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When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left.
Luke 23:33 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.
  • KJV 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.
  • NKJV 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.
  • NASB And 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.
  • NLT When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

At the place called The Skull they crucified Jesus between the two criminals. The sinless Savior died the death of the condemned.

Overview

At Golgotha (Calvary), Jesus is nailed to the cross with a criminal on each side. The central position marks Him as the focus of God's redemptive act, though to onlookers He seemed merely the chief of three offenders. Here the predicted suffering reaches its climax as Christ pours out His life as an offering for sin.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Mark 15:22–23They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull.
  • John 19:17–18Carrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.
  • Zech 12:10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
  • Deut 21:23you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
  • Matt 27:33–34And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull,
  • John 18:32This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to indicate the kind of death He was going to die.
  • 1 Pet 2:24He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
  • Acts 13:29When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.
  • Gal 3:13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
  • Heb 13:12–13And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood.
  • Ps 22:16For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
  • Matt 26:2“You know that the Passover is two days away, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
  • Matt 20:19and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day He will be raised to life.”
  • John 12:33–34He said this to indicate the kind of death He was going to die.
  • Mark 10:33–34“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles,
  • John 3:14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
  • Luke 24:7‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”
  • Acts 5:30The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree.
  • Acts 2:23He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 23:33YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.

How Luke 23:33 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.