Dictionaries :: Guest-Chamber

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Guest-Chamber:

the spare room on the upper floor of an Eastern dwelling (Mar 14:14; Luk 22:11). In Luk 2:7 the word is translated "inn" (q.v.).

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Guest-Chamber:

gest'-cham-ber: The translation of

(1) (lishkah) (1Sa 9:22, the King James Version "parlor"), and

(2) (kataluma) (Mr 14:14 parallel Lu 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 Mr and Lu it has the narrower meaning of a room in which to eat.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

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, 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. GUEST-CHAMBER and INN).
See INN.