Category:Golgotha

Gol"go*tha, n.

Defn: Calvary. See the Note under Calvary.

Note: The Latin calvaria is a translation of the Greek Golgotha. Dr. W. Smith.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Golgotha - The common name of the spot where Jesus was crucified. It is interpreted by the evangelists as meaning "the place of a skull" (Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). This name represents in Greek letters the Aramaic word Gulgaltha, which is the Hebrew Gulgoleth (Numbers 1:2; 1 Chronicles 23:3, 1 Chronicles 23:24; 2 Kings 9:35), meaning "a skull." See map, Plan of Skull Hill It is identical with the word Calvary (q.v.). It was a little knoll rounded like a bare skull. It seems from the evangelists that it was some well-known spot outside the gate (compare Hebrews 13:12), and near the city (Luke 23:26), containing a "garden" (John 19:41), and on a thoroughfare leading into the country. Editor's note: It is considered to be embraced within the present "Church of the Holy Sepulchre." Others have thought in the past that the hillock above Jeremiah's Grotto, to the north of the city, is possibly the site of Calvary. The skull-like appearance of the rock in the southern precipice of the hillock is very remarkable.