John 19:17

John 19:17. And bearing the cross for himself he went forth unto the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. It is a trace of the accuracy of John both in observing and relating facts, that he is the only Evangelist who mentions the circumstance. Nor is there any contradiction betwixt this statement and that of the three earlier Gospels which tells us that they compelled Simon of Cyrene to bear the cross after Jesus. Jesus had borne it at first, but had afterwards been compelled through fatigue to resign it. On ‘went forth' comp. on chap. John 18:1. The place was called Golgotha, ‘the place of a skull,' probably as being a small round hillock. The most interesting point to be noticed is the manner in which John dwells upon the meaning of the name. The ‘place of a skull' is the emblem to him of the sad transaction about to be completed there. The Evangelist adds,