Do the Gospel narratives about Golgotha fit the geography and customs of first century Judea? Yes they do—and reflecting on this question helps us to grasp the significance of Christ's death.
I just happened to read that 2Sam 15 passage and the related Psalms 55 this weekend, and David's exile route east of Jerusalem, through the Kidron, with his "head covered" and all the people weeping seems to foreshadow Jesus's exile out of the city after his betrayal and trial, only Jesus's exile ends in death—very cool passage, especially with the betrayal theme present. Thanks for making that Mount of Olives connection stand out.
Correct. The most important passage on this subject is 2Sam 15. David ascends the Mt. of Olives to the summit, which in Hebrew is called the "rosh." Later when this was translated into Greek, this word was left untranslated, so basically Greek characters were used to spell "rosh," which indicates that the name of the top of the Mt. of Olives in Hebrew was "The place of the Head / Peak / Summit." So, Golgotha is the name of this place when you translate to Aramaic.
David, Numbers 1:2 says “Take a census (rosh) of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head (gulgolet). The word rosh in this sentence refers to a "head count" and the word gulgolet, which here means "top of the head," is the Hebrew equivalent of the Aramaic word, "golgotha." As to your first question, I don't make much of the Goliath legend.
1) What do you make of Golgotha being related to "Gol"-iath of "Gath" and this was also a place where Goliath's beheaded skull was buried? 2) Does the word "golgotha" show up in the Hebrew (OT) scripture, and if so, does it mean "head" in the text?
I just happened to read that 2Sam 15 passage and the related Psalms 55 this weekend, and David's exile route east of Jerusalem, through the Kidron, with his "head covered" and all the people weeping seems to foreshadow Jesus's exile out of the city after his betrayal and trial, only Jesus's exile ends in death—very cool passage, especially with the betrayal theme present. Thanks for making that Mount of Olives connection stand out.
Correct. The most important passage on this subject is 2Sam 15. David ascends the Mt. of Olives to the summit, which in Hebrew is called the "rosh." Later when this was translated into Greek, this word was left untranslated, so basically Greek characters were used to spell "rosh," which indicates that the name of the top of the Mt. of Olives in Hebrew was "The place of the Head / Peak / Summit." So, Golgotha is the name of this place when you translate to Aramaic.
So the Numbers reference is pre-David & Goliath. So it wouldn't make sense for this word to show up at that time and also relate to Goliath. Correct?
Looking forward to this episode!
David, Numbers 1:2 says “Take a census (rosh) of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head (gulgolet). The word rosh in this sentence refers to a "head count" and the word gulgolet, which here means "top of the head," is the Hebrew equivalent of the Aramaic word, "golgotha." As to your first question, I don't make much of the Goliath legend.
1) What do you make of Golgotha being related to "Gol"-iath of "Gath" and this was also a place where Goliath's beheaded skull was buried? 2) Does the word "golgotha" show up in the Hebrew (OT) scripture, and if so, does it mean "head" in the text?