Re: The wise men and their star

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ted Davis" <TDavis@messiah.edu>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>; <pruest@dplanet.ch>
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 4:21 PM
Subject: Re: The wise men and their star

> Peter's post is interesting, I hope it generates several interesting
> comments. Let me add a point that I take from my colleague Mike Cosby, a
> scholar of the Greek Bible who is finishing a book for the general public.
> In Sunday School class a couple of years ago, he noted that the narratives
> in Luke and Matthew contain no donkey and no inn. That's right, no inn.
> My
> understanding, subject to correction from those who actually know the
> Greek,
> is that the word rendered "inn" in most English translations of Luke 2:7
> is
> the same word used for the "upper room" in Luke 22:12. (Do I have this
> right, or is it another verse? I am sure the basic point here is right.)
> That is, Luke 2:7 should read, "no room for them in the spare room," not
> "in
> the inn." On this view, Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem b/c it was the
> tiny village (perhaps a couple hundred people) that their families hailed
> from; and the spare room (which most homes didn't have) would have been
> given already to elder relatives. Or something like that.
>
> When the Bible speaks about an "inn," such as in the story of the
> Samaritan
> (why is he always the "good Samaritan," reflecting Jewish prejudices that
> most Samaritans weren't good?), it is a different Greek word. Not a word
> that has an overly positive meaning, I am told--Joseph wouldn't have
> wanted
> to take Mary to an "inn," apparently, but a different word entirely and
> one
> that is not found in Luke 2:7.

Justin Martyr, writing around 150, said that Jesus was born in a cave.
(Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter 78) Since Justin was born in Samaria he
might have had access to some information about this. Orthodox iconography
often conforms to this. OTOH the similarity with the legends of Mithra
might arouse some suspicions.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
Received on Wed Jan 5 20:54:43 2005