No Room In The Inn?

Shop Now

We’ve all seen the scene in movies and church plays—you know, Joseph frantically trying to find room in an inn for his laboring wife, Mary. But does that scene come from the Bible . . . or is it just tradition?

Well, the Bible says that after Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, the “days were completed” for her to give birth. So Mary wasn’t in labor the night they arrived.

Now most English Bibles say there was no room for them “in the inn.” But the word translated “inn” isn’t the Greek word usually used for an inn . . . or a hotel. It’s actually the word for “guest room.” So there wasn’t room for them in the “guest room.” So where did Mary give birth? Well, that’s for tomorrow!

Dig Deeper

• Common Misconceptions About Creation
• Misconceptions About Creation