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Question
how did Golgotha get it's name, and from who.
Adrian,
The name "Golgotha" is very interesting. In the Gospels the Greek has "Golgothá" and then further "Kraníou Tópos".
Apparently, "Golgothá" is a transliteration of the Aramaic name "Gûlgaltâ" for "the place of the Skull", although no one is 100% sure where the name originates. They suspect that it originates from Aramaic because that was the spoken language of the area during the time of Jesus.
The Latin translation was "Calvariae Locus" (Latin "place of the Skull") for the Greek "Kraniou Topos" and this is where we get the word "Calvary".
A bit interesting is that the Bible never calls it a hill or mountain (just a "place") and yet we often hear of "Mount Calvary". This is because "Gol Goatha" in Aramaic means the "mount of execution" and Jerome speculated in the 4th century that "Golgotha" was really "Gol Goatha".
A couple of other origin possibilities from tradition are that it was near a cemetery, it was a hill that looked like a skull and even that it was where Adam's skull was buried.
As you can see, as with the history of many words (whether English, Latin, Greek or German) often times the origins are lost and forgotten.
I have no specific opinion of the origins of the name nor what it means - I only know that Christ was crucified at this place.
Hope this helps.
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LEBoyd
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I am available to answer questions on most subjects dealing with the Old and New Testaments. I have more than 30 years of detailed study in both Testaments. Additionally, I have studied the many facets of evolution, including a detailed study of Darwin's Origin of the Species. I am a fundamentalist, in that I believe that all Scripture is inspired, or God-breathed, (II Tim. 3:16). I believe that there are no contradictions in the Bible, and that the Bible is complete in telling us our purpose on earth, how to gain salvation and how we should live to obtain salvation. I believe in sin, Satan, heaven, hell, choice-immersion, grace as the free-gift of God and that one can fall from grace. I am a 'layman' in that I taught myself Hebrew (in the English alphabet) and Greek (in the Greek alphabet).
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