Where did Jesus die?

Jesus Christ died on a cross just outside the walls of Jerusalem. In English Bibles, Matthew, Mark, and John call the exact location “Golgotha,” which may have been a small hill. Luke refers to the same place as “Calvary.” The name “Golgotha” is Aramaic, while “Calvary” comes from Latin. Both names mean “the place of the skull.”

The Gospel writers mention the place where Jesus died near the end of their books. After the authorities sentenced Jesus to death, they forced Him to walk to the place of his crucifixion carrying his cross (John 19:16–18). Because his body was so weak from being beaten and flogged, He struggled to bear the weight. Soldiers instructed another man who was nearby, named Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross the rest of the way (Mark 15:21).

Matthew and Mark describe Jesus and Simon’s arrival at the location by explaining the meaning of the name “Golgotha.” Matthew 27:33 reads, “They came to a place called Golgotha (which means ‘the place of the skull’).” Likewise, Mark 15:22 says, “They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means ‘the place of the skull’).” John adds that the name is Aramaic: “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha)” (John 19:17).

Many scholars speculate that the name reflects the hill’s resemblance to a human skull. Rock formations on the hill may have looked like a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth. A less common explanation is that human skulls littered the location, the remnants of crucified criminals. One significant challenge to this view is that crucifixion did not involve decapitation.

Luke doesn't use the word "Golgotha" in his Gospel. Instead, he identifies the location only by the meaning of the word, and not the word itself: “When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left” (Luke 23:33). Yet the KJV and NKJV translate the place name as “Calvary.” Luke writes, “And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left” (NKJV). Because of the popularity of these translations, the name “Calvary” has become a common way for Christians to identify where Jesus died.

In his Gospel, Luke uses the Greek word for "skull," kranion, just like Matthew, Mark, and John did when they wrote that “Golgotha” means “the place of the skull.” The KJV, and, centuries later, the NKJV, translate kranion as “Calvary” because that’s the word used in the Vulgate, a fourth-century Latin translation of the Bible. "Calvary" is how the Latin word calvarium, meaning "skull," translates into English. Interestingly, although calvarium also appears in Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, and John 19:17 in the Vulgate, the KJV and NKJV translate it as "Golgotha." For these reasons, Christianity contains centuries of teaching and music that use the word “Calvary,” as Latin was the dominant language of the Church for a millennium.

John says that Golgotha was close to Jerusalem, which is consistent with a location just outside the northern wall. He writes, "Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek" (John 19:20). Hebrews 13:12 supports this location: “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.”

An alternative suggestion to the traditional site is a place called "Gordon's Calvary." It has been popular among tourists since the 1800s. Charles George Gordon (1833—1885) was a British soldier. Gordon believed Golgotha was at a different location north of the traditional site associated with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Gordon was not the first to suggest the location, but he became known for supporting the view. He was so adamant about it that some people began calling the site "Gordon's Calvary."

Many criminals died at Golgotha (or Calvary) just outside Jerusalem. However, Jesus’ death was truly unique because He was God in human flesh who came to the world to seek and save the lost (John 1:14; Luke 19:10). As Paul writes, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Jesus died for sinners, taking the punishment that was theirs, so they can be saved (John 3:16).