Advent: A Place for Peace
κατάλυμα (katalyma)
The first word in question—κατάλυμα (katalyma)—appears three times in the New Testament. Luke uses this term in the birth narrative of Jesus, where Jesus is said to be laid in a manger because there is no room/place for Him in the κατάλυμα (katalyma) (Luke 2:7). Most English Bibles translate this word as “inn,” implying that Joseph and Mary sought lodging in a hotel-like establishment, which was at capacity. They therefore celebrated the birth of Jesus in a cave or stable.
This reading is problematic for several reasons. First, Middle Eastern hospitality would not have allowed a pregnant woman to give birth alone. Further, Bethlehem was Joseph’s hometown—the very reason they were in Bethlehem was that he belonged to the house and line of David (see Luke 2:4)—and thus his relatives would have been even more able and ready to assist in the birth of the next member of the extended family. Mary’s relative Elizabeth lived in the hill country of Judah as well and was supportive of Mary during the pregnancy (Luke 1:39–45); even at the farthest possible location, this would still be within traveling distance from Bethlehem (up to eight miles). Consequently, if Joseph and Mary had planned ahead, they could have gone there for security and support (Bailey, Jesus, 25–26).
Certain village homes in the Bible, such as the ones likely found in Bethlehem, were built according to a two-level plan. In such a home, the door opened to the lower level where the animals came in for safety and warmth in the evening. Nearby mangers held their food or water. A small staircase or ramp would lead to the main living room of the house. Attached to this room was a guest room, reserved for guests and offering hospitality (compare the room for Elijah in 2 Kgs 4:8–10).
The established use of the word in the New Testament and the style of home construction of the era suggest that the κατάλυμα (katalyma) of Luke’s birth narrative should be understood to mean a guestroom rather than a pay-for-service lodging. Of the modern English translations, only the NIV and HCSB render the text this way (Bailey, Jesus, 28–34). Therefore, it is likely that with the influx of relatives, Jesus was not born in the guest room (κατάλυμα, katalyma), but probably in the bottom floor of a family member’s house in Bethlehem (Bailey, Jesus, 32).
Additionally, κατάλυμα (katalyma) also appears in Luke 22:11 and its parallel, Mark 14:14. These passages record Jesus telling His disciples to make preparations for the Passover in Jerusalem the night of His betrayal. Here the disciples are told to locate a κατάλυμα (katalyma)—translated “guest room”—for the Passover meal.
2:6–7. The “swaddling clothes” were long cloth strips used to keep babies’ limbs straight so they could grow properly (cf. Wisdom of Solomon 7:4). Some advised using them for forty or (more often) sixty days; others advised removing them as soon as the baby’s limbs were firm. Midwives normally assisted at birth; especially because this was Mary’s first child, it is likely (though not explicit in the text) that a midwife would assist her. Jewish *law permitted midwives to travel a long distance even on the Sabbath to assist in delivery.
By the early second century A.D. even pagans in the area were reportedly widely aware of the tradition that Jesus was born in a cave used as a livestock shelter behind someone’s home, and they reported the site of this cave to the emperor Hadrian. (The story could have been adapted to fit a few *Gentile stories about deities born in caves, but its earliness lends some weight to its reliability.) The manger was a feeding trough for animals; sometimes these may have been built into the floor. The word traditionally translated “inn” probably means something more like “home” or “guest room”; whether because other relatives may have also been returning home for the census or for other reasons, it is easier for Mary to bear (or care for the child after birth) in the vacant cave outside.
2 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire for taxes. 2 This was the first registration, taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 Everyone went to his own town to be registered. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.