Greek word · G3578

ξενία

xenia

lodging

From xenos, 'stranger, guest'. (1) Hospitality, the entertaining of a guest; (2) the place where a guest is lodged: guest room, lodging, quarters.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ξενία, -ας, ἡ

(ξένος), [in LXX: Sirach 29:27 Bl* ;]

hospitality, enter­tainment: Phm 22 (cf. ICC, in l, but see infr.). By meton., a place of entertainment, a lodging-place: Acts 28:23, and so perh. Phm 22 (Lft., in l, Phi., p. 9; but see supr., and cf. MM, xvii).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Acts 28:23

Range of meaning

From xenos, 'stranger, guest'. (1) Hospitality, the entertaining of a guest; (2) the place where a guest is lodged: guest room, lodging, quarters.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'lodging', BSB 'the place he was staying'. Both are accurate and neutral. They lose the faint 'guest' colouring of the Greek word.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its only other New Testament use is Philemon 22, where Paul says 'prepare a guest room for me.' In wider Greek it covers both hospitality (including the formal guest-friendship bond between households) and guest quarters. The Latin Vulgate renders it hospitium, 'guest-lodging'.

From the study of Philemon 1:22

Range of meaning

The word comes from xenos, 'stranger, guest, host'. It covers (1) hospitality, meaning the act of entertaining a guest, and (2) the place where a guest is lodged: guest quarters or a lodging. BDAG gives both senses.

Against the English

KJV, YLT and NASB have 'lodging'. BSB, WEB and most modern versions have 'guest room'. 'Guest room' is a fair reading, but it may suggest a permanent spare bedroom kept in every house. The Greek is broader: 'have hospitality ready for me', which could mean a room in the house or arranged lodging.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its only other New Testament use is Acts 28:23, where people come to Paul in Rome 'at his lodging' (eis tēn xenian). That probably means the quarters he occupied under guard, which Acts 28:30 describes as rented. In classical and Hellenistic Greek, xenia also names the sacred bond of guest-friendship, the obligation between host and guest that runs back to Homer.

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 28:23 ξενίαν lodging

    So they set a day to meet with Paul, and many people came to the place he was staying. He expounded to them from morning to evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

    Here: The place where Paul was staying as a stranger in Rome. The word comes from xenos, 'stranger/guest', and carries the overtone of guest accommodation.

Philemon · 1

  1. Philemon 1:22 ξενίαν· a lodging;

    In the meantime, prepare a guest room for me, because I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.

    Here: The welcome given to a guest, or the place where a guest stays. Here it most naturally means a room in Philemon's household, made ready for Paul's arrival.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.