Concise Bible Dictionary:
We read of the inn as early as Genesis 42:27 and Genesis 43:21, when Jacob sent to Egypt for corn. As the word malon signifies simply “lodging place,” at first nothing more may be implied than a place near water, where travelers usually rested. It would soon have been found that persons traveling long distances needed protection and some better resting place at night, which led to such places being provided at certain stations. Those known in the East were merely enclosures walled round for security, with covered compartments attached to the walls, where travelers could recline, and place their goods. It was at an inn that Zipporah circumcised her son (Ex. 4:24).
In the New Testament when the Lord was born, the word for “inn” is κατάλυμα, which is translated “guest-chamber” (Mark 14:14; Luke 22:11); and may refer to a lodging house. Travelers have found such accommodation, and at times cattle occupied part of the house, which might account for a “manger” being found there. In Luke 10:34 the word is πανδοχεῖον, “a house for the reception of strangers,” a road-side inn. As there was a “host” to whom the injured man was committed, it was doubtless a better place than a Khan.
From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Luke 2:7. She brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
1. The “swaddling clothes” were bandages which were tightly wrapped around a new-born child. The rank of the child was indicated by the splendor and costliness of these bands. A fine white shawl, tied with a golden band, was sometimes used for the purpose; at other times a small purple scarf fastened with a brooch. The poor used broad fillets of common cloth.
The practice is still followed in the East. Miss Rogers, an English lady, who had opportunities far beyond ordinary travelers for observing the domestic life of the Eastern people, describes the appearance of an infant thus bandaged: “The infant I held in my arms was so bound in swaddling-clothes that it was perfectly firm and solid, arid looked like a mummy. It had a band under its chin and across its forehead and a little, quilted silken cap on its head with tiny coins of gold sewed to it. ‘the outer covering of this little figure was of crimson and white striped silk; no sign of arms or legs, hands or feet, could be seen” (Domestic Life in Palestine, p. 28). This was in Jaffa. Another infant which she saw in Bethlehem is thus described: “I took the little creature in my arms. His body was stiff and unyielding, so tightly was it swathed with white and purple linen. His hands and feet were quite confined, and his head was bound with a small, soft red shawl, which passed under his chin and across his forehead in small folds” (p. 62). This custom is referred to in Job 38:9; Lamentations 2:22; Ezekiel 16:4; Luke 2:12.
2. There is a dispute as to the precise meaning of the word φύτνη here and in verses 12 and 16 rendered “manger,” and in Luke 13:15, rendered “stall.” Some authorities give it the one meaning, and some the other; while others, as our translators, attach both meanings to the word. It is the Septuagint rendering for the Hebrew ebus in Job 39:9, and in Isaiah 1:3; a word which, in our version, is translated “crib.” The location of the manger or the stall is also a point of discussion; whether it was connected with the stable belonging to the inn, or with some other stable in the neighborhood, as, for instance, in some cave nearby. Caves, we know, were used for dwellings (see note on Genesis 19:30, #18) and are so used at this day, and also for stables. The discussion is interesting, but is not pertinent to the object of this book. It is proper, however, to remark, that in many rude houses horses and cattle are stabled in the court, while the family are provided for in apartments raised on a platform of stone some two feet from the level of the court. The food of the animals is placed on this platform, and sometimes there are hollow places in the stone which serve the purpose of mangers. See further in the description of the inn in the next paragraph.
3. The Eastern “inn,” or caravanserai, bears no resemblance to the inns with which we are acquainted. There are various kinds of these Oriental inns, some being merely small, rude resting-places, such as are mentioned in the note on Jeremiah 9:2 (#540), while others are capacious and comparatively comfortable. Such an inn presents, at a distance, the appearance of a fortress, being a quadrangular building about a hundred yards long on each side of the square, having its wall about twenty feet high. An arched gateway, surmounted by a tower, opens into a large open court, surrounded by a platform, on the level of which are the travelers’ rooms. These rooms are not furnished, each traveler being expected to provide for himself everything but actual shelter. He must carry his own bedding, provisions, and cooking utensils. In case of sickness the porter in attendance may minister to his wants. See Luke 10:34, 35. The horses, camels, and baggage are placed in the extensive court, in the center of which is a fountain. Sometimes, however, there are stables formed of covered avenues, extending between the rear wall of the lodging-rooms and the external wall of the caravanserai, the entrance being at the corners of the quadrangle. These stables are on a level with the court, and thus below the level of the platform on which are the travelers’ apartments. This platform, however, projects into the stable, thus forming a ledge or bench above the stable floor. On this ledge the cattle can, if they wish, rest the nose-bags of haircloth which contain their food. Dr. Kitto thinks that it was in such a stable as this that our Lord was born. See Daily Bible Readings, vol. 7, p. 63.