No room at the inn? I doubt it!

Most Bible translations state that after Jesus was born, He was laid in a manger “because there was no room for them in the inn”. This sounds as if they were rejected by the people of Bethlehem. Was that really the case?

There is a trap in traditional language. “No room in the inn” has taken on the meaning of “the inn had a number of rooms and all were occupied” in other words, the “no vacancy sign” was already “switched on” when Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem. But the Greek word does not refer to “a room in an inn” but rather to “space” (topos) as in “there is no room my desk for my new computer”. It is important to keep this correction in mind as we turn to the word we have told was an “inn”.

The Greek word in Luke 2:7, that is commonly translated “inn” is katalyma. This is not the ordinary word for a commercial inn. In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) the Samaritan takes the wounded man to an inn. The Greek word in that text is pandocheion, namely a commercial inn.

If Luke expected his readers to think Joseph was turned away from an “inn”, he would have used the word pandocheion, which meant a commercial inn, but in Luke 2:7 it is a katalyma that is crowded!

What then does this word mean?

Literally, katalyma is simply “a place to stay” and refers to many types of shelters. There are three choices: An inn (the English translation tradition), house (Arabic tradition of more than 1000 years,) and guest room (Luke’s choice)

Luke uses katalyma on one other occasion in his Gospel, in Luke 22, Jesus tells his disciples:

Here, the keyword, katalyma, is defined; it is “an upper room,” which is clearly a guest room in a private home. This precise meaning makes perfect sense when applied to the birth story. In Luke 2:7, Luke tells his readers that Jesus was placed in a manger (in the family room) because in that home the guest room was already full.

If at the end of Luke’s Gospel the word katalyma means guestroom attached to the private room (Luke 22:11), why would it not have the same meaning in the beginning of his gospel? It is a little doubtful whether the familiar translation “in the inn” is correct. It is possible that Joseph had relied upon the hospitality of some friend in Bethlehem, whose guestroom however was already full when he and Mary arrived.

Jesus through Middle-Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey

Be Sociable, Share!

•