Golgatha – When, Where, and How, Part 2   04.2008

Part 2

"..knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a faultless and pure lamb, the blood of Messiah; who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of times for your sake." (1 Pet 1:18-20)

In Part 1 in this series we looked at the question of when Yeshua died. We will now take a look at the next question: Where did Yeshua die?

There are today two main opinions among Christians of where in Jerusalem (or to be exact outside of Biblical Jerusalem) Yeshua died and rose again. The first and most popular opinion is that it happened at the location of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The second more recent option is what is called today Gordon's Golgotha or the Garden Tomb.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built on the ruins of a temple to the fertility goddess Venus. Some remains of the temple are actually still visible today. The Venus temple was built by Emperor Hadrian in the second century, right after the destruction of Jerusalem in 135 CE. The well know historian Josephus describes in his book War of the Jews that there was a famous tomb in this area which belonged to one of the Maccabee heroes John Hyrcanus. Hadrian hated the Jewish people and most likely built the shrine to Venus on top of this tomb, in order to desecrate this powerful symbol of Jewish freedom and discourage further uprisings. In the fourth century, Constantine's mother Helena chose this spot as the place for Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

If we remember that Yeshua died and was raised again "according to the Scriptures", it is very easy to prove with absolute certainty that neither the Church of the Holy Sepulcher nor Gordon's Golgotha is the authentic site.

Paul wrote in Romans 3:1-2, "Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God." The Swiss theologian Karl Barth wrote "The Bible …is a Jewish book. It cannot be read and understood and expounded unless we are prepared to become Jews with the Jews."1 The reason for the many errors that have crept into Christianity is because Christian theologians throughout history have refused to be humble and learn from the Jewish people about their Scriptures.

Beit HaDeshen – Place of the Ashes

In answering the question of when Yeshua died, we naturally looked at what had been prophesied about the Messiah in The Feasts of the LORD, which is God's calendar revealing his appointed times and seasons for the Son. We discovered that neither Good Friday nor Easter Sunday is part of God's calendar. It is written in Daniel 7:25 that it is the "anti messiah" who will change God's set times and laws.

In answering the question of where Yeshua died, we will look at what has been prophesied about the Messiah through the sacrifices prescribed in the Law of Moses. Yeshua died as the ultimate sacrifice fulfilling perfectly all the sacrifices.

From the Torah we know that every sacrifice offered in the Tabernacle and in the Temple were always offered "before the LORD." The expression "before the LORD" means in biblical language always a place east of the Holy of Holies, never west, north or south. This fact alone rules out both the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Gordon's Golgotha as possible places for the death of Yeshua, as these places are located west and north respectively of the Holy of Holies.2 These places then can never meet the requirement that Yeshua died for our sins "according to the Scriptures", in fulfillment of everything written about him. He certainly died "before the LORD", not behind him.

Let us first look at what is written about this in Hebrews 13:10-12,

"We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp. Therefore Yeshua also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate."

This passage gives us a very clear reference to where Yeshua died. It is specifically referring to the sin offering, which in Hebrew is called the chatat.3 Every sin offering, where the blood was carried into the Holy of Holies, was always burnt outside of the camp, in "a clean place" as it is written in Leviticus 4:12, "even the whole bull shall he carry forth outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. Where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned."

The "clean place" where "the ashes are poured out", was a designated area for this specific purpose called Beit HaDeshen, which simply means "Place of the Ashes." Notice that the author of the Book of Hebrews refers to this place where the sin offering was burnt, as the place of Yeshua's death!

In Heb 9:13-14, the author also compared Yeshua's death with the sacrifice of the Red Heifer,

"For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh: how much more will the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Both the Red Heifer and the flesh of the sin offerings, whose blood was carried into the Holy of Holies, were burnt in the same place. We read in Numbers 19:1-5 about this place,

"The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 'This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded: Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, and which was never yoked. You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her forth outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face; and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times. One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn."

We have already stated that the expression "before the LORD", meant east of the Tabernacle or Temple. Here we also see that the priest was to sprinkle the blood of the Red Heifer toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. This meant that he had to stand east of the Tabernacle or Temple, as the entrance always was in the east. This is also where the flesh of the sin offerings, which could not be eaten, was burnt to ashes at the place called Beit haDeshen. It was a designated clean area east of the Tabernacle/Temple.

The Temple was located in the east section of Jerusalem. If Yeshua died "before the LORD", and outside of the camp and the city, it means with absolute certainty that Yeshua shed his blood for the sin of mankind on the Mount of Olives! This is also where Bet haDeshen was located. No other place could fulfill what was written about him. Remember that Yeshua died for our sins "according to the Scriptures"! No more proof is actually needed to let us know where Yeshua died, and yet the Bible has a lot more information to give us, that point to the same place.

What Was Golgotha?

Everyone knows that Yeshua was crucified in a place called Golgotha4. But what was this place? Most English translations render this as "the Place of the Scull." Mark 15:22 says, "They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, 'The place of a skull.'" The place was called Golgotha. It was in other words a known place. What kind of place was it? Basically all encyclopedias state that Golgotha was called the Place of the Skull5 because it was a place for executions and burials. The Hebrew Scriptures give us, however, a completely different picture.

Golgotha comes from the Hebrew word gulgoleth. It is found in for instance Numbers 1:2 which says, "Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, every male, one by one." A more literal translation from the Hebrew of this verse is, "Lift up the sum [Hebr. rosh meaning "head"] of all the company of the sons of Israel by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names – every male by their polls [Hebr. gulgoleth]."

We see that the words for "sum" and "polls" are basically synonymous words. "Lift up the sum of all the company" and "every male by their polls" are two different ways to say the same thing. The Hebrew word used for "sum" is rosh, which literally means "head." Gulgoleth is OT:1538 in Strong's Concordance and is translated in the King James Bible as "head, every man, poll, or skull." We see that "skull" is not the primary meaning of the word gulgoleth, but "head." The only places in the Bible where gulgoleth sometimes is translated as skull is in Judges 9:53 and 2 Kings 9:35. But normally the word means "head, every person, or number." "The place of the skull" is therefore not the correct translation of Golgotha.

To take a census of the people, or to count the people, is expressed in the Hebrew as "lifting up the head" of each person, because it is a great honor to be counted among God's people. You count each person "by their head," gulgoleth. Golgatha was simply the place where the people of Israel were counted!

The way that the people were counted in the Bible and also in the second Temple period was by the so-called Temple tax. It is written in Matt 17:24, "the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, and ‘Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?'" (NIV). We read about this tax in Exodus 30:11-16,

"The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are numbered among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to the LORD, when you number them; that there be no plague among them when you number them. They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; (the shekel is twenty gerahs;) half a shekel for an offering to the LORD. Everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to the LORD. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of the LORD, to make atonement for your souls. You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for your souls.'"

Friends, Yeshua paid this price for all of mankind to make atonement for our souls, so that we could be counted among God's people! He did it at Golgotha, the "polling station", where the Temple tax was collected. Glory to God! Truly Moses wrote about him, (see 2 Ch 24:6) and everything written about him must be fulfilled. In the end no one will be counted among his people, who has not come to Golgotha and accepted the price that was paid there by the Messiah!

The place where a census was held was always before the LORD, and outside of the camp (see Num 31:13,19,48-49). It is very interesting that Ezekiel describes the place where the sin offering was to be burnt "outside of the camp," the Beit haDeshen, as "the numbering place"! "You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place of the house, outside of the sanctuary." (Ez 43:21) The Hebrew word for the appointed place here in this verse is miphqad, which means: "a designated spot; specifically, a census."6

We see here that the sin offering altar outside of the camp, was also the numbering place! This is the area where the Temple tax was collected and the people were numbered. It was Golgotha, "The place of a head," the place for counting, literally lifting up the heads of Israel! This is where Yeshua died. The place was located east of the Temple on the Mount of Olives.

The Curtain that Was Torn

There is more evidence pointing to Mount of Olives as the place where Yeshua died. We also read about his death in Matthew 27:50-54,

"Yeshua cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the holy ones who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Yeshua, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, 'Truly this was the Son of God.'"

And also in Luke 23:44-47,

"It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. Yeshua, crying with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!' Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, 'Certainly this was a righteous man.'"

Five things happened according to Matthew when Yeshua died:

1. He cried in a loud voice
2. The veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom
3. There was an earth quake and the rocks were split
4. Tombs were opened and after the resurrection righteous people came out of their graves
5. The centurion saw what happened and said, "Truly this was the Son of God."

Luke mentions point 1, 2 and 5 and also that the sun was darkened (which Matthew mentioned earlier in verse 45), but he does not mention point 3 and 4. If we compare the two passages we can deduct that the earth quake and the opening of the graves were not the main things that caused the centurion to believe since Luke does not even mention them. The darkening of the sun was neither the main reason that the centurion believed that Yeshua was the Son of God since Matthew mentions it earlier and not in connection with the statement faith made by the centurion.

What is left is the combination of the first two points: 1. Yeshua cried in a loud voice and 2. The veil in the Temple split open. The first one he did not see, he heard it. Matthew 27:54 says, "Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Yeshua, when they saw the earthquake, andthe things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, 'Truly this was the Son of God.'" And Luke 23:47 says, "When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, 'Certainly this was a righteous man.'"

The bottom line is that the centurion must have seen something happening in the Temple, when the veil was torn from top to bottom. This was totally impossible from any other place than from the Mount of Olives, certainly not from the place of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher or Gordon's Golgotha which both are located behind the Temple.

The Jewish scholar Alfred Edersheim wrote about the veil that it was 60 feet (about 20 meters) high and 30 feet (about 10 meters) wide. This means that the veil was as high as a six story building! It was as thick as the palm of a hand and consisted of 72 squares. Edersheim wrote that the veil was so heavy that, "in the exaggerated language of the time, it needed 300 priests to manipulate each [square]."7 The veil was in other words an enormous item in size and weight.

The Gospel of the Nazareans states that the large stone lintel above the doors to the Holy Place in the Temple split in two when the earth quake took place and the curtain was rent.8 This might have been part of the reason that the veil was torn. We need to remember that the Temple was considered to be one of the most beautiful and impressive buildings in the world and it was the largest place of worship in the known world at that time. The stone lintel above the doors weighed about 300 tons! When it came crashing down in the earth quake it must have been an incredibly spectacular sight from the Mount of Olives, just after Yeshua cried out in a loud voice.

It was not possible to see any of this from the place of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher or from Gordon's Golgotha, but only from the Mount of Olives. Remember also that the High Priest had to take of the blood of the red heifer with his finger and sprinkle it towards the doors of the Temple. This means that the doors had to be visible from the place where Yeshua died. Only if he died on the Mount of Olives was this possible.

In Part 3 if this series about Golgotha we will continue to look at the subject of where Yeshua died. There is more evidence both from the Scriptures, but also from Church history pointing with great certainty to the Mount of Olives as the place of Golgotha.

Read: Golgatha – When, Where, and How, Part 3

 

"Prepare the Way for the LORD"

 

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1 Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, et al. (Edinburgh: T.& T. Clark, 1956), ½:511
2 http://wcg.org/lit/jesus/golgotha.htm
3 The sin offering is in Hebrew called chatat, which simply means the "sin." Yeshua did not become sin for us. He became a sin offering for us. In the NIV Bible there is a note in the margin in 2 Cor 5:21 which says, "Or be a sin offering."
4 In Aramaic gulgalta
5 The Latin Vulgate Bible translated Golgotha into Calvaria from the Latin word for skull. The English word Calvary is derived from this Latin translation.
6 OT:4662 miphqad (mif-kawd'); from OT:6485; an appointment, i.e. mandate; concretely, a designated spot; specifically, a census." (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.) Strong's
7 Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. p. 894
8 According to some scholars this lintel also held up another veil in front of the doors to the Temple.