🏳️‍🌈✝️ The Hidden Hebrew Message on the Pilate’s Cross

Written by Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg

06/03/2018

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Then he handed Him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus, and He went out,bearing His own cross, to the place calledthe Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription [on a placard] and put it on the cross. And it was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” And many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but, ‘He said, “I am King of the Jews.”’” Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written [and it remains written].” John 19:16-22

Pilate rightfully felt that the Jewish leaders had manipulated him into ordering Jesus’ execution (John 19:12). As a result, he wanted to get back at them, heating them where it hurts the most. Pilate understood that the Temple leaders had falsely used the “Son of God” argument against Jesus, so he turned their manipulation back on them when he recorded his criminal charge against Jesus. 

Fra Angelico, from a Dominican

Monastery in Fiesole (1434)

The text of the inscription about Jesus’ “crime” was placed on a sign that was to be nailed above his head. A painting by Fra Angelico (1434) suggests an interesting speculation about this inscription. Fra Angelico had a lifelong fascination with the written word. The accuracy of his Greek, Latin, and Hebrew inscriptions reveal his participation in the linguistic studies that flourished in Florence and Rome in the first half of the fifteenth century. In this crucifixion painting, he reconstructed what might have been the original Hebrew written on that sign.

The inscription in the painting reads in Hebrew, ישוע הנצרי ומלך היהודים.  This translates as, “Jesus the Nazarite and the King of the Jews.” Fra Angelico added “and” because grammatically it was very possibly (if not probably) the way the original text appeared.

So, how did Pilate returned the favor to the Temple rulers who forced him into condemning Jesus to die? He did so by writing the statement of Jesus’ guilt in Hebrew in such a way that it actually portrayed Jesus as YHWH (יהוה) Himself!
But how?

Here is the sentence “Jesus of Nazareth and the King of the Jews” in Hebrew.  Remember, Hebrew is read from right to left.  I’ve highlighted the first letter of each word.

(ישוע הנצרי ומלך היהודים)

The acrostic formed by taking the first letter of each word of the sentence “Jesus of Nazareth and (“ו”) the King of the Jews” is “יהוה” (YHWH) – the covenant name of Israel’s God! This is why the Temple leaders were so unhappy with how Pilate versed his charge. Did you notice how without the rudimentary knowledge of Hebrew, Jewish Context and Culture of the date helped you and I to grasp the original meaning of the text? Discover the hidden message of the Bible! Begin with exciting Stories of Jewish Christ, then paradigm-shifting Jewish Gospel of John, Act quickly and secure your spot in our study program under the promotional terms (click here now).

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