (by any means.)" [9][53]

And Jerome's Latin Vulgate? He has suspende eos contra solem in patibulis, "suspend them against the sun on overhead crossbeams." he's actualizing the verse for his understanding: regular crucifixion in the limited English sense. It's not his fault, really. The only crucifixion he knew was inaccurate version of that of Jesus Christ: nailed on a tropaeum. [54]

And how does it end?

6 Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand; 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

Numbers 25:6-8

In other words, they were impaled with a spear. The Hebrew and English texts are the most delicate interpretations of this. The Septuagint says he was stabbed upwards into his body and she was stabbed in the womb, and the Latin Vulgate says the two of them were stabbed through their genitals, with Phineas working his way through.[55]

And according to the story the LORD appears to be satisfied with the spearing of a man and a women within his tent, even though a solemn, public execution was demanded. So the believer must suppose that either the LORD didn't demand he be put on display, or he was put on display and the description of his exposure never made it into the extant copies.

E. The King of Ai.

This is one of the legendary exploits of Joshua, to explain the piles of rubble around Israel and Judea that used to be teeming cities.

And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.

Joshua 8:29, KJV

וְאֶת־מֶ֧לֶךְ הָעַ֛י תָּלָ֥ה עַל־הָעֵ֖ץ עַד־עֵ֣ת הָעָ֑רֶב וּכְבֹ֣וא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ֩ צִוָּ֨ה יְהֹושֻׁ֜עַ וַיֹּרִ֧ידוּ אֶת־נִבְלָתֹ֣ו מִן־הָעֵ֗ץ וַיַּשְׁלִ֤יכוּ אֹותָהּ֙ אֶל־פֶּ֙תַח֙ שַׁ֣עַר הָעִ֔יר וַיָּקִ֤ימוּ עָלָיו֙ גַּל־אֲבָנִ֣ים גָּדֹ֔ול עַ֖ד הַיֹּ֥ום הַזֶּֽה׃ פ

Joshua 8:29, Massoretic Text[55a]

"Hang upon the tree" in this case is תלה על־העץ (talah al-'etz), which, again, as we have seen, likely means impale upon a stake. [55b] Although the tradition came up with a fairly inventive idea! The Septuagint has ἐκρέμασεν ἐπὶ ξύλου διδύμου (he hanged him upon a double-tree or forked tree) in the sense that his corpse was draped over the crotch of a two-trunk tree. [56] The Latin Vulgate has regem quoque eius suspendit in patibulo which is suspend on a crossarm of a crux or in a fork-shaped gibbet.[57][58] The Vulgate goes on to say that at sunset, they deposerunt cadaver eius de cruce (they set down his corpse from the cross)[57][58] Jerome has clearly allowed Christian concepts of crucifixion seep in here, which has no support in the Jewish tradition.

The Targumin have, on the other hand, צלב על צליבא (tzlb 'al tzliba, which means, as we have seen above, impale on a stake or crucify on a crux. [45][46][59] Shown by Roman epigraphy that undisputably shows a real crucifixion as a male cross.

F. The Five Kings.

This tells of the legendary tale of Joshua's defeat of five Canaanite kings at once. Of course, as was typically the case in battle, the five kings were killed and hanged, or in keeping with the practices of the time, impaled.

26 And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. 27 And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave's mouth, which remain until this very day.

Joshua 10:26-27, KJV

וַיַּכֵּ֨ם יְהֹושֻׁ֤עַ אַֽחֲרֵי־כֵן֙ וַיְמִיתֵ֔ם וַיִּתְלֵ֕ם עַ֖ל חֲמִשָּׁ֣ה עֵצִ֑ים וַיִּֽהְי֛וּ תְּלוּיִ֥ם עַל־הָעֵצִ֖ים עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃
וַיְהִ֞י לְעֵ֣ת ׀ בֹּ֣וא הַשֶּׁ֗מֶשׁ צִוָּ֤ה יְהֹושֻׁ֙עַ֙ וַיֹּֽרִידוּם֙ מֵעַ֣ל הָעֵצִ֔ים וַיַּ֨שְׁלִכֻ֔ם אֶל־הַמְּעָרָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר נֶחְבְּאוּ־שָׁ֑ם וַיָּשִׂ֜מוּ אֲבָנִ֤ים גְּדֹלֹות֙ עַל־פִּ֣י הַמְּעָרָ֔ה עַד־עֶ֖צֶם הַיֹּ֥ום הַזֶּֽה׃ פ

Joshua 10:26-27, Massoretic Text[59a]

The verbiage here, again, for "hanged them on five trees" is וַיִּתְלֵ֕ם עַ֖ל חֲמִשָּׁ֣ה עֵצִ֑ים (vay-it-lem 'al ha-mish-shah 'et-zim), that is, impaled them on five stakes. [55b]

The Septuagint simply has ἐκρέμασεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ πέντε ξύλων (hanged/impaled them on five trees / stakes) [60] The Latin Vulgate has for the initial suspension eos atque suspendit super quinque stipites [61] which sound enough like impalement, because stipites does mean stakes. [62] But when sunset comes, they are no longer stakes, they are crosses or forked gibbets: Joshua gave the command ut deponeret eos de patibulis (so that they would set down them from the patibulums). [61] Again, there is a reading of the text influenced by Christian theological biases and/or early Byzantine execution practices of the 4th Century CE.

The Targumin have similar phasing for this passage as they do for Joshua 8:29. [59]

G. Philistines Hang Saul and Johnathan.

In I Samuel 31, the first king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah, King Saul, demanded to be thrust through with a sword, lest the Philistines violate and humiliate him while still a live. in the end, he commits hari-kari. And when the Philistines show up, they take his body and armor. They stripped his carcass of his armor and mounted it, possibly on a tropaeum, similar to the one from Trajan's Column, shown on the left (source: Wikipedia). His corpse, and that of his son Johnathan, they suspended on the town wall of Beth-Shan.

And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.

I Samuel 31:10, KJV

וַיָּשִׂ֙מוּ֙ אֶת־כֵּלָ֔יו בֵּ֖ית עַשְׁתָּרֹ֑ות וְאֶת־גְּוִיָּתֹו֙ תָּקְע֔וּ בְּחֹומַ֖ת בֵּ֥ית שָֽׁן׃

I Samuel 31:10, Massoretic text

The Hebrew for "fastened" is תָּקְע֔וּ (ta-qe-'u), "fastened, thrust, driven, fixed." [63] This is confirmed as "thrust, driven" in the Septuagint τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ κατέπηξαν ἐν τῷ τείχει βαιθσαν (his body was planted firmly upon the wall of Beth-Shan) [64][65] The vulgate has suspenderunt, "they suspended," without specifying the method. [66]

when Josephus describes the situation, he uses ἀνασταυρόω, which he and others in his day typically used to describe Roman crucifixions.

On the next day when the Philistines came to strip their enemies that were slain, they got the bodies of Saul and of his sons, and stripped them, and cut off their heads. And they sent messages all about their country, to acquaint them that their enemies were fallen, and they dedicated their armour to the temple of Astarte, but hung their bodies on crosses at the wall of Beth-Shan (τὰ δὲ σώματα ἀνεσταύρωσαν πρὸς τὰ τείχη τῆς Βηθσὰνπόλεως), which is now called Scythopolis.

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 6.14.8.374-375 [67]

Now one would think they crucified them, right? Not so fast! First, Josephus was certainly familiar with Hebrew text and could very well have been familiar with the Septuagint by the time of this writing (93 CE). And how he constructs his sentence, τὰ δὲ σώματα ἀνεσταύρωσαν πρὸς τὰ τείχη (they crucified the bodies onto the walls), contains the preposition of πρὸς (onto) with the accusative plural τὰ τείχη (the walls).[68] The preposition πρὸς when constructed with the accusative, implies motion to a place.[69] This means, of course, that Josephus was taught that Saul and Johnathan was crucified not by nailing or tying to a cross, but by being impaled, i.e., thrust onto stakes, with the stakes mounted into the wall. Had he meant nailing or tying to a cross, he would have used the dative case for the walls. [69]

And further information is provided when David recovers the bones of Saul and Johnathan:

And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-Gilead which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:

II Samuel 12:21, KJV

וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ דָּוִ֗ד וַיִּקַּ֞ח אֶת־עַצְמֹ֤ות שָׁאוּל֙ וְאֶת־עַצְמֹות֙ יְהֹונָתָ֣ן בְּנֹ֔ו מֵאֵ֕ת בַּעֲלֵ֖י יָבֵ֣ישׁ גִּלְעָ֑ד אֲשֶׁר֩ גָּנְב֨וּ אֹתָ֜ם מֵרְחֹ֣ב בֵּֽית־שַׁ֗ן אֲשֶׁ֨ר [תְּלוּם כ] (תְּלָא֥וּם ק) [שָׁם כ] [הַפְּלִשְׁתִּים כ] (שָׁ֙מָּה֙ ק) (פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים ק) בְּיֹ֨ום הַכֹּ֧ות פְּלִשְׁתִּ֛ים אֶת־שָׁא֖וּל בַּגִּלְבֹּֽעַ׃

II Samuel 12:21, Massoretic Text

The Massoretic Text in 2 Samuel 21:12 says they were 'hanged" (תְּלָא֥וּם - te-lum - or תְּלוּם - te-la-'um), respective derivatives of תָּלָא tla "to hang, bent,"[70] and תָּלָה tlh "hang, impale" [71] Of course both can apply to the Egyptian bodily impalement under the Pharoahs, as we have seen. The Septuagint states that the Philistines had "caused bodies of Saul and Johnathan were to stand in wide street of Bethshan" (τῆς πλατείας βαιθσαν ὅτι ἔστησαν αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖ οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι). [72][73] The Vulgate has, "the gate-yard of Bethshan in which the Philistines had suspended them" (platea Bethsan in qua suspenderant eos Philistim)

The language of the various sources in the case of the hanging of Saul and Johnathan, when taken together, strongly favors crucifixion by direct impalement. The Massoretic and the Septuagint indicate a thrusting, driving, planting and also a causing to "stand." Josephus indicates a form of crucifixion caused by the movement of the body against the wall, that is, onto stakes mounted in the wall. The Vulgate does not contradict this, noting it uses the more delicate suspendere.

H. The Seven Sons of Saul.

This was a mass execution that King David assented to upon demand by the inhabitants of Gibea. Like in Numbers 25:4, the Hebrew verb used here is יָקַע (yaqa "to be dislocated or alienated, exposed in the sun, put on display, impaled, crucified, hanged, etc," as we have seen above. The story is in II Samuel 21:6, 9-10, 13.

6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.

9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest. 10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.

II Samuel 21;6, 9, 10, 13, KJV

We must pick this apart verse by verse.

First, verse 6. The Massoretic text has וְהוֹקַֽעֲנוּם֙ (wə·hō·w·qa·‘ă·nūm) "we will hang / dislocate [them]." [74] The 1985 Tanakh has it as, "we will impale them." [75] The Septuagint reads, ἐξηλιάσωμεν αὐτοὺς "we may hang them in the sun." [76] The Latin Vulgate, crucifigamus eos "we will crucify / impale them." [76a] Further investigation yields from Aquila, ἀνάπηξον "about to transfix on a spit, impale." [77] Symmachus reads κρέμασον, "about to hang." [78] The T. Johnathan has צלב "hang, impale, crucify" [45][79] And the rabbinical writings Bivlah b.Sanh. 34b-35a the verb יָקַע "hang, dislocate" involves תליה "hanging." [79]

Second, verse 9. "They hanged them" has in the Massoretic, וַיֹּקִיעֻ֤ם (way·yō·qî·‘um) "and they hanged / dislocated [them]" [74]; the 1985 Tanakh has "They impaled [them]" [80]; the Septuagint, ἐξηλίασαν αὐτοὺς "they exposed them in the sun [81]; the Latin Vulgate, crucifixerunt illos "they crucified / impaled them [82]; Aquila has  ἀνάπηξον "about to transfix on a spit, impale" [77]; and the T. Johnathan has צלב "hang, impale, crucify." [45][79] 


The next key phrase in verse 9, "and they fell [all] seven together" is probably the key phrase which unlocks the meaning of יָקַע (yaqa) in this instance and in Numbers 25:4. The verb for fell in the Massoretic Text is וַיִּפְּל֥וּ (way·yip·pə·lū) "and fell." [83] The 1985 Tanakh reads, "all seven of them perished at the same time." [80] We have in the Septuagint for the verb fell, the Greek verb ἔπεσαν, which means "[they] let go, loosened, gave up, yielded, allowed, permitted, gave themselved up to [a violent death after being exposed]" [84] And the Latin Vulgate reads, ceciderunt, "[they] fell, descended, sank, sank down, went down, were driven down by their weight, settled, yielded to [the item of execution]." [85]


In verse 10 we read of an extremely long time of suspension wherein the bodies went to rot. The height of hanging was high enough to attract carrion birds, and low enough to attract carrion predator animals. And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah had to chase both of with a stick, or whatever she had at hand. How long was this? Six months from mid-April to mid-October. [86]


Finally, verse 13: "and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged." In the Massoretic Text, we read for "that were hanged" the Hebrew הַמּוּקָעִֽים׃ (ham·mū·qā·‘îm), "had been hanged [74]."  In the Septuagint, we have ἐξηλιασμένων, "having been hanged" [87] In the Latin Vulgate, adfixi fuerant, "had been affixed / impaled / crucified." [88]

From the above and the discussion of Numbers 25 in Subpart D further above, it is quite plain that the meaning of the Hebrew יָקַע (yaqa) was to impale on quite a stout impaling stake, so that the person to be executed was (1) impaled (obviously), (2) hanged, (3) dislocated (Cf. Gen. 32:25), (4) exposed to public shame, (5) exposed to the sun, (6) transfixed on a spit, (7) "crucified", (8) affixed as an addition to the instrument of his execution. Furthermore, the Hebrew נָפַל (naphal) meant in this case to fall, so that one (1) fell, (2) fell pierced, (3) let go, (4) loosen, (5) give one's self to a violent death, (6) yield to penetration, (7) be driven down by one's own body weight, (8) sink, (9) settle, (10) die. It "seals the deal" that  יָקַע (yaqa) as a form of execution, was a form of impalement and an utterly shameful and excruciatingly tortuous one at that.


I. Conclusions.

From the above discussion on the executionary or post-mortem suspension penalties (whether actual or mythical) recorded in Numbers 25, Joshua 8, Joshua 10, I Samuel 31 and II Samuel 21that the method used by the Jews was, in all likelihood, some kind of bodily impalement. After all, we found in the previous Parts 11, 12 & 13A of Impalements in Antiquity (1), (2) & (3A) that the practices of human penal bodily suspension in the Ancient Near East almost invariably was impalement. The Egyptians impaled and so did the Hittites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians and the Chaldeans, at both ends of the time period of self-rule of the Israelite and judean peoples in the ancient Levant, +/- 1200 BCE - 585 BCE.

Next, we shall see that the Persians did the exact same thing, despite Martin Hengel's conclusion they crucified, as in nailed to a cross, parrotted by every amateur New Testament Scholar who has used his work.


J. Footnotes.

[9] Perseus Word Study Tool, κρεμάννυμι. This verb was used by Diodorus Siculus to denote the impalement of Onomarchus in his Library of History 16.35.6 Cf. 16.94.4

[45] Jastrow, Dictionary, p. 1282, entry "צלב". See also the following entries "צלוב ,צלב" and "צלוב". Their meanings are all listed as "hang, impale."

Cf. Chapman, pp. 14-26, which not only discusses Jastrow's definition, but also cites Haim Cohn (The Trial and Death of Jesus, New York, Ktav, 1977), Joseph M. Baumgarten (Does TLH in the Temple Scroll Refer to Crucifxion?" JBL 91 (December 1972): 472-81; "Hanging and Treason in Qumran and Roman Law" Erlsr 16 (1982): 7*-16*.) and David J. Halperin's ("Crucifixion, the Nahum Pesher, and the Rabbinic Penalty of Strangulation" JJS 32 (1981): 32-46) discussion of these verbs and the nouns that derive from it. Basically he accepts Cohn's argument that the verb צלב in Hebrew and Halperin's argument that this verb in both Hebrew and Aramaic is indicative of crucifixion (definitely true for the Roman period especially when describing Roman executions) and rejects Cohn's argument that the same verb in Aramaic and Baumgarten's argument that the verb in both languages have nothing to do with crucifixion. Chapman cites the Semitic root tzlb* in Palestinian Christian Aramaic, the Mandaic and the Syriac to mean "crucify."

* 'tz' is substituted throughout for the proper 's' with a dot beneath it, which cannot be reproduced here.

Nevertheless, there is an extinct language and a language very much thriving at present that should give pause to limiting the meaning of the verb. Tzlb in the Punic language is very much uncertain but might mean "impale" (Zelig Harris, A Grammar of the Phoenician Language, AOS 8. New Haven, American Oriental Society, 1936) or "impale on a razor." (J. Hoftijzer and K. Jungeling, Dictionary of the Northwest Semitic Inscriptions, 2 vols. HdO I.21. Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1995.) And in Arabic the verb tzalb means to crucify, but M S M Saifullah, Elias Karim & ʿAbdullah David ("Crucifixion of 'Crucifiction' in Ancient Egypt?", Islamic Awareness.com, January 2009) argue that the Arabic root tzlb derives from bone, more specifically the backbone, that it also denotes hardness in both a true sense and a metaphoric sense, that a derivative refers to cooking bones to extract fats, that tzalb: "crucify" comes from the root tzlb; cite Edward Lane's argument that crucifixion was a well-known sort of death where the oily matter, and the ichor mixed with blood, flows from the person being put to death (Ref. Edward Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, 1968, Part - 4, Librairie Du Liban: Beirut, pp. 1711-1713), and conclude that tzlb, when applied to the execution of a person, should connote any method where the body becomes hardened or stiffened and where the blood or ichor of the sufferer flows. And Chapman (p. 32) himself cautions that one should not differentiate too rigidly between impalement, crucifixion and some other kind of suspension due to the broad variety of terms -- and possibly an immense variety of methods -- for human bodily suspension-execution.

[46] Jastrow, Dictionary, p. 1282, next two entries "צלוב" meaning: I. stake, gallows, including צלוב על הצלוב = nailed to the stake; and II. impaled, hanging, and from I., nailed. Cf. Chapman, pp. 14-26.

[47a] Biblios.org, Numbers 25:4, Massoretic Text.

[48] Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database, entry "יָקַע", Biblios.com, Strong's H3363.

[49] Gesenius's Lexicon, entry H3363, "יָקַע", Blue Letter Bible.org, Strong's H3363.

[50] Chapman, pp. 27-30.

[51] Biblos.com, Septuagint, Numbers 25 The full Greek text reads:

4 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος τῷ μωυσῇ λαβὲ πάντας τοὺς ἀρχηγοὺς τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ παραδειγμάτισον αὐτοὺς κυρίῳ ἀπέναντι τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ ἀποστραφήσεται ὀργὴ θυμοῦ κυρίου ἀπὸ ισραηλ

"4 And said the LORD to Moses, 'Seize all the chiefs of the men and put them on display to open shame before the LORD opposite the sun and the natural impulse of anger of the LORD will turn back from Israel'." (My trans.)

Also Perseus Word Study Tool: παραδειγμάτισο is the 2nd person singular aorist indicative passive for παραδειγματίζω: "make an example of, make a show or spectacle of; show by example." This word is used by the writer of Hebrews, ch. 6:6, the famous fall-aways crucify the lord afresh verse.

[52] Chapman, p. 30. Also Perseus Word Study Tool: ἀνάπηξον is the 2nd person singular aorist indicative passive for ἀναπήγνυμι: "transfix, fix on a spit; impale, crucify (the last by Romans); project sharply (of headlands)."

[53] Chapman, p. 30.

[54] Perseus Digital library, Jerome, Latin Vulgate, Numbers 25:4 The Latin Reads:

ait ad Mosen tolle cunctos principes populi et suspende eos contra solem in patibulis ut avertatur furor meus ab Israhel

"He said to Moses, lift up all the princes of the people and suspend them against the sun on overhead crossbeams so that my fury may be averted from Israel."

[55] Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, Numbers 25:8

εἰσῆλθεν ὀπίσω τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοῦ ισραηλίτου εἰς τὴν κάμινον καὶ ἀπεκέντησεν ἀμφοτέρους τόν τε ἄνθρωπον τὸν ισραηλίτην καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα διὰ τῆς μήτρας αὐτῆς

"Eleazar followed the Israelite man into the 'oven' and stabbed up into each of the two, the Israelite man and the woman through her womb."

ingressus est post virum israhelitem in lupanar et perfodit ambos simul virum scilicet et mulierem in locis genitalibus

"He followed the Israelite man into the 'she-wolf's den' and pierced [and dug] through both at the same time the man and the woman through their genitals."

It just gets weirder and weirder.

[55a] Biblios.org, Joshua 8:29, Massoretic Text.

[55b] Marcus Jastrow, Dictionary of Targumim and Midrashic Literature, 1926 New York, G. P. Putman's Sons, pp. 1670-1 entry "תלה". See also p. 1670, entry "תלא", meaning "hook, a hook to suspend meat, a hook for a fish." DISCLAIMER: It is entirely possible that "hooking" was not the method of post-mortem hanging authorized by the Jewish High Court during the Roman period of the Second Temple era, due to the Romans' propensity to hang people alive and their method of doing it. According to the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 6:4, the Rabbinical Council agreed that, or rather disagreed that, the method of hanging was to tie the dead person by binding his wrists, and hook the tied wrists over a beam that projected from a post that was set in the ground, or was "the manner that butchers do," i.e., tied by the wrists that were spread apart to a transverse beam that was attached to an upright leaned against a wall. (The Mishnah: A New Integrated Translation and Commentary, Sanhedrin 6:10, eMishnah.com.)  Cf. Paulus, Commentar, Th. 3 p. 680, quoted in Hermann Fulda, Der Kreuz und der Kreuzigung, p. 162, “Quomodo fit suspendium? Trabs in terram depangitur, ex qua lignum exstet; dein revinctis manibus suspenditur (cruciarius).” In essence, like one crucified but with ropes. 

Gesenius's Lexicon, entry H8518 "תלה", Blue Letter Bible.org, Strong's H8518.

Jastrow, p. 1080, entry "על־"

Jastrow, p. 1101, entry "עץ"

[56] Biblios.org, Joshua 8:29, Septuagint.

καὶ τὸν βασιλέα τῆς γαι ἐκρέμασεν ἐπὶ ξύλου διδύμου καὶ ἦν ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου ἕως ἑσπέρας καὶ ἐπιδύνοντος τοῦ ἡλίου συνέταξεν ἰησοῦς καὶ καθείλοσαν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου καὶ ἔρριψαν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν βόθρον καὶ ἐπέστησαν αὐτῷ σωρὸν λίθων ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης

[57] Biblios.org, Joshua 8:29, Latin Vulgate

regem quoque eius suspendit in patibulo usque ad vesperum et solis occasum praecepitque et deposuerunt cadaver eius de cruce proieceruntque in ipso introitu civitatis congesto super eum magno acervo lapidum qui permanet usque in praesentem diem

[58] Perseus Word Study Tool, patibulum: Lewis & Short: a fork-shaped yoke, placed on the necks of criminals to which their hands were tied, also, a fork-shaped gibbet, a forked prop for vines. The phrase in patibulo indicates locational and instrumental ablative.

[59] Chapman, p. 153.

[59a] Biblios.org, Joshua 10:26 & Joshua 10;27, Massoretic Text.

[60] Biblios.org, Joshua 10:26-27, Septuagint.

26 καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτοὺς ἰησοῦς καὶ ἐκρέμασεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ πέντε ξύλων καὶ ἦσαν κρεμάμενοι ἐπὶ τῶν ξύλων ἕως ἑσπέρας 27 καὶ ἐγενήθη πρὸς ἡλίου δυσμὰς ἐνετείλατο ἰησοῦς καὶ καθεῖλον αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ξύλων καὶ ἔρριψαν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον εἰς ὃ κατεφύγοσαν ἐκεῖ καὶ ἐπεκύλισαν λίθους ἐπὶ τὸ σπήλαιον ἕως τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας

[61] Biblios.org, Joshua 10:26-27, Latin Vulgate.

26 percussitque Iosue et interfecit eos atque suspendit super quinque stipites fueruntque suspensi usque ad vesperum 27 cumque occumberet sol praecepit sociis ut deponerent eos de patibulis qui depositos proiecerunt in speluncam in qua latuerant et posuerunt super os eius saxa ingentia quae permanent usque in praesens

[62] Perseus Word Study Tool, stipites.

[63] Biblios.org, Strong's H-8628, Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database. 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. Entry "תָּקַע:" thrust, drive weapon - accusative into (ב) someone, peg into (ב), pitch a tent (acc.), i.e., drive its pegs, thrust, drive, beat (strands of hair together), thrust, drive locusts seaward, fasten bodies to a wall. Similarly in I Chron. 10:10 of Saul's head, fixed on something in the temple of Dagon.

[64] Biblios.org, I Samuel 31:10, Septuagint.

καὶ ἀνέθηκαν τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ ἀσταρτεῖον καὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ κατέπηξαν ἐν τῷ τείχει βαιθσαν

[65] Perseus Word Study Tool, κατέπηξαν, 3rd person plural aortive indicative active of καταπήγνυμι "stick fast in the ground, plant firmly; fix, crystallize; stand fast or firm in; become congealed, freeze and κατεπάγω "bring something quickly upon or after another, to repeat quickly."

[66] Biblios.org, I Samuel 31:10, Latin Vulgate. "et posuerunt arma eius in templo Astharoth corpus vero eius suspenderunt in muro Bethsan." (And they set up his armour in the temple of Asherah, indeed they suspended his body upon the wall of beth-Shan.)

[67] Perseus Digital Library, Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 6.14.8. Greek text, English translation.

[68] Perseus Word Study Tool, τείχη, dual or plural, neuter, nominative, vocative and accusative of τεῖχος, "wall."

[69] Perseus Word Study Tool, πρός (Middle Liddell). constructed with genitive, implying implying motion from a place; with dative, abiding at a place; with accusative, motion to a place. Absolute as an adverb: besides, over and above. In composition, it expresses motion towards, addition besides, and connexion and engagement with anything.

[70] Biblios.org, Strong's H-8511 "תָּלָא"

[71] Biblios.org, Strong's H-8518 "תָּלָה"

[72] Biblios.org, II Samuel 21;12, Septuagint

καὶ ἐπορεύθη δαυιδ καὶ ἔλαβεν τὰ ὀστᾶ σαουλ καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ ιωναθαν τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ παρὰ τῶν ἀνδρῶν υἱῶν ιαβις γαλααδ οἳ ἔκλεψαν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς πλατείας βαιθσαν ὅτι ἔστησαν αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖ οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἐπάταξαν οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι τὸν σαουλ ἐν γελβουε

[73] Perseus Word Study Tool, "ἔστησαν" 3rd person plural aortive indicative active of ἵστημι, "to make to stand, set up, raise."

[74] Biblios.org, Strong's H-3363, "יָקַע"

[75] Tagged Tanakh.org, II Samuel 21:6, 1985 JPS

[76] Biblios.org, II Samuel 21:6, Septuagint; Perseus Word Study Tool, ἐξηλιάζω. The conjugate ἐξηλιάσωμεν is 1st person plural present subjunctive active.

[76a] Perseus Digital Library, II Samuel 21:6, Latin Vulgate; Whittaker's Words, crucifigamus.

[77] Chapman, pp. 154-7; Perseus Word Study Tool ἀναπήγνυμι. The conjugate ἀνάπηξον appears to be verb-participle singular future active neutral nominative / vocative / accusative.

[78] Chapman, pp. 154-7, Perseus Word Study Tool κρέμασον, verb-participle singular future active neutral nominative / vocative / accusative of  κρεμάννυμι and κρεμάω.

[79] Chapman, pp. 154-7.

[80] Tagged Tanakh.org, II Samuel 21:9, 1985 JPS

[81]  Biblios.org, II Samuel 21:9, Septuagint; Perseus Word Study Tool, ἐξηλιάζω. The conjugate  ἐξηλίασαν is 3st person plural aorist indicative active.

[82]  Perseus Digital Library II Samuel 21:9, Latin Vulgate; Whittaker's Words, crucifixerunt.

[83] Biblios.org, Strong's H-5307, "נָפַל", "fall, lie", "esp. of a violent death," including "fall pierced."

[84] Biblios.org, II Samuel 21:9, Septuagint; Perseus Word Study Tool,  ἔπεσαν. This is the 3rd person plural aorist indicative active conjugate of the verb ἐφίημι, "let go, loosen, give up, yield, allow, permit, give ones self up to [something], even put the male to the female," i.e., yield to penetration. Herodotus' Histories 3.85 (Cf. 4.30) has it thusly: “ἐπῆκε ὀχεῦσαι τὸν ἵππον” = "yielded to ride / for riding the stallion." So yielding to penetration is the appropriate sense of the word when we recover the meaning of the story that the seven sons of Saul were hanged by being impaled. They would slide down the stakes together.


[85] Perseus Word Study Tool, ceciderunt. This is the 3rd person plural perfect indicative active conjugation of the verb cado, in an extended sense meaning "to be driven or carried by one's weight from a higher to a lower point, to fall down, be precipitated, sink down, go down, sink, fall," and in the more restricted sense as "to fall, to fall down, drop, fall to, be precipitated, etc.; to sink down, to sink, settle; to fall so as to be unable to rise, to fall dead, to fall, die; to be slain or offered, to be sacrificed, to fall, to yield to." And in this instance the meanings (1) "to be driven by one's weight from a higher to a lower point," (2) "to settle," (3) "to die" and (4) "to yield to" are all appropriate where the persons to be executed were impaled.

[86] Biblos.org, II Samuel 21;10, parallel English versions.

[87] Biblos.org,  II Samuel 21:13, Septuagint; Perseus Word Study Tool, ἐξηλιάζω. The conjugate ἐξηλιασμένων is the verb-participle plural aorist middle / passive masculine accusative.

[88] Perseus Word Study Tool, adfixi. It is the verb-participle plural perfect passive masculine nominative conjugation of affigo, "to affix as a brand or as an addition, crucify, impale." The combination with fuerant, "had been," is the 3rd person plural pluperfect indicative active conjugation.