Calvary, also Golgotha /ˈgɒlgəθə/, was, according to the Gospels, a site immediately outside Jerusalem’s walls where Jesus was crucified. Golgotha(s) (Greek: Γολγοθᾶ; alternative later form Γολγοθᾶς) is the Greek transcription in the New Testament of an Aramaic term that has traditionally been presumed to be Gûlgaltâ (but see below for an alternative). The Bible translates the term to mean place of [the] skull, which in Greek is Κρανίου Τόπος (Kraníou Tópos), and in Latin is Calvariæ Locus, from which the English word Calvary is derived.
Golgotha is referred to in early writings as a hill resembling a skullcap located very near to a gate into Jerusalem: “A spot there is called Golgotha, – of old the fathers’ earlier tongue thus called its name, ‘The skull-pan of a head’.”
Since the 6th century it has been referred to as the location of a mountain, and as a small hill since 333. The Gospels describe it as a place near enough to the city that those coming in and out could read the inscription ‘Jesus of Nazareth – King of the Jews’. When the King James Version was written, the translators used an anglicised version – Calvary – of the Latin gloss from the Vulgate (Calvariæ), to refer to Golgotha in the Gospel of Luke, rather than translate it; subsequent uses of Calvary stem from this single translation decision. The location itself is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels:
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Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Golgotha, Calvary, Golgatha, Gogultho, Cavalry, Place of the skull, Where Jesus died, Where was Jesus killed, Where was Jesus crucified, Where Jesus was put to death, Goliath's head
Bible reference(s): Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, Mark 15:46, Luke 23:33, John 19:17
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Calvary,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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