καταλῦσαι in Luke 19:7

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Matt Lahey
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καταλῦσαι in Luke 19:7

Post by Matt Lahey »

I've been looking at the usage of καταλῦσαι in Luke 19:7 and am a bit stumped why it's translated as "to be the guest of" (or a variation thereof) instead of to abolish, destroy, dissolve, etc.,

In light of the overall passage, it doesn't make sense to use a derivative of abolish but I don't understand either why it deviates so much from the other usages (i.e. Matthew 5:17, 61; Acts 5:39)
Jonathan Robie
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Re: καταλῦσαι in Luke 19:7

Post by Jonathan Robie »

I find Thayer's description plausible:
c. of travelers, to halt on a journey, to put up, lodge (the figurative expression originating in the circumstance that, to put up for the night, the straps and packs of the beasts of burden are unbound and taken off; or, perhaps more correctly, from the fact that the traveler's garments, tied up when he is on the journey, are unloosed at its end; cf. ἀναλύω, 2): Luk 9:12; Luk 19:7; so in Greek writings from Thucydides, Xenophon, Plato down; the Sept. for לוּן, Gen 19:2; Gen 24:23, Gen 24:25, etc.; Sir. 14:25, 27 Sir. 36:31; (cf. Buttmann, 145 (127)).
Abbott-Smith put it more succinctly:
2. to unloose, unyoke ( e.g . horses), hence intrans ., of travellers ( cf. κατάλυμα ), to take up one's quarters, lodge ( cl ., Ge 192, al. ): Luk 9:12; Luk 19:7. †]
And by the way, ever wonder why an inn / lodge / guest chamber is called a κατάλυμα? It seems to come from this sense of the word καταλύω.
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