0

What does 'pull at the nails' mean here for Jesus?

We learned that when he was up on the cross Jesus didn’t pull at the nails.

Flood Show by Charles Baxter

Improve this question
3
  • Which part of that phrase is confusing? There's probably no special meaning, here, to pull at or the nails.
    – Juhasz
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 15:42
  • That's the [carpentry] nails fixing Him to the cross - nothing to do with hanging on by His (finger)nails.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 15:48
  • the verb - pull at, confuse me
    – Vitaly
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 15:50

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

To pull at something generally means to take hold of something and repeatedly pull on it. For example:

He pulled at his ear thoughtfully.

This usage here seems a little unusual to me, but the speaker is presumably saying that Jesus did not try to pull his limbs off of the nails or to pull the nails out of the wood. The implication is that he accepted his death willingly.

Improve this answer
1

The idea is that he didn't try to resist or fight against being up on the cross.

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .