The name “Calvary” is found one time in the Bible in Luke 23:33 if you have a KJV or NKJV. It is not found in any of the new versions of the English bible. Here is a sample so you can see for yourself.
ESV
33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
MSG
33 When they got to the place called Skull Hill, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right, the other on his left.
NASB
33 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.
NIV
33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
AMP
33 And when they came to the place which is called The Skull [Latin: Calvary; Hebrew: Golgotha], there they crucified Him, and [along with] the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.
NKJV
33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
KJV
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.
As you can see from the Amplified translation in brackets, Calvary (Calvaria) is the Latin for the Greek word, kranion while Golgotha is the same word in Hebrew. These words mean bare skull. This area had this name because of the appearance of the landscape or because of the practice of execution that was carried out there (or both).
The questions that I want to consider on this post are: why did the KJV translators use the word Calvary here in Luke and not in the other Gospels? and does it matter that the new versions of the bible remove this word?
The first consideration is that Luke’s Gospel was written to a gentile audience. It was addressed to Theophilus, a gentile convert to Christianity. Luke’s Gospel contains the parable of the pounds (a gentile measure of weight) while Matthew’s Gospel contains the parable of the talents (a Jewish measure of weight). While the other Gospel accounts contain the Hebrew word Golgotha, Calvary certainly fits here because the mostly gentile Church needs to know that Christ’s atonement was for them as well as the Jews.
The next reason for the use of the word Calvary here is alliteration. The repetition of consonants is used throughout the KJV to aid in the writing of God’s words upon the reader’s heart. Think about other words related to the Lord’s atoning sacrifice: Christ, cross, crucifixion, carried, and “a Cyrenian coming out of the country (vs. 26).” Changing Calvary to The Skull does serious harm to the flow of the verse. You will not find other words beginning with “sk” in the chapter or surrounding the atonement in general.
Consider how God has sanctified the word Calvary in the Church. It has taken on more than just being a substitute word for skull or Golgotha. Its meaning has grown to encompass the entire transaction of Christ, the just dying for mankind, the unjust. It has grown from a word of death to a word in the Church which brings to mind our hope and God’s love. Think about how many of the Church’s songs have references to Calvary – “Mercy there was great and grace was free at Calvary.” Think about how many churches have Calvary in their name – Calvary Assembly of God. I wonder how many of the churches today that sing of Calvary and even use it in their name use an NIV or ESV for their bible. There are many and most do not realize that they are using a bible that has removed its only reference.
The constant refrain of all those who support the new versions of the bible as opposed to the KJV is that there is no major doctrine of the Christian Church that has been altered or removed. They say they are all in there. The truth is that by removing this one word, Calvary from the bible the Church has lost much. It does affect the doctrine of the atoning sacrifice of Christ in several ways mentioned above. It is more than I am willing to surrender. I will stick with my KJV and Calvary.