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uke 2:7: "And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." The image of baby Jesus laid in a manger in a stable has been used to promote the typical Christmas nativity scene for generations. Originally, the New Testament was written in Greek and the Greek word, kataluma, actually means a place of rest, as in a 'guest room.' The same Greek word was used in Luke 22:11, where Jesus said to His disciples, "Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room {kataluma] where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"" The Arabic and Syriac versions of the New Testament have never translated kataluma as meaning an 'inn,' but instead as a 'guest room.' The translation of this Greek word as an
Merry Christmas!
Luke 2:7
'The Nativity'
'inn' is a product of our Western heritage. We have to keep in mind that even inns of Jesus' time often did not have individual rooms. They were far from anything like typical motels we have today. And because inns usually were found along major roads for commercial reasons,
the benefit of strangers. In Christ's day, hospitality was essential; denial of hospitality was an outrage. Even today, hospitality toward visitors is still important throughout the Middle East. Joseph would have been returning to his ancestral home for the census. He probably had
it's doubtful that an inn even existed in a small town such as Bethlehem. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus mentions that the injured man in the story was taken to an 'inn,' using the Greek word, pandokheion, the normal word for an 'inn.' The Semitic spirit of hospitality led the Jews and early Christians to keep an open house for
relatives there, and being a descendant of King David, he would have been highly respected upon his arrival. Luke 2:4-6 reads: "So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary,
December 2021
who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born." Mary and Joseph must have already been lodging somewhere in Bethlehem when her birth pangs began. More than likely, they found a house in which to stay in Bethlehem, probably that of Joseph's relatives. And a manger could very well have been found within a first-century home. A typical Judean house of that day consisted of an area near the door, often with a dirt floor, where the family's animals were kept at night so that they wouldn't be stolen and they would also be kept warm. The family lived and slept in a raised part of the same room set back from the door. There was usually a guest room, either upstairs on a second floor or adjoining the family common room on the lower floor. Typically, the lower area near the door had a manger for food and water for the animals. This scene of an ox or donkey in the house at night might
