Its Bearing on the Joseph Story. The Tyndale House

Bulletin 2:1–2.1962 Zaphenath-Paneah. P. 1353 in The New Bible Dictionary, ed. J.D. Douglas. London: InterVarsity.1975 Ramesside Inscriptions 1. Oxford, England: Blackwell.1979 The Family of Urhiya and Yupa, High Stewards of the Ramesseum: Part II, The Family Relationship. Pp. 71–74 in Glimpses of Ancient Egypt, Studies in Honour of H.W. Fairman, eds. J. Ruffle, G.A. Gaballa and K.A. Kitchen. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips. 1980 Zaphenath-Paneah. P. 1673 in The Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3. Leicester, England: InterVarsity.1983 Pharaoh Triumphant, Life and Times of Ramesses II. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips.1986 Third Intermediate Period in Egypt 1100–650 BC, second ed. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips.1990 Early Canaanites in Rio de Janeiro and a ‘Corrupt’ Ramesside Land-Sale. Pp. 635–45 in Studies in Egyptology Presented to Miriam Lichtheim 2, ed. S. Israelit-Groll. Jerusalem: Magnes.1991 Non-Egyptians Recorded on Middle-Kingdom Stelae in Rio de Janeiro. Pp. 87–90 in Middle Kingdom Studies, ed. S. Quirke. New Maiden, England: SIA.1993 Ramesside Inscriptions, Translations, 1. Oxford, England: Blackwell. 1993/1994 Ramesside Inscriptions, Notes and Comments, 1. Oxford: Blackwell. Forthcoming a Ramesside Inscriptions, Translations, 7.Forthcoming b Ramesside Inscriptions, Notes and Comments, 7.Kitchen, K.A., and Beltrão, M. de C.1991 Catalogue of the Egyptian Collection in the National Museum, Rio de Janeiro, 2 vols. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips.Lacau, P.1906 Sarcophages antérieurs au Nouvel Empire 2. Cairo: Service des Antiquités.Leibovitch, J.1943 Une amulette égyptienne au nom de Putiphar. Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Egypte 43:87–90.Lowle, D.A.1976 A Remarkable Family of Draughtesmen-Painters from Early Nineteenth-Dynasty Thebes. Oriens Antiquus 15:91–106 + figs 1–2, pls. I-II.Malek, J.1979 Topographical Bibliography2, 3/2.2. Oxford, England: Griffith Institute.Malek, J, and Quirke, S.1992 Memphis, 1991: Epigraphy. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 78:13–18.Martin, G.T.1971 Egyptian Administrative and Private-Name Seals. Oxford, England: Griffith Institute.Meek, T.J.1969 The Code of Hammurabi. Pp. 163–80 in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, third ed., ed. J.B. Pritchard. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Meissner, B.1920 Babylonien und Assyrien 1. Heidelberg: Winter.1936 Warenpreise in Babylonien. Berlin: de Gruyter.Mendelsohn, I.1949 Slavery in the Ancient Near East. New York: Oxford University Press.Mieroop, M. van de1987 The Archive of Balmunamhe. Archiv für Orientforschung 34:1–29.Posener, G.1957 Les Asiatiques en Égypte sous les XIIe et XIIIe dynasties. Syria 34:145–63.Ranke, H.1910 Keilschriftliche Materialien zur altägyptischen Vokalisation. Berlin: Reimer.1935 Agyptische Personennamen 1. Hamburg: Augustin.Ruffle, J.1979 The Family of Urhiya and Yupa, High Stewards of the Ramesseum: Part I, The Monuments. Pp. 55–70 in Glimpses of Ancient Egypt, Studies in Honour of H. W. Fairman, eds. J. Ruffle, G.A. Gaballa and K.A. Kitchen. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips.Schulman, A.R.1975 On the Egyptian Name of Joseph: A New Approach. Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 2:235–43.Sethe, K.1899 Das ägyptische Verbum 1. Leipzig: Hinrichs.Spiegelberg, W.1896 Rechnungen aus der Zeit Setis 1. Strasburg: Trübner.1904 Aegyptologische Randglossen zum Alien Testament. Strasburg: Schlesier & Schweikhardt.Steindorff, G.1889 Der Name Josephs Sapheneat-Pa’neach: Genesis Kapitel 41, 45. Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache 27:41–42.1892 Weiteres zu Genesis 41, 45. Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache 30:50–52.Vergote, J.1959 Joseph en Egypte. Louvain, Publications Universitaires.Ward, W.A.1982 Index of Egyptian Administrative and Religious Titles of The Middle Kingdom. Beirut: American University of Beirut.Please help ABR continue to post these freearticles by making a donation of any size today. Donate



The Manger and the Inn
This article was reproduced in theFall 2007 issue of Bible and Spade. Why would Joseph, “of the lineage of David,” in the city of his family’s origin have to seek shelter in an inn and be turned out into a stable? Recently this question was put to me here in Beirut. This paper presents an answer. In this brief study I will attempt to demonstrate that Jesus was born in a private home and that the “inn” of Luke 2:7 is best understood as the guest room of the family in whose house the birth took place. Recent studies have primarily focused on Luke’s theological interests.1 The concern here is the Palestinian cultural background of verses 6–7 which we understand to be traditional material. Indeed, a more precise analysis of that background is critical for both a clearer understanding of the original tradition as well as any interpretation of its use within the Lucan framework. The Palestinian background of the entire text (vv. 1–7) is clear and strong. Five striking Middle Eastern details mark the passage. First, the author reflects an accurate knowledge of Palestinian geography when he has the Holy Family “go up” from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Second, the custom of “swaddling” infants is a Palestinian village custom, which is observable as early as Ezekiel 16:4 and is still practiced today. Third, the extended family of David is referred to in the oriental fashion as a “house.” This is then amplified for the non-Middle Eastern reader with the fuller phrase, “house and lineage of David.” Fourth, a Davidic Christology informs the text. Finally, Bethlehem is given two names, “city of David” (which presupposes some knowledge of Old Testament history), and “Bethlehem.” Given the Palestinian nature of the material, we will attempt to examine the Middle Eastern cultural background of the story with care. The cultural assumptions of this text are particularly critical because the story comes to us through a long Church tradition. Most modern versions of that story follow a familiar pattern. The Holy Family arrives late in the night. The local inn has its “no vacancy” sign clearly displayed. The tired couple seeks alternatives and finds none. With no other option, wearied from their journey and desperate for any shelter because of the imminent delivery, they spend the night in a stable where the child is born. But the cornerstone of this popular pageantry is flatly denied in the text of Luke. Popular tradition affirms that the child was born the night the family arrived. But in 2:4 we are told that Mary and Joseph “went up” to Bethlehem. The verse assumes their arrival. Then in verse six we are told, “And while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to be delivered.” Thus the text affirms a time lapse between the arrival in Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus. Mary “fulfilled her days” in Bethlehem.2 We can easily assume a few weeks have passed, perhaps even a language software