ΞΥΛΟΝ – XULON
the Cross or Tree of Calvary

André H. Roosma
28 Aug. 2012

Recently, my eye fell on the Greek word ΞΥΛΟΝ - xulon.
One of the translations is ‘cross’ (in particular in the New Testament it is translated this way; in general it can also mean any (big) piece of wood, timber, or e.g. a gallows).

My interest was aroused immediately as I made a mental image of this word in the old Semitic script from which the Greek script was developed:1 sin/samekh: palm tree wawu: tent pin lam: shepherd's staff ainu: eye, to see nun: sprouting seed.

What does this say? It says the cross of Jesus, our Yeshu‘ah, our Saviour, is:

sin/samekh: palm tree -the palm tree (symbolic for the Tree of Life)
wawu: tent pin -connected (a tent pin as a linking pin, but think also of the nails used to nail Jesus to that awful wood) to
lam: shepherd's staff -the Great Shepherd (represented here by a shepherd’s staff),
ainu: eye, to see -showing/ giving to see (represented by an eye)
nun: sprouting seed-new life (a sprouting seed as a symbol of new life and of children/offspring).

As I saw this in my mind, I was amazed by the greatness of God, that even that one single, simple Greek word for ‘cross’ preaches the Gospel so clearly...

 

And, by the way, not only is the word ΞΥΛΟΝ in the New Testament translated as the ‘cross’, ‘wood’ or ‘tree’ on which Jesus was crucified (as in Acts 5: 30; 10: 39), it is also translated ‘(life-giving) tree’ (e.g. with ΖΩΗ - ‘tree of life’) in Revelation 22: 2 (twice) and 22: 14 (cf. Joel 2: 22; Eze. 47: 12; the Septuagint has xulon here for the Hebrew ‘ets - ‘tree’, as in Genesis 3: 22; in Yirme-Yahu (Jeremiah) 11: 19 this ‘tree’ is used metaphorically for the prophet himself, with a hint to Jesus)...
All quite significant as well, in the context of the above!

Hallelu YaH !


Footnotes

1 For more on the old pictographic Semitic script, see: André H. Roosma, ‘The Written Language of Abraham, Moses and David – A study of the pictographic roots and basic notions in the underlying fabric of the earliest Biblical script.pdf document, Hallelu-YaH Draft Research Report, 1st English version: 18 April 2011 (1st Dutch original: January 2011).

By the way, the word ΞΥΛΟΝ is one of the few New Testament Greek words starting with that peculiar character Ξ, derived from the original palm tree picture sin/samekh: palm tree. Some of the few others are words for hospitality, stranger, host, etc. – all based on the root ΞΕΝ - sin/samekh: palm tree ah: figure with raised hands and bent knees nun: sprouting seed - the palm tree with its crown of shade-giving fronds to rejoice in and with its nourishing, juicy dates, as a symbol of hospitality and life when you are away from home in a naturally less hospitable (strange) environment like a desert.

And it’s not just Greek where we see these spiritually significant traces of old Semitic roots... The Latin word Lux formed by only the three letters L-U-X - ΛΥΞ - lam: shepherd's staff wawu: tent pin sin/samekh: palm tree - the Great Shepherd connected to the (palm) tree - is equally significant. It is the Latin word for ‘light’! Indeed, it testifies that Jesus - crucified - is the Light of the world!

See also my earlier series on ‘The Palm Tree in the Bible’:
Part (1) - Symbol of the Tree of Life’, 19 January 2012;
Part (2) - Full of Rich Symbolism’, 28 January 2012;
Part (3) - Sign of God’s presence and speaking’, 31 January 2012;
Part (4) - Moses and the Big Fire in the Palm-Top’, 3 February 2012;
Part (5) - The ‘language’ of the palm tree’, 2 May 2012.
The article: ‘The great golden Menorah – Sign of God’s Presence’, 14 February 2012.

And the small series on ‘Pesach’:
Part (1) God separates His own, has them escape death, and pulls them away from Egypt’, 4 April 2012.
Part (2) God opens the way to life’, 6 April 2012.
Part (3) Yashu‘ah fulfills Pesach’, 8 April 2012.


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Previous articles: The Light of the World, His Name is Jesus / Yashu‘ah, Our Father / אבינו - ’abhinu.

 
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