Barnes New Testament Notes

Verse 12. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood. That there might be a conformity between his death for sin and the sacrifices which typified it. It is implied here that it was voluntary on the part of Jesus that he suffered out of the city; that is, it was so ordered by Providence that it should be so. This was secured by his being put to death as the result of a judicial trial, and not by popular tumult. See Notes on Isa 53:8. If he had been killed in a tumult, it is possible that it might have been done as in other cases, (comp. the case of Zacharias, son of Barachias, Mt 23:35,) even at the altar is he was subjected, however, to a judicial process, his death was effected with more deliberation, and in the usual form. Hence he was conducted out of the city, because no criminal was executed within the walls of Jerusalem.

Without the gate. Without the gate of Jerusalem, Joh 19:17,18. The place where he was put to death was called Golgotha, the place of a skull, and hence the Latin word which we commonly use in speaking of it, Calvary, Lu 23:33; comp. See Barnes "Mt 27:33".

Calvary, as it is now shown, is within the walls of Jerusalem; but there is no reason to believe that is the place where the Lord Jesus was crucified, for that was outside of the walls of the city. The precise direction from the city is not designated by the sacred writers, nor are there any historical records, or traditional marks, by which it can now be known where the exact place was. All that we know on the subject from the New Testament is, that the name was Golgotha; that the place of the crucifixion and sepulchre were near each other; that they were without the gate, and nigh to the city, and that they were in a frequented spot, Joh 19:20. "This would favour the conclusion that the place was probably upon a great road leading from one of the gates; and such a spot would only be found upon the western or northern sides of the city, on the roads leading towards Joppa or Damascus." See the question about the place of the crucifixion examined at length in Robinson's Bibli. Research., vol. ii., pp.69 -- 80, and Bibliotheca Sacra, No.1.

{*} "sanctify" "make expiation for" {b} "without the gate" Joh 19:17,18