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Matthew 27: Pilate, a man of Cyrene, and the place called Golgotha

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Matthew 26:71ESV

And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of .”

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So they took counsel and bought with them the as a burial place for strangers.

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Therefore that field has been called the to this day.

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and they gave them for the , as the Lord directed me.”

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As they went out, they found a man of , Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.

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And when they came to a place called (which means Place of a Skull),

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and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the and appeared to many.

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There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from , ministering to him,

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When it was evening, there came a rich man from , named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.

Matthew 28:7ESV

Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to ; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”

Matthew 26
Matthew 28

Jesus is handed over to Pilate the governor, and Judas throws the thirty pieces of silver into the temple and hangs himself; the chief priests buy the potter's field with them, which is called the Field of Blood. Pilate releases Barabbas, and a man of Cyrene named Simon is made to carry the cross to a place called Golgotha, where Jesus is crucified while women who had followed him from Galilee look on. At his death the bodies of saints are raised and later go into the holy city, and Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea, lays the body in his own new tomb.

Map of Matthew 27: Pilate, a man of Cyrene, and the place called Golgotha — 5 sites plotted

Regions on this map

Verse 55: Galilee, the country the watching women had followed Jesus from.

  • The many women looking on from a distance at the cross "had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him" (verse 55). Galilee is the northern region around the lake.

    the northern region as a whole; the representative point the sources give falls in the Sea of Galilee

Verses 7-8, 33, 53 and 57: the potter's field called the Field of Blood, Golgotha, the holy city, and Arimathea, home of Joseph who buries Jesus.

  • The potter's field the chief priests buy with Judas's thirty pieces of silver as a burial place for strangers (verse 7), "called the Field of Blood to this day" (verse 8), and the field of the prophecy quoted in verse 10. The gazetteer lists it as Akeldama and puts it, with 248 votes, just south of Jerusalem's Old City.

    Today: just south of Jerusalem's Old City

  • "A place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull)" (verse 33), where Jesus is offered wine mixed with gall, crucified, and watched over by the soldiers (verses 34-36). Its site is not certain: the gazetteer's votes favour the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (397), against 17 for a site proposed by Taylor and none for Gordon's Calvary, and the pin is at the church.

    Today: Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Old City of Jerusalem (most votes)

  • Meant by "the holy city" (verse 53), into which the raised saints go after his resurrection and appear to many. The temple where Judas throws down the silver (verse 5) and whose curtain is torn (verse 51) is in the city too.

    Today: Jerusalem

  • Home of Joseph, the rich man and disciple who asks Pilate for the body and lays it in his own new tomb (verses 57-60). The site is not certain: the gazetteer's votes favour Rantis (301) over al-Ram (195) and Beit Rima (77), and the pin is at Rantis.

    Today: Rantis, north-west of Jerusalem (most votes)

Verse 32: Cyrene, home of Simon, who is made to carry the cross.

  • Simon, "a man of Cyrene," is compelled to carry the cross as they go out (verse 32). Cyrene was a Greek city in North Africa; all 500 votes put it at the ruins of Cyrene in eastern Libya.

    Today: Shahhat, eastern Libya

Matthew 27, verse by verse

  1. Matthew 27:7So they took counsel and bought with them the as a burial place for strangers.
  2. Matthew 27:8Therefore that field has been called the to this day.
  3. Matthew 27:10and they gave them for the , as the Lord directed me.”
  4. Matthew 27:32As they went out, they found a man of , Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.
  5. Matthew 27:33And when they came to a place called (which means Place of a Skull),
  6. Matthew 27:53and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the and appeared to many.
  7. Matthew 27:55There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from , ministering to him,
  8. Matthew 27:57When it was evening, there came a rich man from , named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.