impale the source quoted does not use the word impale which is very strange in this context the word impale which is derived from latin p lus stake means to pierce with a sharp stake or point the american heritage dictionary of the english language fourth edition a person can be impaled on a stake if he is pushed on to its point since the stake the jehovah's witnesses have in mind seems not to be pointed or at least not to have been used for piercing the body of jesus would it not be better to use fastened or pierced or some such word rather than impaled for what was done to his hands in the sense of the greek word and his feet