John 19:17

The Jewish authorities on their part “received” Jesus, καὶ ἀπήγαγον. καὶ βαστάζων … Γολγοθᾶ. “And carrying the cross for Himself, He went out to the place called Kraniou (of a skull), which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.” The condemned man carried at least part of the cross, and sometimes the whole. ὁ μέλλων σταυρῷ προσηλοῦσθαι πρότερον αὐτὸν βαστάζει, Artemid., Oneir., ii. 56. Other passages in Keim, vi. 124. Since Tertullian (adv. Jude 1:10) a type of this has been found in Isaac's carrying the wood for the sacrifice. ἐξῆλθεν, it was usual both in Jewish and Roman communities to execute criminals outside the city. In Athens the gate through which they passed to the place of punishment was called χαρώνεια θύρα. Cf. Bynaeus, De Morte Christi, 220; Pearson, On the Creed (Art. iv.); Hebrews 13:12; Leviticus 24:14. The place of execution at Jerusalem was a small knoll just beyond the northern wall, which, from its bare top and two hollow caves in its face, bears a rough resemblance to a skull, and was therefore called κρανίον, Calvaria, Skull. “Golgotha” is the Aramaic form of Gulgoleth, which is found in 2 Kings 9:35. It is described in Conder's Handbook, p. 355; Henderson's Palestine, pp. 163, 164.