Curses and Conditions

Christ 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.”  Galatians 3:13  NASB

Hangs on a tree – Paul’s statement about Yeshua’s redemption requires a bit of analysis.  It is more complicated than it appears.  First, we need to ask, “What was the curse of the Law?”  We should note that Paul does not say, “Christ redeemed us from the Law.”  What Paul has in mind is not the Torah (a far better choice of words than Law), but rather the consequences of disobedience.  The curse is not the standard.  The curse is the result of not meeting the standard.  So Yeshua’s redemptive action lifts this consequence from us.  It does not lift away the standard.

Secondly, we need to ask, “How did the Messiah become a curse?”  Clearly Yeshua kept the Torah.  He was not subject to its penalty – death.  But He chose to accept death as a substitute for us.  In this sense, He took on the consequences of our disobedience, or as Paul describes it, He “became a curse.”  Paul does not mean that Yeshua became disobedient.  He means that viewed from its end result Yeshua experiences the consequence of disobedience.

Now we come to this very odd proof text, Deuteronomy 21:22-23.  We should note that the translation “tree” isn’t quite correct.  The word “tree” in Greek is dendron, but here (and in four other references) the Greek is xylon which means “wood” or “stake.”  The Greek word for “cross” is neither dendron nor xylon, but rather stavros.  But in the LXX, the passage from Deuteronomy 21:22-23 uses xylon for the Hebrew ‘etz, and so the New Testament authors who mention this reference choose xylon rather than the more correct stavros.  When we examine the Deuteronomy passage we find some rather unusual things.  The circumstances in Deuteronomy concern a man who is judged worthy of execution under Torah, subsequently stoned to death and his body is hung on an ‘etz as a visible display of the need to remove defilement from the land.  It should be obvious that none of these conditions apply to Yeshua.  He was not judged worthy of death under Torah.  He was not stoned to death.  His dead body was not hung on a xylon in order to remove defilement from the land.  So how come Paul uses this Deuteronomy passage to justify his claim that Yeshua redeemed us from the curse?

It’s helpful to read the rabbinic commentary on this Deuteronomy passage.  “The second phrase refers to exposing the criminal’s body after execution, . . . exposure served to degrade the criminal and warn others against similar conduct, and was perhaps originally intended as well to deprive him of proper burial. . .  This verse does not require hanging the body, but merely reflects the existence of the practice.”[1]  The imagery of hanging on an ‘etz is about public shame, a very important element of Jewish consciousness in the first century.  Paul uses the Deuteronomy passage, which does not fit any of the circumstances surrounding the crucifixion, to draw attention to the public shame Yeshua endured.  He was humiliated for us.  But it does not follow that the redemptive activity occurred on the cross.  The crucifixion was a display of the shame that accompanied Yeshua’s choice to be our substitute.  Paul latches on to this public display in the crucifixion and draws on the public display of Deuteronomy, but the only similarity is the shame involved.   We can conclude that the xylon – ‘etz was a place of shame but we cannot conclude that it was also the place of redemption, especially in light of other New Testament passages that describe the place of redemption occurring in the heavenly Temple.

Topical Index:  cross, xylon, ‘etz, Deuteronomy 21:22-23, shame, Galatians 3:13