Was Jesus crucified on a cross or a tree?

There are several Scriptures which state the Jesus was killed on a cross.

Mat 27:32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross [stauros].

Mat 27:40 and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross [stauros].”

Mat 27:42 “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross [stauros], and we will believe Him.

Yet, there are other Scriptures which state that Jesus was killed by hanging on a tree.

Act 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree [xulon].

Act 10:39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree [xulon].

Act 13:28 And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death.
Act 13:29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree [xulon] and laid Him in a tomb.

Gal 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE [xulon]”),

1Pe 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree [xulon], that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

How are we to understand these Scriptures? Let’s take a more in depth look.

The Greek word translated “cross” is stauros which means, stake, post, cross.

The Greek word translated “tree” is xulon which means, timber, club, stocks, wood, tree. Here are some examples.

Mat 26:55 In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs [xulon] to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.

Act 16:24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks [xulon].

1Co 3:12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood [xulon], hay, straw,

Rev 22:2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree [xulon] of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree [xulon] were for the healing of the nations.

Looking at the meaning of the Greek words stauros and xulon doesn’t answer our original question. The observant reader might notice that Galatians 3:13 quotes from Deuteronomy 21:22. Does the Hebrew help answer our original question?

Deu 21:22 “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree [ates],
Deu 21:23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

The Hebrew word translated “tree” here is ates, which means, tree, wood, stock, gallows, plank. So the Hebrew doesn’t provide any more information than the Greek.

Putting all of this together we see that Jesus could have been crucified on a tree or a cross.

In Roman times, victims were crucified on a variety of objects:

A single vertical stake.
A composite cross shaped as “†”, “T”, or “X”.
A tree.

Jesus could have been crucified in any of these ways. However, since Simon of Cyrene was compelled to bear Jesus’s cross (Matthew 27:32) we know that if Jesus were crucified on a tree, He must have been crucified on a crossbeam attached to the tree.

Discussion

What Jesus was crucified on remains a mystery, much like the day of His birth. However, it’s not important to know, for if it were, God would have recorded it in the Bible. One can easily see that had they been recorded men would have made idols of them. Notwithstanding our ignorance, men make idols of them anyway.

Conclusion

Was Jesus crucified on a cross or a tree? We don’t know. Jesus could have been crucified on:

A vertical stake, which Simon carried.
A composite cross, where Simon carried either the whole cross or just the horizontal crossbeam (for “†” or “T” shapes).
A tree, with Simon carrying the crossbeam to be attached.