“and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”
Luke 2:7
Many of us have heard that Jesus was born in a stable, largely due to the translation of the Greek word katalymaas “inn” in Luke 2:7 in some versions. This, combined with the detail that Jesus was placed in a “manger,” has led many to assume Mary and Joseph were turned away from an inn and found refuge in a stable. But katalyma is better translated “guest room.” In ancient Near East peasant homes, there would often be a space reserved for guests separated from the area of the home where animals would also stay. Joseph went to Bethlehem to stay with family during the census (v. 4). But because there wasn’t enough room in the guest area of the house, Mary gave birth in the area of the home that had an animal manger (v. 7), an ideal shape for cradling a newborn.
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