Why “Inn” for “Kataluma” in Luke 2:7

Question

In Luke 22:11 it says

11 And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?

Mark 14:14 is similar.

I was reading some internet thing about this, and it basically said, the guest bedroom was full, so they were staying in the homeowners main room. Most people had 1 or 2 room houses with an unattached guest quarters. People kept their animals inside (the main room), at least at night, hence the manger. So, they were with relatives who were actually being quite hospitable.

Which it paints a different picture than "the hotel was full so they slept in a cave (or barn)"

Also there was another word in use for "hotel". If I remember correctly it appears in the Good Samaritan story.

Answer 1

The NET Bible folks have some translation notes on this topic.

tn The Greek word κατάλυμα is flexible, and usage in the LXX and NT refers to a variety of places for lodging (see BDAG 521 s.v.). Most likely Joseph and Mary sought lodging in the public accommodations in the city of Bethlehem (see J. Nolland, Luke [WBC], 1:105), which would have been crude shelters for people and animals. However, it has been suggested by various scholars that Joseph and Mary were staying with relatives in Bethlehem (e.g., C. S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 194; B. Witherington, “Birth of Jesus,” DJG, 69-70); if that were so the term would refer to the guest room in the relatives’ house, which would have been filled beyond capacity with all the other relatives who had to journey to Bethlehem for the census.

sn There was no place for them in the inn. There is no drama in how this is told. There is no search for a variety of places to stay or a heartless innkeeper. (Such items are later, nonbiblical embellishments.) Bethlehem was not large and there was simply no other place to stay. The humble surroundings of the birth are ironic in view of the birth’s significance.

Then they also offer a Constable's Notes:

Normally mothers wrapped their newborn babies in wide strips of cloth to keep them warm (cf. Ezek. 16:4).[92] Traditionally Christians have believed that the manger or feeding trough in which Mary laid the baby Jesus was in a cave.[93] However most homes in Israel had two parts, one for the family and another for the household animals. It is possible that this was the location of the manger. An inn (Gr. katalyma) could have been a guest room in a house (cf. 22:11-12) or any place of lodging. This Greek word has a wider range of meanings than pandocheion, which refers specifically to an inn for travelers (cf. 10:34).

The innkeeper has become a villain figure in the Christmas story, but Luke did not present him as such. The writer’s contrast was between the royal birthplace that this Son of David deserved and the humble one He received. His exclusion from human society anticipated the rejection that He would continue to experience throughout His ministry.

Answer 2

As you show, the word translated in Luke 2:7 is translated differently in 22:11.

Commentaries I've looked at seem to acknowledge that the word has a very wide range in terms of just referring to any type of lodging even if it's not the normal word for "inn" (pandocheion,as you say Luke uses to describe an "inn" in the story of the Good Samaritan). It could be an "inn" or a "guest room". (e.g. see the Expositor's Bible Commentary, Leifeld)

It is worth pointing out that the "cave" and "barn/stable" ideas are not impossible, but not automatically likely given what I understand was the architecture of the time. The manger may be found, with the animals, in the lower rooms of the building.

The only clue I've read way from the ESV Study Bible on the verse which says cryptically:

The inn, with the definite article (“the”), indicates that this was a specific, publicly known lodging place for individual travelers and caravans.

Which, if true, speaks against the "guest room" of relatives.