- published: 17 Apr 2014
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Calvary, also Golgotha /ˈɡɒlɡəθə/, was, according to the Gospels, a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was crucified.Golgotha(s) (Γολγοθάς) 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:
One night as I lay sleeping
I could hear children singing a song
When I woke up I was weeping
And I knew that something was terribly wrong
Who are all those children
And what do they want with me?
What's that song they're singing?
Something about Calvary
Calvary
Up on Calvary
Jesus Said, Don't weep for me
No, don't weep for me
Weep for your children instead
Who are all of those children anyway?
They ought to be home in bed
What happened to your Mama?
Where has your Daddy gone?
What happened to your big sister
And why are you singing that dreadful song?
Take up your cross and follow
Wake up from your sleep
Wake up, wake up in sorrow
Wake up, wake up and weep
Take up your cross and follow
Won't you follow me?
Wake up, wake up in sorrow