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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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GOLGOTHA

Place where Jesus and two thieves were crucified, in the vicinity of Jerusalem. The term appears in the NT only in the accounts of the Crucifixion. Three of the Gospels use the Hebrew-Aramaic term, “Golgotha” (Mt 27:33; Mk 15:22; Jn 19:17), while one uses the Latin equivalent, “Calvary,” meaning “skull or cranium” (Lk 23:33).

The reason why this place was called “the skull” is unknown, although several explanations have been offered. An early tradition, apparently originating with Jerome (AD 346–420), asserted that it was a common place of execution and that the skulls of many who had been executed were strewn around the site. No first-century evidence has been found to substantiate this viewpoint. Some suggest that it was a place of execution and that “skull” was used figuratively, simply as a symbol of death. Origen (AD 185–253) mentioned an early, pre-Christian tradition that the skull of Adam was buried in that place. This is probably the oldest explanation of the name, and is referred to by several writers after Origen. Others have said that the name resulted from the fact that the place of the Crucifixion was a hill that had the natural shape of a skull. No early evidence from any sources has been found to substantiate this view, and the NT accounts do not refer to the place as a hill.

The location of the site is disputed. The biblical references give us only general indications. It was outside the city proper (Jn 19:20; Heb 13:12). It may have been on an elevated site, since it could be seen from a distance (Mk 15:40). It was perhaps near a road since “passersby” are mentioned (Mt 27:39; Mk 15:29). John’s account places it near a garden that contained the tomb in which Jesus was buried (Jn 19:41). The use of the definite article, “the place of the skull,” would indicate that it was a well-known place.

There seems to have been little interest in the site of Golgotha until the early part of the fourth century. Eusebius, who lived in Jerusalem for several years, said that Constantine the emperor instructed Bishop Macarius to find the site of the Crucifixion and burial. Later accounts said that the bishop was guided to the site by a vision of the Queen Mother Helena. The site that he settled on contained a Hadrianic temple of Aphrodite, which Constantine destroyed. There, tradition says, he found fragments of the cross of Christ. On that site he built two churches, and this is the site of the modern Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Although destroyed and rebuilt several times, this has remained a fixed site since the time of Constantine.

In 1842 Otto Thenius contended that Golgotha was a rocky hill about 250 yards (228.5 meters) northeast of the Damascus Gate. He based his contention on the assertions that it had been a Jewish place of stoning, lay outside the city wall, and was shaped like a skull. Later General Charles Gordon also advocated this spot, and it has come to be known as “Gordon’s Calvary.”

See also Crucifixion.