If nails were put in Christ’s hands, how did they do this without breaking a bone?
There are many bones in a persons hand. Psalms 34:20, a prophesy about Jesus, says that not a bone of his body was broken. How could no bones be broken when the nails were driven into Jesus’ hands?
Psalms 34:20
ESV - 20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
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Asked February 08 2021
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Brenda Coleman
Supporter
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Tim Maas
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According to my understanding of normal Roman crucifixion practices, the nails were not driven through the palms of the hands, which (as noted in the question) would have caused the breaking of bones, and thus would also have been in contradiction of prophecy in Jesus' case. Instead, there is a hollow spot in the skeletal structure on the wrist (just below the point where the so-called "life line" of the hand ends), where a nail could be driven without breaking a bone, and which also provides sufficient support to bear the weight of the individual. (By my understanding, this area was included in the meaning of the Greek word for "hand", since there was no specific separate Greek word for "wrist".) (For example, in Acts 12:7, when Peter was miraculously freed from prison, the same Greek word is used in connection with the location of chains that he was wearing, which would have been around his wrists, rather than on his hands, and multiple English translations of the verse thus use the word "wrists" rather than "hands".)
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