The Four Crucified with Jesus
The Four Crucified With Jesus
In the Word of God, we are instructed to divide the
Word of God rightly, which means that it must be accurately
divided.* The major reason for so much confusion
regarding the “others” crucified with Jesus is that men
have divided the Word of God to suit themselves and according
to tradition. We have failed to give sufficient heed
to The Word and to rightly dividing it. We must change
our theology and beliefs to agree with The Word.
Before we proceed to read accurately and to study what
is written, allow me to indicate to you the problems
created by traditional teaching. The two thieves and the
two malefactors have by tradition been made the same.
In other words, only two were crucified with Jesus. If this
were true, we would have a major discrepancy in the
Word of God. Matthew 27:38 and Mark 15:27 distinctly
state that there were “two thieves” while Luke 23:32 says
“two malefactors.”
Furthermore, both thieves (or robbers) reviled Jesus
according to Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32, while in
Luke 23:39 and 40 only one of the malefactors “railed on
him [Jesus]” while the other malefactor defended Jesus.
Another added discrepancy by tradition is regarding
the two malefactors who were “led with him to be put to
death” according to Luke 23. And when they had arrived
at Calvary they, then and there, “crucified him, and the
malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the
left.” Yet, Matthew 27 says that after a number of things
had already happened at Calvary, “Then were there two
thieves [robbers] crucified with him.”
If all of this is synonymous and dealing with two individuals
only, then language is useless for communication
purposes. The Bible then is just another book written by
men engrossed in frailties and errors, and not what The
Word says of itself in II Peter 1:21, namely, “. . .holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The following are a few Greek words employed in the
part of the Word of God we are going to consider. These
words are critical to preface a minute study of each record.
duo lēstai means “two robbers”—not thieves
duo kakourgoi means “two malefactors”
allos means “the ‘other’ or second of two when and
where there may be more.”
heteros means “the ‘other’ or second of two when
and where there are only two.”
Regarding this subject of the five crosses,** we want
to note first of all Matthew 27.
Matthew 27:35-38:
And they crucified him, and parted his garments,
casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the prophet, They parted my garments among
them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
And sitting down they watched him there;
And set up over his head his accusation written,
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Then were there two thieves [duo lēstai] crucified
with him, one on the right hand, and another on the
left.
The King James says “two thieves;” the Greek words
are duo lēstai of which duo is two, lēstai is robbers. The
Greeks used an entirely different word for thieves, kleptēs.***
A thief is one who acts stealthily while a robber is one
who deliberately plans and openly carries out his dirty
work, using violence if necessary. In legal terms robbery
is a worse crime than thievery. Thieves would be punished,
but not by such an extreme sentence as crucifixion.
Robbers would receive a crucifixion sentence because of
more extreme actions. This distinction is obscured in the
King James Version. Duo lēstai, two robbers, were crucified
with Jesus after an interim of time.
The Word of God says plainly that the soldiers crucified
Jesus, they parted His garments, sat down and “then
[then] were there two thieves [duo lēstai] crucified with
him. . . .”
Verse 44:
The thieves [duo lēstai] also, which were crucified
with him, cast the same in his teeth.
As the bystanders mocked Jesus, the robbers, two of
them, not just one, joined in with the crowd.
Mark 15 contains the second account of the crucifixion.
Mark 15:24-27:
And when they had crucified him, they parted his
garments, casting lots upon them, what every man
should take.
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
And the superscription of his accusation was written
over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
And with him they crucify two thieves [duo lēstai];
the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
The two robbers (duo lēstai) were crucified after the
garments were parted. After Jesus had been nailed on the
cross, the crowd reproached Jesus.
Verse 32:
Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the
cross, that we may see and believe. And they [duo
lēstai, verse 27] that were crucified with him reviled
him.
The Gospels of Matthew and Mark tell about the robbers
not the malefactors.
Luke 23:32:
And there were also two other, malefactors [duo
kakourgoi], led with him to be put to death.
Luke says there were two malefactors (duo kakourgoi)
led with Jesus when He was led forth to be put to death.
Matthew and Mark concur that there were two robbers
(duo lēstai) crucified with Him after the garments had
been parted and the soldiers had sat down and were
watching what was going on.
The two malefactors (duo kakourgoi) were crucified
at the time Jesus was crucified, while the two robbers
(duo lēstai) were crucified later. The malefactors (duo
kakourgoi) were led with Him from Pilate’s Hall and
crucified at the time Jesus was crucified.
Luke 23:32, 33:
And there were also two other, malefactors [duo kakourgoi],
led with him to be put to death.
And when they were come to the place, which is
called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors,
one on the right hand, and the other on the
left.
The two malefactors were then on either side next to
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 23:39:
And one of the malefactors [not both] which were
hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save
thyself and us.
Luke says that one malefactor railed on Him.
Luke 23:40-43:
But the other [the other malefactor] answering rebuked
him [the malefactor], saying, Dost not thou fear
God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward
of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To
day shalt thou be with me in paradise [The comma
should be after “To day.” Paradise is still future.].
Matthew as well as Mark records that the robbers both
reviled Christ. The Gospel of Luke has only one reviling
Christ and that one is called a malefactor. In Matthew
and Mark the two robbers were not crucified until after
Christ’s garments had been divided. In Luke two malefactors
were led forth with Christ from the presence of
Pilate and were crucified at the same time as Jesus Christ.
There is a simple answer to understanding the Word
of God: just believe what is written. Instead of being
conditioned by the pictures we have seen, we must believe
what The Word says. Two malefactors were crucified
with Jesus at the time He was crucified, and two robbers
were crucified with Him after the garments were parted.
Of the two malefactors, one was on His right and the
other was on His left; and also of the two robbers, one
was on His right and the other on His left. So the answer
to this subject is simple. Four were crucified with Jesus.
Every robber is a malefactor (evil-doer), but not every
malefactor (evil-doer) is a robber. If I break a law, I am
not necessarily a robber; but I am a malefactor. The Word
of God does not tell what the two malefactors did to deserve
crucifixion.
The Gospel of John is not concerned about the time
element. It does not give the when, but it gives the where.
John culminates this whole subject.
John 19:17, 18:
And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called
the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew
Golgotha:
Where they crucified him, and two other with him,
on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
One small word from John 19:18 should immediately
attract our attention, and that is the word “midst.” It
means middle. The word “midst” is a key word because
grammatically one individual cannot be crucified in the
midst of two. With the use of the word “midst” four, six
or eight are indicated. When a person is situated with one
on either side, the person is not in the midst; he is between.
A person is between two, but in the midst of four.
An interlinear translation of the Stephens Greek Text,
from which the King James was translated, reads in John
19:18, “and with him, others two on this side and on that
side.” The word “one” appears in the English, but no corresponding
Greek word is above it. To indicate that the
translators added the word “one” they put it in brackets.
The King James translators, therefore, added the word
“one.” If the word “one” is not in the critical Greek texts,
why is it in the King James? Because by 1611 the Western
world had been so indoctrinated by a picture showing
Jesus on the center cross and one evil-doer on either side
of Him that, when the translators were translating this
particular verse of the nineteenth chapter of John, they
inserted the word “one.”
John 19:32, 33:
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the
first, and of the other which was crucified with him.
But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was
dead already, they brake not his legs.
To illustrate how we have been taught about the way
the soldiers went about breaking the legs of the miscalled
two thieves: the soldiers broke the legs of the first; then
they must have bypassed Jesus and gone around Him to
the second miscalled thief; and finally these soldiers came
back to Jesus and said, ‘My goodness, He’s dead already.”
This type of routine isn’t very logical. As a matter
of fact, it is senseless.
When you read the accuracy of The Word, the soldiers
came and they broke the legs of the first and of the other.
Progressing in the row, the soldiers came to Jesus in the
third place and they found Him already dead. When Jesus
was crucified, the two malefactors were next to Him, one
on each side, and the robbers were one removed from
Jesus, one on each side. So the soldiers came; they broke
the legs of the first, the robber, and of the next, the malefactor,
and then Jesus was next in line: “And coming to
Jesus they found that he was dead already.” Then it fits
like a hand in a glove and you don’t have to close your
eyes and run around Jesus and sound foolish and illogical.
Listen again to John 19, “Then came the soldiers, and
brake the legs of the first [a robber], and of the other [a
malefactor] which was crucified with him.” The word
“with” in this verse does not indicate the same time.
It is the Greek word sun, meaning “in close proximity
with.” The word “him” refers back to the word “first,” a
robber. The malefactor was crucified in close proximity
with a robber.
The word “other” in verse 32—“and of the other which
was crucified with him”—is another key to add to the
proof that four men were crucified with Jesus. There are
two words that are translated “other” in the Bible. One
word is the word heteros, and the other Greek word is
allos. These words make all the difference between truth
and error. Both heteros and allos are translated “other”
but their usage is for two different situations. The word
“other” in John 19:32 is allos. The word allos is used
when more than two may be involved. The two malefactors
and the two thieves (robbers) make four. So the
soldiers broke the legs of the first and of the other (allos)
of the four involved. That is why they use the word allos
for the word “other.”
In Luke 23:32 the English word “other” was also used.
Luke 23:32:
And there were also two other, malefactors, led with
him. . . .
The word for “other” here is not the word allos, but
it is heteros because there were only two involved, two
malefactors. This is the unbelievable accuracy of God’s
Word. They led the two malefactors with Him; later, after
they had crucified Jesus, they parted His garments, they
cast lots, they sat down, they put up an accusation, then
finally they brought the two robbers and they crucified
the. Two plus two make four. When the soldiers came,
they broke the legs of the first and of the other (the allos,
of more than two), but having come to Jesus they found
that He was dead already. Why? Because the prophets
of old had prophesied that no one would ever break the
Messiah’s legs.**** The Jews and the soldiers didn’t take
Jesus’ life upon Calvary’s cross; he laid it down, he gave
up his life. He didn’t die because they crucified him, he
died because he gave himself for you and for me. This
is the accuracy with which the Word of God fits and this
is the remarkable usage of The Word as it develops the
Scriptures by interpreting itself right where it is written.