Post by JEM on Dec 10, 2009 4:11:02 GMT
CORRECTING CHRISTMAS
Contrary to Common belief there were no Inn's in Bethlehem.
William Tyndale whose 1535 NT translation was based on Erasmus's Greek New Testament in Classical Greek based on between 3 and 8 Byzantine manuscripts from Antioch translated a Greek word KATALYMA in Luke 2 verse 7 as "Inn" whereas John Wycliff in 1395 translated into English from the Latin Bible, the Vulgate,which Jerome based upon Common Greek manuscripts from Alexandria, and he translated it as "chaumbir" which in modern English is "chamber", and "chamber" stood for the "guest chamber" in any of the homes in Bethlehem.The New English Bible translated Luke 2 v 7 as "She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was " no room for them to lodge in the house" while The Jewish New Testament renders it "She wrapped him in cloth and laid him down in a feeding trough because there was no space for them, in the living quarters"
The homes of those days and for centuries afterwards into the early 20th century in Palestine, were mainly one front family living room, and an upstairs "guest chamber" above the livestock enclosure where a cow and donkey and sometimes some sheep would be tethered at night, The floor of the family living room was about 4 feet above the livestock enclosure and along the edge of that floor was the stone eating trough used by the animals. [ this was the "manger" Jesus would have been laid in.]
The word KATALYMA is also used by Luke in Luke 22 v 11 and by the writer of Mark's gospel in Mark 14 v 14 where it is translated as a "furnished upper room"
When Luke refered in the parable of the Good Samaritain, [ Luke 10 v 25 - 37] to the wounded man being taken to an Inn, the Greek word for Inn used is PANDOCHEION.
Also it would have been regarded as shameful of any village in the area to have to turn away a descendent of King David or put them in a stable and there were lots of villages within an hour's donkey journey from Bethlehem where an extended family such as Joseph's could have lodged such guests and the birth did not take place on the day they arrived but "while they were there". .
So it would seem that because of William Tyndale's mistake the popular English Protestant Geneva Bible of 1540 and the Authorised Version of 1611, including the 1759 edition still in common use, and many modern versions have misled us and that has been enshrined into folk lore. carols, art, Bible pictures, nativity plays and Christmas cards So we cannot blame folk for getting it wrong, except that some have referred to more than one Inn when according to archaeologists there were no Inns at all.
All this interesting commentary on the text was found in an article " Oy vey in a manger!" by Mike Moore in the December 2009 edition of HERALD, the magazine of CHRISTIAN WITNESS TO ISRAEL, formerly called the British Mission to the Jews, which since the late 19th century has been evangelising Jews in the UK, around the world and in modern Israel.
Contrary to Common belief there were no Inn's in Bethlehem.
William Tyndale whose 1535 NT translation was based on Erasmus's Greek New Testament in Classical Greek based on between 3 and 8 Byzantine manuscripts from Antioch translated a Greek word KATALYMA in Luke 2 verse 7 as "Inn" whereas John Wycliff in 1395 translated into English from the Latin Bible, the Vulgate,which Jerome based upon Common Greek manuscripts from Alexandria, and he translated it as "chaumbir" which in modern English is "chamber", and "chamber" stood for the "guest chamber" in any of the homes in Bethlehem.The New English Bible translated Luke 2 v 7 as "She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was " no room for them to lodge in the house" while The Jewish New Testament renders it "She wrapped him in cloth and laid him down in a feeding trough because there was no space for them, in the living quarters"
The homes of those days and for centuries afterwards into the early 20th century in Palestine, were mainly one front family living room, and an upstairs "guest chamber" above the livestock enclosure where a cow and donkey and sometimes some sheep would be tethered at night, The floor of the family living room was about 4 feet above the livestock enclosure and along the edge of that floor was the stone eating trough used by the animals. [ this was the "manger" Jesus would have been laid in.]
The word KATALYMA is also used by Luke in Luke 22 v 11 and by the writer of Mark's gospel in Mark 14 v 14 where it is translated as a "furnished upper room"
When Luke refered in the parable of the Good Samaritain, [ Luke 10 v 25 - 37] to the wounded man being taken to an Inn, the Greek word for Inn used is PANDOCHEION.
Also it would have been regarded as shameful of any village in the area to have to turn away a descendent of King David or put them in a stable and there were lots of villages within an hour's donkey journey from Bethlehem where an extended family such as Joseph's could have lodged such guests and the birth did not take place on the day they arrived but "while they were there". .
So it would seem that because of William Tyndale's mistake the popular English Protestant Geneva Bible of 1540 and the Authorised Version of 1611, including the 1759 edition still in common use, and many modern versions have misled us and that has been enshrined into folk lore. carols, art, Bible pictures, nativity plays and Christmas cards So we cannot blame folk for getting it wrong, except that some have referred to more than one Inn when according to archaeologists there were no Inns at all.
All this interesting commentary on the text was found in an article " Oy vey in a manger!" by Mike Moore in the December 2009 edition of HERALD, the magazine of CHRISTIAN WITNESS TO ISRAEL, formerly called the British Mission to the Jews, which since the late 19th century has been evangelising Jews in the UK, around the world and in modern Israel.