John 19:16-18

Vv. 16b-18. “ Now they took Jesus;and, bearing his cross, he went out of the city [going] to the place called the place of the skull, in Hebrew Golgotha, 18, where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. ”

These two verses sum up very briefly the Synoptic narrative. The subject of they took is: the Jews (John 19:16 a); it was they who executed the sentence by the hands of the soldiers. It would be otherwise if the following words: and they led Him away, in the T. R., were authentic. For the subject would then be: the soldiers.

According to ancient testimonies, condemned persons were obliged to bear their own cross, at least the horizontal piece of wood. This is implied, moreover, in the figurative expression used by Jesus in the Synoptics: “ If any man will come after me,...let him take up his cross ” (Matthew 16:24 and parallels). John alone mentions this particular in the sufferings of Jesus. And in this he does not contradict the Synoptics, who relate that Simon of Cyrene was compelled to perform this office. For the participle βαστάζων, bearing, is closely connected with the verb ἐξῆλθεν, he went forth bearing. At the moment of setting out, Jesus was subjected to the common rule. Afterwards it was feared, no doubt, that He might succumb, and advantage was taken of the meeting with Simon to free Him from the burden.

Moses had prohibited capital executions in the enclosure of the camp (Leviticus 24:14, Num 15:35), and the people remained faithful to the spirit of this law, by putting criminals to death outside of the walls of cities (1 Kings 21:13, Acts 7:58). It is on this custom that the exhortation in Hebrews 13:12-13 is founded. ᾿Εξῆλθεν accordingly means: He went forth from the city. The Holy Sepulchre is now quite a distance within the interior of Jerusalem; but the city wall may have been displaced. The bare rock in this place seems to prove, even now, that this part of the city was formerly not inhabited. Moreover, there exists no certain tradition respecting the place of the crucifixion and that of the burial of Jesus.

The name place of the skull does not come from the executions which took place on this spot; the plural would then be necessary: place of skulls; and among the Jews such remains would not have been left uncovered. The origin of the name was undoubtedly the rounded form and the bare aspect of the hill. Golgotha: גֻּלְ ‡ ֹגּלֶת, H1653, in Aramaic גּוּלְגֹּלֶתא, skull, from גָּלַל, H1670, to roll. The word ἑβραιστί, which is found four times in our Gospel, is found again twice in the Apocalypse, but nowhere else in the whole New Testament.

The cross had the form of a T. It was not very high (see John 19:29). Sometimes it was laid on the ground, the condemned person was nailed to it, then it was raised up. But most frequently it was made firm in the ground; the condemned person was raised to the proper height by means of cords (in crucem tollere); then the hands were nailed to the transverse piece of wood. That they might not be torn by the weight of the body, the latter rested on a block of wood fastened to the shaft of the cross, on which the condemned sat as on horseback. There has been a long discussion, in modern times, on the question whether the feet were also nailed. The passages from ancient writers cited by Meyer (see on Matthew 27:35) and Keim are decisive; they prove that, as a rule, the feet were nailed. Luke 24:39 leads us to think that this was the case with Jesus. The condemned commonly lived on the cross twelve hours, sometimes even to the third day.

This kind of death united in the highest degree the pains and infamy of all other punishments. Cradelissimum teterrimumque supplicium, says Cicero (in Verrem). The increasing inflammation of the wounds, the unnatural position, the forced immobility and the rigidity of the limbs which resulted from it, the local congestions, especially in the head, the inexpressible anguish resulting from the disturbance of the circulation, a burning fever and thirst tortured the condemned without killing him.

Was it the Jews who had demanded the execution of the other two condemned persons, in order to render the shame of Jesus more complete? Or must we find here an insult on Pilate's part to the Jewish people represented by these two companions in punishment of their King? It is difficult to say.

The inscription: