Greek word · G3829
πανδοχεῖον
pandocheion
inn
A public, commercial lodging house: literally a place that 'receives all' (pan + dechomai). It offered shelter for travellers and animals, usually around a courtyard, run by a pandocheus, an innkeeper (v. 35).
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
παν-δοχεῖον (-δοκίον, Τ), -ου, τό
(πανδοχεύς),
late form of Att.. πανδοκεῖον,
an inn (khân, caravanserai): Luke 10:34.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A public, commercial lodging house: literally a place that 'receives all' (pan + dechomai). It offered shelter for travellers and animals, usually around a courtyard, run by a pandocheus, an innkeeper (v. 35).
- Against the English
Every major version has 'inn'. That is fine, but a modern reader may picture a comfortable hotel or country inn. It is also easy to confuse with the 'inn' of Luke 2:7, which in Greek is a different word (katalyma, a guest room or lodging place).
- How it drifted
English 'inn' now suggests coziness and respectability. Ancient public lodging houses were basic and often had a poor reputation.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Found in classical and Hellenistic Greek (Plato, Laws 918–919, discusses innkeeping as a trade open to abuse; also Epictetus). It passed into Hebrew and Aramaic as pundaq in rabbinic texts, which treat such inns and their keepers with some suspicion. Its only New Testament use is here.
Similar words
Where it appears
Luke · 1
-
Luke 10:34 πανδοχεῖον an inn
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Here: Literally an 'all-receiving' place: a commercial roadside lodging that took any paying traveller. It is a different word from the katalyma of Luke 2:7, and this is its only New Testament use.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.