Hanging on a Tree
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Deut. 21:22-23)—the public exposure of an executed offender on a tree or wooden structure as a sign of disgrace; the body was not to remain overnight because “anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” The passage need not describe hanging as the original means of death. Paul applies its language to Christ: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). The sinless Savior bore the curse due to lawbreakers and “carried our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24). The cross therefore displays both the gravity of sin and the self-giving love by which Christ redeems sinners.