ACC ~ John 19 v17b

ADAM AND THE PLACE OF THE SKULL

ORIGEN: The place of the skull is said to have some special appropriateness for the death of him who was to die for humankind. A Hebraic tradition has come down to us that says that the body of Adam the first man was buried just where Christ was crucified. And so, as in Adam all die, so in Christ all should be made alive. In the place that is called the place of the skull or head, the head of the human race should find resurrection along with the whole people through the resurrection of the Lord and Savior who suffered there and rose again. For it was unfitting that when many born from him received remission of sins and attained the blessing of resurrection, the very father of all people should not also attain this grace. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 126. [1]

[1] AEG 6:54-55*; GCS 38 2 (11):264-65.

THE TRADITION OF ADAM QUESTIONABLE

JEROME: [The tradition that Adam died at Calvary is] an apt connection and smooth to the ear but not true. For the place where they cut off the heads of people condemned to death, called in consequence Calvary, was outside the city gates, whereas we read in the book of Jesus [i.e., Joshua] the son of Nave [Nun], that Adam was buried by Hebron and Arbah. [1] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4. [2]

[1] Jerome makes a somewhat dubious assertion here on the basis of the Hebrew text of Josh 14:15, which contains the Hebrew word Adam, but the context would suggest its translation as “man” rather than “Adam.” He more than likely knew the rabbinic tradition preserved in Genesis Rabbah 58.4 and based his assertion on that explanation which gave the name of Kiriath Arbah as the burial place of Adam and Eve as well as the patriarchs and their wives. At any rate, he still cites the tradition in one of his own letters, Letter 46, which follows.

[2] CCL 77:270.

THE BLOOD OF THE SECOND ADAM WASHES THE SIN OF THE FIRST ADAM

JEROME: Well, then, to bring forward something still more out of place, we must go back to yet remoter times. Tradition has it that in this city, in fact, on this very spot, Adam lived and died. The place where our Lord was crucified is called Calvary, [1] because the skull of the first man was buried there. So it came to pass that the second Adam, that is, the blood [2] of Christ, as it dropped from the cross, washed away the sins of the buried one who was first formed, [3] the first Adam, and thus the words of the apostle were fulfilled: “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.” [4] LETTER 46.3. [5]

[1] The place of a skull (Lat. Calvaria).

[2] One of Jerome’s fanciful ideas. Haddam is the Hebrew for “the blood.”

[3] Gk protoplastos. See Wis 7:1.

[4] Eph 5:14.

[5] NPNF 2 6:61**.

THE PROPHETIC NAME OF GOLGOTHA

CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: Now Golgotha is interpreted “the place of a skull.” Who were they, then, who prophetically named this spot Golgotha in which Christ the true head endured the cross? The apostle calls him “the image of the invisible God,” and a little after, “the head of the body, the church.” [1] And again, “The head of every man is Christ.” [2] And again, “[He] is the head over all principalities and powers.” [3] The head suffered in “the place of the skull.” O wondrous prophetic appellation! The very name also reminds you, saying, “Do not think of the Crucified as a mere man.” He is “the head of all principalities and powers.” That head that was crucified is the head of all power and has for his head the Father, “for the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God.” [4] CATECHETICAL LECTURES 13.23. [5]

[1] Col 1:15, 18.

[2] 1 Cor 11:3.

[3] Col 2:10.

[4] 1 Cor 11:3.

[5] NPNF 2 7:88**. Sozomen records in his Ecclesiastical History 2.26 the completion of the “Great Martyrium,” which was built on the site during Constantine’s reign as a focal point for Christian piety and pilgrimage.