No Worse Than Any Other III: Luke 22:43-44

Continuing our examination of the textual basis for a number of Bible translations, we saw last time that the English Standard Version uses a substandard text in Mark 16:9-20. An interesting test for a Bible translation is Luke 22:43-44. This deals with Jesus' suffering in Gethsemane. Second-century anti-Christians like Celsus attacked Jesus for his conduct in Gethsemane which did not match Roman and Stoic ideals, as did the third-century critic Porphyry. Tertullian was embarrassed by it. Ambrose noted that Christians were uncomfortable with it. Epiphanius said that the discomfort was such that many Christians had removed the offending verses from their Bibles.

The second century authors Justin Martyr and Irenaeus knew the passage. The earliest manuscript of the text (0171 from the second century) includes it but fourth century manuscripts like Sinaiticus and Vaticanus omit it. Most Greek New Testaments also mark it as to be omitted. The best textual evidence, however, supports its inclusion. How do our selected versions treat the passage?

KJV: 43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

ESV:  43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.
 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

NRSV:  43 Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength.
 44 In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

NIV:  43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.
 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 

NLT:  43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.
 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

NKJV:  43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

NIrV:  ⁴³ An angel from heaven appeared to Jesus and gave him strength. ⁴⁴ Because he was very sad and troubled, he prayed even harder. His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

In this case, all of the translations pass on the basis of the text they use. The NIrV, however, is not a particularly good translation of the Greek. Again, the King James Version is no worse than any other.

 
 

No Room for an Inn Again This Year

[I published this last year, but it seems appropriate to publish it again.]

An entire folk tradition has sprung up based on the translation of Luke 2:7 which explains that Jesus was laid in a manger “because there was no room for them in the inn” (KJV). The King James translators did not invent the phrase. Tyndale rendered the passage as “because there was no roume for them within, in the hostrey.” Both translations match the Vulgate, which says “non erat locus in diversorio” and a diversorium is an inn. Thus nativity plays will often include an innkeeper and his wife and other parts derived from this particular phrase in the scripture. Sometimes in flights of artistic fantasy Joseph wanders from inn to inn seeking lodging only to find them all full. Bethlehem was a small town when Jesus was born. How many inns did they have? In the scriptural accounts, it is in the singular; Bethlehem could not have had more than one. One suspects it did not have that many.

But there is something wrong here. Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem because of the need to register for the census which was made for taxation purposes (Luke 2:1). If it was simply a matter of registering for the poll tax, the tax that Rome levied on its subjects simply for drawing breath, then they could register wherever they were. They could certainly register in Nazareth without having to travel to Bethlehem. The reason that they would have to register in Bethlehem is if they owned property there.[1] But if they owned property in Bethlehem, why were they staying in an inn?

The Greek word translated as “inn” is καταλύματι, the dative form of καταλύμα. What is a καταλύμα? It “designates the residence of the king or the general when he is staying outside” his normal residence.[2] It can also refer to an assigned lodging for a soldier or functionary.[3] It can also refer to an inn.[4] Thus a καταλύμα is “a lodging where one goes, where one stays for a time. The temporary character is constant.”[5]

Thus the word designates wherever Joseph and Mary were staying temporarily. Since Joseph either wholly or partly owned property, he would have either been staying with the relatives who occupied the property (in the case of part ownership) or with the tenants who were renting (in the case of whole ownership). As houses tended to be on the small side, the couple perhaps might have felt that there was more privacy with the animals. By the time the wise men visited, they were back in the house (Matthew 2:11).

A careful reading of the nativity story indicates that there is no room for an inn.

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[1] Sherman L. Wallace, Taxation in Egypt from Augustus to Diocletian (New York: Greenwood Press, 1937), 98-104.

[2] Geneviève Husson, OIKIA: le vocabulaire de la maison privée en Égypte d’après les papyrus grecs (Paris: La Sorbonne, 1983), 133.

[3] Husson, OIKIA, 134.

[4] Husson, OIKIA, 134-35.

[5] Husson, OIKIA, 135.