Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Luke 23:33

τὸν τόπον. It is nowhere in Scripture called ‘a hill,’ and it was certainly not in any sense a steep or lofty hill. The only grounds for speaking of it as a hill are (1) tradition; and (2) the name.

Κρανίον. The word Calvary came into our A. V[406] from the Vulg[407] locum qui vocatur Calvariae. Calvaria is the Latin form of Golgotha, and means ‘a skull’ (as the same Greek word Κράνιον is rendered in Matthew 27:33). Like the French Chaumont, this name might describe a low rounded hill. Ewald identifies it with Gareb (Jeremiah 31:39), and Kraft accordingly derives Golgotha from גל, ‘hill,’ and גועת, ‘death.’ The name has led to the legend about Adam’s skull lying at the foot of the Cross, which is so often introduced into pictures. St Luke omitted the Hebrew name Golgotha, which would have been unintelligible to his Greek readers.

[406] A. V. Authorised Version.
[407] Vulg. Vulgate.

δν μὲν … ὃν δέ. The relative for the article, as often in late Greek in antithesis. 1 Corinthians 11:21, ὃς μὲν πεινᾷ, ὃς δὲ μεθύει; Matthew 21:35, &c.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Luke 23:33

Old Testament

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