How Many Were Crucified With Jesus - 2 or 4?

The Bible makes it clear that it is impossible to please Him without faith (Hebrews 11:6) and that faith comes from hearing His Word. (Romans 10:17) For this reason, His Word MUST be accurate. There can be no mistakes, or it would undermine God's integrity. 

Many folks have handled the Word - scribes, translators, theologians - and features were added, such as chapter divisions and verse numbers, that are not in the original. Even things as simple as punctuation do not exist in the original Greek. Yet there are few languages as precise as Greek. Anyone who reads the Word carefully, referencing the original languages and engaging the promised assistance of the Holy Spirit, should be able to HEAR and understand the Bible.

My first Bible came in the form of a comic book of all the stories, from Genesis to Revelation. I was reading at a decent level long before starting school, and I devoured that book - literally reading it to shreds. I wanted to be all the Bible heroes, with Joshua being my favorite. As a young teen becoming a proper member of my local church, I was presented with an illustrated RSV Bible. This required careful reading, as it was not written in kid-friendly 20th-century English. It was better than the original KJV, but not as easy to read as the TLB or NLT is today.

The more difficult text forced me to slow down and listen carefully to what the Word said. And on more than one occasion, I stumbled upon situations that did not make sense. You know those questions like - When was satan created? Where did the water come from that covered the Earth in Genesis 1 before God RE-created the Earth? Many of these questions, God graciously answered when I was mature enough to understand. Sometimes an evangelist or book came along that provided the very answer I was seeking. Then it would be so obvious, I would get mad at myself for not seeing it before!

Such was the case with the crucifixion. How many hundreds of paintings show 3 crosses, with Jesus in the middle. But wait a tick, is that what is in the text? The Bible mentions two thieves and two malefactors (evil doers). Sure a thief COULD be a malefactor, but that is just one contradiction between the accounts. What does this mean?

Before going any further, let me make it perfectly clear that I am NOT suggesting the Bible is incorrect. What I AM suggesting is that religion has "sometimes" misunderstood, or simply reimagined, events. Remember, there are 4 Gospels. The Holy Spirit had each author record events as He wanted them recorded. This means that each one may have focused on different aspects. So at times, there may NOT be "harmony" of the Gospels. That does not make any one account any less TRUE.

Then there is the implication that everyone crucified with Jesus hurled insults at him. And then one had a change of heart? Beaten near death, and gasping for each breath, is it possible for three men (even less so for 5) to hear clearly what the others are saying? And don't forget they were surrounded by onlookers, the curious, family, the priests, and soldiers, adding to the noise. If there were two crucified on either side, the inside folks had the best chance of communicating with Jesus.    

The Five Crosses (in French, Les Cinq Croix) at Ploubezre, 

near Lannion, Côtes-du-Nord, in Brittany.

Ifernyen, CC BY-SA 3.0 <>, via Wikimedia Commons 

The hypothesis is not as rare as you might think. The picture above comes from France. In the distant past, it seems others considered it.

The Evidence

I suppose by now you want to know how I arrived at this. Naturally, I looked at the Word.    

Luke 23:32-33 (ASV)

32 And there were also two others, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.

33 And when they came unto the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left.

(Evildoers, or malefactors, Gr. kakouryoi, Luke 23:32 - LED WITH Him)  

Matthew 27:38 (ASV)

38 Then are there crucified with him two robbers, one on the right hand and one on the left.

Mark 15:27 (ASV)

27 And with him they crucify two robbers; one on his right hand, and one on his left.

(Note in both Matthew and Mark they crucified Jesus, cast lots for his clothes and THEN the thieves were crucified. Gr. lestai = robbers, Matt. 27:38.  Mark 15:27)   

Clearly, different words are used, but also there is a different timing for each group crucified. And the most important bit of evidence, the malefactors, one who insulted Jesus, and the one who rebuked him, later asking Jesus to remember him, are positioned next to Jesus. This makes their exchange much easier to believe. It is possible they had traded jabs earlier that are not recorded, laying the ground work for the final exchange. That of course is just speculation.

They were worn out, thirsty, and struggling to breathe, which made it difficult to speak. Plus, the large crowd added to the noise. Being positioned next to Jesus made it far easier to communicate. When the two thieves were added, the noise obviously increased.

The 4th Gospel handles this portion of the crucifixion a little differently.

John 19:17-18 (ASV)

17 They took Jesus therefore: and he went out, bearing the cross for himself, unto the place called The place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha: 18 where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

That seems to agree with tradition, only two crucified. That is until you dig a little deeper. I am no Greek language expert, so I will defer to E. W. Bullinger on this.

John's record confirms this, for he speaks only of place, and not of time.  He speaks, generally of the fact:  "where they crucified Him, and with Him others, two on this side, and that side, and Jesus in the midst" (John 19:8).  In Rev. 22:2 we have the same expression in the Greek (enteuthen kai enteuthen), which is accurately rendered "on either side".  So it should be rendered here:  "and with Him others, on either side".

The First Two Things That Caught My Attention

 Like most people, I simply assumed there were 2 people crucified with Jesus. How could centuries of religious traditions and art get it so wrong? The more you study the Word and religion, the more obvious it becomes that they get plenty of things wrong. And in many cases, silence anyone who points this out. 

The first point that bothered me was the accepted narrative that one malefactor after railing on Jesus with the other, suddenly changed his mind and rebuked the other, and then sought Eternal Life from Jesus. That normally is not a spur of the moment decision. I would imagine he had heard Jesus speak, saw Him abused and the reactions of Jesus over that last day. There was something about Jesus that was different. And he recognized he was running out of time to change course. He was going to die shortly. Why not attempt to change his final destination? Its speculation, yes, but it made more sense than tradition.

The second point was far more practical. Examine the AI-generated picture below.

Now read the passage below.

John 19:31-37 (ASV)
31 The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a high day ), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 The soldiers therefore came, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him: 33 but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34 howbeit one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there came out blood and water. 35 And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe. 36 For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

The first thing you will notice about the passage above is that the author understands the Jewish leadership and their intentions with Jesus. Likely, a lot more than a fisherman from Galilee. I will save that for another day.

Imagine there are only three in the picture. Why would the soldier go to the one on the left, walk past Jesus, break the legs of the one on the right, and THEN go to Jesus? Even if they were slightly behind Jesus - as in the picture, it makes no sense.

Now imagine there are five. You go to the far left thief, then the malefactor on the left, and then Jesus. It makes perfect sense.

Bullinger adds even more evidence.

There are two words used of the "other" and "others" in John 19:32 and Luke 23:32 (See Ap. 124. 1).  In the former passage we read, "they brake the legs of the first and of the other."  Here the Greek is allos which is the other (the second) of the two when there are more (see Matt. 10:23;  25:16, 17, 20;  27:61;  28:1.  John 18:15, 16;  20:2, 4, 8. and Rev. 17:10).

In the latter passage (Luke 23:32) the word is heteros = different (See Ap. 124. 2):  "and others also, two were being led with Him."  These were different from Him with Whom they were led, not different from one another; for they were "in the same condemnation", and "justly", while He had "done nothing amiss" (vv. 40, 41).

In a crime, eyewitness testimony will often differ from other eyewitnesses. This does not mean they are wrong. They simply observed it from another angle, or focused on something else. Same thing here. You have four different authors, at least one was an eyewitness, and you have the Holy Spirit guiding them. If all four wrote exactly the same thing, what good would that do? It's far better to have the four Gospels complement each other; each one has a different purpose. Yet all four provide a complete picture of the Crucifixion.

5 - The Number of Grace

One way God has marked His Word with His Divine Wisdom is through the use of numbers. The first use of words, the number of times it's used, the meaning of certain lists or events based on the number involved. If you have some free time, it's an amazing avenue of study. I recommend E. W. Bullinger once again, who wrote Number In Scripture. The Spiritual Significance Of Numbers - A brief introduction to the topic from the Appendix of his Companion Bible.

Everything in the Bible points to Jesus on the cross. It's the turning point for humanity - God Himself set aside His divinity and entered Earth as a man. And then was beaten, abused, and crucified. On the cross, He became sin, fulfilling the antitype of the two goats. One would be sacrificed, and the other would have the sins of Israel laid upon him by the High Priest. Then, it would be led away into the wilderness alive. Note one of the last lines spoken by Jesus - "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46)

Three is the number of divinity. Also, three is the number for the Trinity. That is interesting, but it doesn't have the Spiritual impact you would expect with God's Word. But 5 is remarkable. It is the number of redemption. 4 is the number of Creation. Add God, and you get redemption of the human race. Man does his very best - it will never be good enough. And then God applies Grace, His Favor to make Believers acceptable.

Some may automatically reject even discussing such a thing. I may even be called a heretic. You might hear something like this: "My church taught 3 crucified, and that is what I am sticking with!"

That is fine. It's your choice. I always want to know the TRUTH. Knowing that there are no mistakes or contradictions makes God's Word even more impressive to me. I CAN BELIEVE HIS WORD and TRUST HIM! And never be disappointed.

If you disagree, God Bless You. We can disagree and not be disagreeable. I will continue to love everyone like a Brother and Sister IN CHRIST.

God Bless You!