Friday, 26 June 2015

Calvary: a place name only in translation literature

The Vulgate of John 19:17 reads Et baiulans sibi crucem exivit in eum qui dicitur Calvariae locum hebraice Golgotha with Calvariae locum created as a calque on the Greek text's Κρανίου τόπον, whence the familiar 'Calvary'. OED s.v. notes that in Old English the placename was Headpan-stow.

The Vulgate simply retained Lithostrotus in verse 13.

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