The elephant in the nativity room?
John Hudghton writes: Around this time of year my nerdy mind turns to constructing an authentic biblical nativity scene. This amuses my family, to say the least. I try to take on board the lessons of biblical scholarship that Ian Paul has usefully and consistently emphasised for years now. Sadly, this is something which is usually lacking in commercially purchased nativity scenes or even those featured in many churches.
Surely, all readers of this blog must be familiar with the scene of Jesus born into a very modest Bethlehem dwelling. Constructed of fieldstone; mud mortar; a roof of timber; brush; more mud and perhaps embedded into a hillside, as were many homes in the vicinity. Not all had a guest room but the place where Jesus was born did, although for whatever reason (either already occupied or just too small) regarded as unsuitable for the birthing. We can probably assume that Jesus’ delivery either took place in the family room of a typical modest two main-roomed house, or in the lower level normally reserved for animals. These are the most common homes unearthed by the archaeological digs and analysis of these in Bethlehem. Bethlehem was known to be a poor agricultural community.
It is interesting to note that in first-century homes, the upper (living) area and the lower (stable) area were often separated by a stone wall. Set into this wall was a manger, designed so that it could be reached from both sides. Of course, the child born into the family was not ritually unclean, (even though the mother was) and a stone manger was probably advantageous too in this respect. The warmth of the animals would rise and help heat the living area. Such interior detail, familiar to the original audience, often omitted in a trite retelling of the birth narratives.
There was nothing unusual about this either, it was quite ordinary, although by today’s modern western standards we might consider it smelly and primitive. Let us remember though, that it was not that long ago in Britain that families still semi-shared their living spaces with their livestock.
