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)... Hallelu YaH ! Footnotes
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 . Some of the few others are words for hospitality, stranger, host, etc. – all based on the root ΞΕΝ - - 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 - - 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’:
And the small series on ‘Pesach’: ReactionsPrevious articles: The Light of the World, His Name is Jesus / Yashu‘ah, Our Father / אבינו - ’abhinu.
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Thanks for your interest! |
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