Guest-chamber
Guest-Chamber
( a lodging-place, i.e. properly inn, as rendered in Luk 2:7; hence any room of entertainment, and so used by the Sept. at 1Sa 9:22; Neh 3:5; Eze 40:44), the , canaculum, or spare apartment in an Oriental dwelling (Mar 14:14; Luk 22:11). SEE HOUSE. At the public festivals these may naturally be supposed to have been placed at the service of strangers attending Jerusalem for that purpose.
SEE PASSOVER.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Guest-chamber
the spare room on the upper floor of an Eastern dwelling (Mark 14:14; Luke 22:11). In Luke 2:7 the word is translated “inn” (q.v.).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Guest-Chamber
GUEST-CHAMBER.This word occurs in Authorized and Revised Versions only in the parallel passages Mar 14:14, Luk 22:11. Peter and John, sent by Jesus to prepare His last Passover, are told to ask the master of the house to which they would be guided, Where is the (Mk. my) guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? The Greek word here used () occurs elsewhere in NT only in the narrative of the Nativity (Luk 2:7), There was no room for them in the inn ( ). It is used by LXX Septuagint as the rendering of (Exo 4:24, Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 lodging place) and of (1Sa 9:22, Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 guest-chamber). [It may here be noted that the cognate verb , rendered in Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 lodge, occurs in Luk 9:12; Luk 19:7]. The guest-chamber of the last Passover is also spoken of by Jesus as a large upper room (, Mar 14:15, Luk 22:12). With this may be compared the of Act 1:13; Act 9:37; Act 9:39; Act 20:8. It has been conjectured by some that the of Mk. and Lk. and the of Act 1:13 are identical, but there is no evidence in support of this.
We must associate several incidents in the life of our Lord besides the last Passover with the guest-chambers of the houses in which they took place, e.g. the anointing, in the house of Simon the Pharisee, by the woman who was a sinner (Luk 7:36 ff.); the later anointing by Mary of Bethany in the house of Simon the Leper (Joh 12:1 ff.); Levis feast (Luk 5:27 ff.); the dinner, or rather breakfast (), of Luk 11:37 ff.; and the miracle and sayings of Jesus recorded in Luk 14:1 ff.
The guest-chamber occupied in our Lords time, as it does at the present day, an important place in the arrangement and economy of Oriental houses. In it all festivities took place; it was set apart also for the entertainment of guests during their stay. It varied in position and character with the size of the house. The smaller houses (see House) had only one court; in these the guest-chamber was on the ground-floor, the womens apartments being above. But in the larger houses of the wealthier classes, which had two or three courts, the womens apartments were hidden away in an inner court, and the guest-chamber occupied the first floor of the outer court (hence , ). In either case it was open to the court, so that all that took place in the one could be seen from the other. On the opposite side of the court was another chamber, equal in size to the first, but fronted with lattice-work filled in with coloured glass; this served as a winter guest-chamber. In some cases a room on the flat roof, the most pleasant and most retired part of the house, was used as a guest-chamber. This is the of the OT (cf. 1Ki 17:19).
The guest-chamber was, of course, furnished according to the means of the owner of the house. Many no doubt were, as indeed they are still, like the prophets chamber of 2Ki 4:10, furnished with a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick. But those of the wealthy were furnished with the greatest luxury. In our Lords time the custom of reclining at meals was common. The couches and tables, which in the larger houses were placed on a raised part of the guest-chamber called the lwan, occupied three sides of a square, and the guests reclined with their heads toward the table, the feet outward toward the wall, and the left arm resting on a cushion. This must be borne in mind in reading such narratives as those of the two anointings and of the last Passover. The places at table were allotted to the guests according to a strict etiquette, as to the details of which there is considerable uncertainty. The eagerness of the Pharisees to secure for themselves the chief seats () at feasts brought on them the rebuke of Jesus (Luk 14:7 ff.), and gave occasion to His warnings to the disciples to avoid such unseemly eagerness for personal honour (Mat 23:6, Mar 12:38 ff., Luk 20:45 ff.).
Besides the guest-chambers of private houses, there were, as there are now, in most villages one or more guest-chambers, provided and maintained at the public expense, for the accommodation of travellers who arrived in larger numbers than could be privately entertained. They were shelters for man and beast of a very simple kind. Some think that the inn of Bethlehem (Luk 2:7) was of this character, but others are of opinion that it was rather an inn under the care of a host, like the of Luk 10:34.
Literature.Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , artt. House, Hospitality; Encyc. Bibl., art. House; Jewish Encyclopedia, art. House; Trumbull, Studies in Oriental Social Life, pp. 73142; Van Lennep, Manners and Customs in Bible Lands, pp. 442, 589ff.; Robinson, BRP [Note: RP Biblical Researches in Palestine.] 2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] i. p. 80 f., ii. p. 18ff.; Lane, Modern Egyptians, i. p. 5ff.; Expositors Greek Testament, ad loc.; Swete, Com. on Mark; Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, i. 564, ii. 206, 483, 493.
Charles S. Macalpine.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Guest-Chamber
gestcham-ber: The translation of (1) (, lishkah) (1Sa 9:22, the King James Version parlor), and (2) (, kataluma) (Mar 14:14 parallel Luk 22:11). The lishkah was probably a room in which the sacrificial feasts were held. Kataluma is derived from kataluo, which means to slacken, i.e. the ropes of the beasts of burden, and hence, to lodge. Kataluma has accordingly often the sense of inn, but as used in Mk and Lk it has the narrower meaning of a room in which to eat.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Guest-chamber
It is recorded that in Jerusalem at the time of the feasts, when so many persons came from distant places, those living in the city who were able, gave up a room for the use of any that came to worship, hence the term ‘guest-chamber.’ The disciples found such a room ready, furnished and prepared, where the Lord kept the last Passover with His disciples. Mar 14:14; Luk 22:11.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Guest-chamber
akin to kataluo (see Note above), signifies (a) “an inn, lodging-place,” Luk 2:7; (b) “a guest-room,” Mar 14:14; Luk 22:11. The word lit. signifies “a loosening down” (kata, “down,” luo, “to loose”), used of the place where travelers and their beasts untied their packages, girdles and sandals. “In the East, no figure is more invested with chivalry than the guest. In his own right he cannot cross the threshold, but when once he is invited in, all do him honor and unite in rendering service; cp. Gen 18:19; Jdg 19:9, Jdg 19:15.” These two passages in the NT “concern a room in a private house, which the owner readily placed at the disposal of Jesus and His disciples for the celebration of the Passover … At the festivals of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles the people were commanded to repair to Jerusalem; and it was a boast of the Rabbis that, notwithstanding the enormous crowds, no man could truthfully say to his fellow, ‘I have not found a fire where to roast my paschal lamb in Jerusalem,’ or ‘I have not found a bed in Jerusalem to lie in,’ or ‘My lodging is too strait in Jerusalem'” (Hasting, Bib. Dic. GUESTCHAMBER and INN). See INN.