[B-Greek] Re: Luke on KATALUMA
waldo slusher
waldoslusher at yahoo.com
Tue Dec 30 10:50:03 EST 2003
Oun:
On this....
> When cleansed of all these, the verse Luke 2:7 may
> simply and cleanly
> rendered: "laid him in a food-trough for there was
> no place for them in the
> lodging."
I think this is not quite correct, but close. Luke
actually clarifies his use of KATALUMA with ANAGAION
in 22:12. Which would by definition be: "anything
raised from the ground; the upper floor of a house."
The expected location for a new born baby would have
been to stay in the UPSTAIRS ROOM, away from the other
visiting relatives and of course the noise and
distractions that any typical household would
experience.
This main, upstairs room was already occupied by other
relatives who had arrived earlier than Joseph and
Mary, and I suppose that even these relatives
suggested that Joseph and Mary take the KATALUMA and
that they (the relatives) relocate downstairs in
another room (bedroom or spare rooms of any sort).
Joseph simply suggested that he and Mary take a
downstairs room, perhaps off the courtyard where a
nearby makeshift stable was also readied for the baby.
(I am of course guessing here but I assume they
cleared out this stable to make a place for the baby
to nap, in the manger). There is certainly no
indication the the baby was born IN A STABLE, only
that he was placed there for convenience AFTER being
born.
The reason then for the explanation as to why the baby
was not put in the KATALUMA seems simple enough though
not specifically stated. But the clarification to me
suggests that the first century readers would have
wondered why the baby was not located in the upstairs room.
=====
Waldo Slusher
Calgary, AB
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