1. Acts 5:30 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why do the apostles say that Jesus was hanged on a tree if he was actually nailed to a cross?

Acts 5:30 (ESV)

30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

Peter claims that the Jewish council considered Jesus to have done things worthy of a dishonourable death. In asking for him to be crucified they wanted to see him die as one under the curse of God (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13; Acts 10:39; Acts 13:29; 1 Peter 2:24).1