{"id":432,"date":"2009-04-27T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-27T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/?p=432"},"modified":"2021-03-31T18:29:54","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T18:29:54","slug":"where-were-the-nail-prints-in-jesus-hands-in-his-wrists-or-his-palms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/where-were-the-nail-prints-in-jesus-hands-in-his-wrists-or-his-palms\/","title":{"rendered":"Where were the nail-prints in Jesus\u2019 hands – in his wrists or his palms?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This question was raised last Saturday during a day conference on biblical archaeology at Tyndale House<\/a> in Cambridge. Put simply the problem was stated as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucifixion normally involved nailing the victim to a horizontal beam through the wrist between the radius and the ulna (the two bones of the forearm). The nail was then firmly trapped by the carpals from ripping out of the hand between the fingers. If the victim were nailed through the palm of the hand the weight of the suspended body would simply cause the nail to pull through the flesh between the metacarpals. That much seems clear. However, in John 20:27 Jesus commands Thomas to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026See my hands<\/em>. Reach out your hand<\/em> and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.\u201d [Italics mine]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Surely, the argument goes, if the nail marks where in Jesus\u2019 wrists then he would have told Thomas to look there for them and not in his hands?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Possible Solution to the Location of the Nail Prints<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I think the answer to the problem is fairly straightforward, once we look at the Greek text. The Greek word for hand<\/em> \u2013 \u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1 \u2013 which is used twice in the passage cited above means \u201cA hand or any relevant portion of the hands, including, for example, the fingers.\u201d (Nida & Louw, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains<\/em>, Vol. 1, p. 98.). The question is whether the word \u201chand\u201d in Greek also included the wrist. The word \u201cwrist\u201d or \u201cwrists\u201d appears only in Acts 12:7 in the NIV New Testament. In the Old Testament it appears twice in the Genesis 38:27 & 30, in Jeremiah 40:4 and Ezekiel 13:18. In Acts 12:7 and in the Septuagint of the OT verses the \u201cwrist\u201d is a translation of \u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1. So, it would seem that \u201cwrist\u201d was included within the semantic range of \u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1 and so the problem seems to be solved. John 20:27 could quite accurately be translated: \u201c\u2026See my wrists<\/em>. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nida & Louw note that there is a precedent for using a specific body part in place of the general term \u201chand\u201d. Luke 15:22 reads \u201c\u2026Put a ring on his \u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1\u2026\u201d \u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1 here is to be translated finger,<\/em> not hand.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This question was raised last Saturday during a day conference on biblical archaeology at Tyndale House in Cambridge. Put simply the problem was stated as follows: Crucifixion normally involved nailing the victim to a horizontal beam through the wrist between the radius and the ulna (the two bones of the forearm). The nail was then…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[156,94,7,196,246],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cross","category-gospel-of-john","category-greek","category-historical-jesus","category-linguistics"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere were the nail-prints in Jesus\u2019 hands - in his wrists or his palms? - Biblical Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is often argued that the nail prints from Jesus' crucifixion were in the palms of his hands, but the Greek word used for "hand" includes the wrists.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/where-were-the-nail-prints-in-jesus-hands-in-his-wrists-or-his-palms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where were the nail-prints in Jesus\u2019 hands - in his wrists or his palms? 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