Inn

Inn in the modern sense — a commercial establishment offering paid lodging to travelers — was largely unknown in the ancient Near East. The Hebrew malon (a place of lodging for the night) and Greek kataluma (a guest room, lodging place) cover a range from private hospitality to public resting places along roads. The caravanserai or khan (khan in Arabic) was the typical waystop on major routes: an open courtyard enclosed by walls where travelers could shelter with their animals, with basic amenities but not typically private rooms or meals. The earliest mention of a lodging place in the Bible is in Genesis 42:27 and Exodus 4:24, where the word denotes a night encampment.

The most theologically significant New Testament uses cluster around the birth of Jesus: Luke 2:7 states that Mary laid the infant in a manger because "there was no room in the inn" (kataluma). The same word appears in Mark 14:14 and Luke 22:11 for the guest room where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper. Luke 10:34 uses the distinct word pandocheion (a public inn that accepts all comers) for the inn in the parable of the Good Samaritan — a more commercial establishment that received payment. The inn thus appears at both the beginning and the center of Jesus's ministry in Luke's narrative.