JESUS and the PLACE OF THE SKULL - LUKE 23:33

 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. (King James Version) Luke 23:33

And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified him there; and the robbers, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. (Douay-Rheims Bible) Luke 23:33

And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. (New American Standard 1977) Luke 23:33
 

Calvary or The Skull?

On what hill or mount was Jesus crucified, and why is the place significant as concerns cosmic geography? The answer to the first part of the question is that Jesus was crucified on top "of the place of the skull." Yet in the King James Bible, and other older English translations, as well as the Roman Catholic English translation, the Douay-Rheims, we note that Jesus was crucified on "Calvary." 

The Greek word for Calvary is 'kranion'. So how did the English translators arrive at using the word Calvary for the Greek word "kranion"? For the answer we need to know that the Bible known as the Latin Vulgate, Jerome's translation of the Greek New Testament (late 4th century) into Latin, translated the Greek word 'kranion' to the Latin word for skull which is 'calvarium'. Both the Greek 'kranion' and the Latin 'calvarium' are defined as the upper domelike portion of the skull without the lower jaw and facial parts.The other three Gospels refer "to the place of the skull" as Golgotha. Golgotha is the Hebrew/Aramaic equivalent of the Greek 'kranion' and the Latin 'calvarium'. (Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17)

Jesus, when it was time for his crucifixion, was taken out to a high peak known as 'the place of the skull' just outside the city walls east of Herod's Temple. According to St. Cyprian, "It is a tradition of the ancients that Adam was buried in this place where Christ was crucified, and that his skull lay here." (Gill commentary @ Biblehub for Luke 23:33) Thus we get 'the place of The Skull'. The First Adam's skull!

Amazingly, this mount in Jerusalem, is also known as Mount Moriah. It is written, "Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father..." (2 Chronicles 3:1) Mount Moriah is known today as 'The Temple Mount', where Jews claim the Temple of God was located, and where today is situated the Moslem's Dome of the Rock. Many of today's Jews envision the Dome of the Rock being destroyed, and in its place a third temple being erected!

Jesus ascended the place of the skull, mount Calvary, mount Moriah, to fulfill his purpose as the sacrificial lamb of God (John 1:29; Isaiah 53). Jesus the Lamb, on the Cross, "hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:4-7) 

It was on this same Mount Moriah, 2500 years earlier, that the father of the true faith, Abraham, took his only son, Isaac, to offer as a sacrifice according to God's command. God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." (Genesis 22:2) As you read Genesis 22:1-14 you will see the typology of the father Abraham willingly traveling to the top of Mount Moriah to offer his only son. Abraham even lays the wood that would be used for the offering upon the back of his son to carry up the mount. Isaac, the obedient son, willing to obey his father, asks "where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham says, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." Abraham upon arriving on top of Moriah, builds an altar, lays the wood in order, and binds Isaac his son, and lays him upon the wood. As Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, the Angel of the Lord calls to him out of heaven. This would be the pre-incarnate Son of God calling to Abraham. God provides a ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac. "And Abraham called the name of the place 'Jehovah-jireh': as it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." (Genesis 22:14) Genesis 22:14 in the Septuagint reads "Thus Abraham called the name of the place The-Lord-Has-Appeared: as it is said to this day, "In the mountain the Lord was seen." And the Lord, Jehovah-jireh, himself provided a lamb to be the sacrifice. The story of Abraham and Isaac is a typological foreshadowing of the Father in heaven providing his only Son, whom he loves, to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world.

The answer to the second part of the above question concerning 'cosmic geography' is, that where the first Adam, who died and was buried on 'the place of the skull', because of his sin, so also the second Adam, Jesus, would die to redeem Adam's race, that is the human race. But unlike the 'First Adam', who was buried and remained in the an earthly grave, the second Adam, Jesus, would not remain in the grave, but would rise from the dead on the third day vanquishing the powers of darkness and destroying death by death. (Colossians 2:14-15; Hebrews 2:9-15; 1 John 3:8; 2 Timothy 1:8-10)

Jesus crucifixion was just outside the walls of Jerusalem (Hebrews 13:12) where passers-by could read the sign that was placed upon the Cross that read, "in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin" - "JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS". (John 19:19-20; Matthew 27:37-43) At the moment of Jesus death "He cried with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom." Because Jerusalem is situated on a number of hills or mounts, a person could be standing on the top of one mount and see across to the top of a nearby adjacent mount. It may be so that when the high priest was in the Holy place performing the sacrifice for the Passover that the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom at the moment of Jesus death, And since the Temple faced east toward "the place of The Skull" the high priest would be looking straight east to Jesus on the Cross through the torn veil.