Mark 15:22 Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.

Who brings Jesus to Golgotha to crucify Him?

Soldiers (Mark 15:16)

Where do they bring Jesus to crucify Him?

“Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha…” (Mark 15:22).

What is the translation of Golgotha?

“…Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull” (Mark 15:22).

·      ὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον (ho estin methermēneuomer) Neuter Nominative Singular Present Middle/Passive Participle of  μεθερμηνεύω, “Mostly in the formula ὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον which means (when translated) (BDAG, 625).

·      Κρανίου Τόπος (Kraniou Topos) (“Place of a Skull”)

o  “If the πραιτώριον  [Praetorium] was in Herod’s palace, the route to the traditional site of the crucifixion was not a very long one, not much more than three hundred metres. There are no firm grounds for disputing the traditional site, now enclosed within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, though there is unlikely ever to be convincing proof; its location just outside the line of the city walls at that time, and the presence of a number of Jewish tombs of the same period close by, are appropriate to a place of public execution, close to the city but outside it (cf. Jn. 19:17, 20). The NT accounts nowhere describe it as a ‘hill’, merely a τόπος [“place”]; it is in fourth-century pilgrim records that it is called a small hill (monticulus). The name Γολγοθα represents Aramaic gulgultā’ (Hebrew gulgōlet), which means simply ‘skull’ (so that Mark’s rendering κρανίου τόπος is more an interpretation than an exact translation). The origin of the name is unknown: the nineteenth-century identification of ‘Gordon’s Calvary’ north of the city assumed that it was a hill which was so named because it looked like a skull, but it is at least as likely that the name derived from its use as a place of execution and burial, or even as a ‘polling place’ (Gundry, 955). For Mark’s translation of Aramaic words cf. 5:41; 14:36; 15:34. A place name does not in itself require ‘translation’, but the sinister implications of the name clearly entered into Christian understanding of the crucifixion story, and Mark does not want his readers to miss that nuance.”

R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: a Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament, pp. 641-642.

Father, 

You prepared the place and provided the sacrifice that would take away the sins of the world. For You so loved the world that You gave Your only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Thank You for sending Your Lamb Who is our Passover. And thank You for uncovering evidence in the holy land of Israel which allows us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and verifies the inerrancy of Your Word, which endures forever. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.