GROK on the meaning of "stauros" in first century greek literature

n first-century Greek non-Christian literature, the term stauros (σταυρός) primarily referred to an upright stake or pole. Its usage was rooted in its basic meaning: a wooden object driven into the ground, often for practical or punitive purposes. The word itself derives from the verb histemi (ἵστημι), meaning "to stand" or "to set up," reflecting its function as something erected vertically.

Outside of Christian contexts, stauros appears in various Greek texts with a consistent focus on its physical form rather than any symbolic or religious connotation. For example, in historical accounts or descriptions of punishment, it denoted an instrument of execution or torture, typically a single upright beam on which a person could be impaled, tied, or otherwise affixed. This aligns with its use in the ancient world, where such devices were employed by Greeks, Persians, and later Romans (who adapted it into the more familiar cross shape, crux, in Latin).

In the works of authors like Herodotus (fifth century BCE, but influential in later Greek usage), stauros is used to describe executions involving stakes or impalement, as seen in his Histories (e.g., Book 3.159, where a Persian official is executed on a pole). By the first century CE, writers like Diodorus Siculus (e.g., Bibliotheca Historica 2.18) and Plutarch occasionally reference stauros in the context of punishments, though the term remained broad enough to encompass variations in execution methods—sometimes a simple stake, sometimes a structure with a crossbeam, depending on cultural practices.

Importantly, in non-Christian Greek literature of this period, stauros carried no inherent theological meaning. It was a utilitarian term, tied to construction, boundary marking, or, most commonly, execution. The Roman influence on Greek-speaking regions by the first century likely began associating stauros more frequently with crucifixion (a practice Rome standardized), but the word itself retained its original, simpler sense of an upright pole in many contexts.

So, in summary, stauros in first-century Greek non-Christian literature was a practical term for an upright wooden stake, often linked to execution or punishment, without the symbolic weight it later gained in Christian writings.

GROK on Joseph's use of stauros:In The Jewish War 5.11.1 (5.449–451), during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, Titus crucifies Jewish captives to demoralize the defenders: "τοὺς δὲ αἰχμαλώτους οἱ στρατιῶται...ἀνεσταύρουν...ἐπὶ σταυρῶν" ("the soldiers crucified the prisoners...on stauroi"). Josephus notes the scale—hundreds daily—highlighting stauros as the instrument of execution, likely a vertical stake with or without a crossbeam (the exact shape isn’t specified).

The Roman war machine was known for its ruthless efficiency, it would certainly be a waste of resources to use more when less would work at least as well and likely better than more.