What does IHT on a Christian cross mean?

Answer 1

Mark: "The King of the Jews" (xv, 26).

Luke: "This is the King of the Jews" (xxiii, 38).

Matthew: "This is Jesus the King of the Jews" (xxvii, 37).

John: "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" (xix, 19).

There was placed on the cross a certain inscription. According to Luke and John it appeared in Greek, Latin and Hebrew. Four divinely inspired historians attempt to report in Greek the exact words of this inscription. Yet no two of their reports agree.

Another answer

IHT makes no reference to "King" or to "Jews:"

Recall that the Christian gospels claim that Jesus was crucified on a "cross." However, the shape or configuration of this cross has long been a matter of dispute among Christians. Some refer to the Greek word that's used "stauros" and claim that it was a single, pole like stake or, more precisely, "torture stake." At one point in Roman history, that would have been a single pole with no cross bar. At a later date, the crossbar was added. However, this brings up the question of the location of the cross bar. Was it some length down from the top of the stake (like the lower case letter "t") or was it mounted across the top (like an upper case "T")? Thus, there are three possibilities for those who believe that Jesus was crucified on a "torture stake." I could have been a single stake, a stake with a crossbeam mounted down a ways from the top or a crossbeam mounted on the top.

The reason this is all relevant to the question of the meaning of IHT because the Greek letter Tau has an upper case T, which was considered by some to be the configuration of the torture stake on which Jesus was crucified. IH is claimed to be the first two letter of Jesus name, perhaps on the basis of the fact that Hebrew has no vowel markings (though some were later added to indicate them). Thus, Jehudah - one form of the name Jesus - would be rendered JHDH and, with the J becoming an I, as is the case with Hebrew, Latin and Greek, it would be IHDH. The first two letters "IH" in combination with the Tau shape of the cross "T) would be IHT.

Early church writers (the "Letter of Barnabas" and, later Justin Martyr) claim that the letters IHT are a cipher for 318, which is the number of men they claim were circumcised by Abraham in his household.

Aside from the fact that Justin Martyr wasn't there and the Letter of Barnabas is not part of the Christian Bible, I personally find that theory suspect - or, at the very least, a long stretch - because Abraham wouldn't have been using Greek, much less a cipher from it, since the language didn't even exist until long after his death. It strikes me as rather like the current day practice of finding significance in coincidence, such as in letters in Kennedy's name or the date of Abraham Lincoln's death.