Luke 2:12

Luke 2:12

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

a. NLT: And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

b. NIV: This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

c. Amplified Bible: And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find [^[c]after searching] a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

d. Worrell Translation: And this is the sign for you: ye will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

1. “And this shall be a sign unto you…”

a. And [2532 * kai] [Strong: apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:--and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]

b. this [5124 * ] [Strong: neuter singular nominative or accusative case of 3778; that thing:--here (-unto), it, partly, self(-same), so, that (intent), the same, there(-fore, -unto), this, thus, where(-fore).]

c. sign [4592 * semeion] [Strong:  neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of 4591; an indication, especially ceremonially or supernaturally:--miracle, sign, token, wonder.]

d. to you [5213 * hymin] [Strong: irregular dative case of 5210; to (with or by) you:--ye, you, your(-selves).]

2. “…Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes…”

a. ye shall find [2147 * heurisko] [Strong: a prolonged form of a primary heuro hyoo'-ro, which (together with another cognate form) heureo hyoo-reh'-o is used for it in all the tenses except the present and imperfect to find (literally or figuratively):--find, get, obtain, perceive, see.]

b. babe [1025 * brephos] [Strong:  of uncertain affinity; an infant (properly, unborn) literally or figuratively:--babe, (young) child, infant.]

1). In the first chapter of Luke’s gospel, Luke wrote of the sending of the angel Gabriel to Mary to announce to her that she was chosen by God to miraculously conceive and bring forth the Messiah. During the encounter Gabriel announced to Mary that her cousin Elisabeth had conceived a son and was six months pregnant, a little over 24 weeks gestation. After the angel departed, Mary hurriedly made the four-day trip to Elizabeth’s house. As she entered the house she greeted Elisabeth and when Elisabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the “babe” in her womb, “leaped…for joy”. The Greek word for “babe” in verse 41 and in verse 44 is “brephos” and it means “baby or infants”. It is the same Greek word used for the just born Jesus in Luke 2:16. “And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” It is also the same Greek word used in Luke 18:15 in describing babies that people brought to Jesus for him to bless. It is easy then to glean from this that whether they are in the womb, just born, or days or weeks old, the word of God considers them babies.

c. wrapped in swaddling clothes [4683 * sparganoo] [Strong: from sparganon (a strip; from a derivative of the base of 4682 meaning to strap or wrap with strips); to swathe (an infant after the Oriental custom):--wrap in swaddling clothes.

3. “…lying in a manger.”

a. lying [2749 * keimai] [Strong: middle voice of a primary verb; to lie outstretched (literally or figuratively):--be (appointed, laid up, made, set), lay, lie.]

b. in [1722 * en] [Strong: a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519 and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, + almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+ all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to, -wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly, one, X quickly, X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on), through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while, with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different) preposition.]

c. manger [5336 * phatne] [Strong: from pateomai (to eat); a crib (for fodder):--manager, stall.]

d. On December 15, 1994, the Cincinnati Post newspaper printed a story from the Associated Press entitled, “Jesus born in home, not stable?” The article ignited my aggravation so I studied the text cited and responded with a letter to the editor to counter these “scholar’s” bull butter. Two days before Christmas on December 23, the Cincinnati Post printed my letter. Both the article and the letter are printed below.

1). JESUS BORN IN HOME, NOT STABLE? Bible scholars give old story new look. AP. BETHLEHEM, Occupied West Bank—“There was no room for them in the inn,” goes the Christmas gospel. Now two leading Bible scholars say Mary likely gave birth to Jesus not in a cold, strange stable but in the basement storage area of Joseph’s crowed but familiar clan home. “So much Western tradition has been superimposed on the story,” said Stephen Pfann of San Jose, Calif., who heads the Jerusalem-based Center for the Study of Early Christianity. ‘What we have is a picture of protection within a family situation, as opposed to what often comes through as an austere…environment for the birth of the Savior,” he said. Bethlehem was a typical Jewish village at the time of Jesus’ birth. According to Pfann and another Bible scholar, Father Jerome Murphy O’Connor, people lived in clans, usually in large one or two-room houses built around one of the many caves of Bethlehem’s limestone hills. The caves were used for storage and to keep prized animals such as donkeys safe. Such a setup existed at Joseph’s clan home in Bethlehem, said Pfann. When Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem from Nazareth for the census decreed by the Roman emperor, Augustus Ceasar, Joseph went straight home with Mary. “The natural thing would have been that they would be in the guest room,” said Pfann, who reads Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek and is one of the editors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Pfann said the word “inn” used in the English translation of St. Luke’s Gospel is misleading. In the original Greek, the word “kataluma” can mean inn, guest room or large room. “Because this was the time of the census, there were many people in the guest room,” Pfann explained. “It would have been inappropriate for her to give birth there. The conclusion is that she had the baby downstairs in the storage area.”

Murphy O’Connor, a senior researcher at Jerusalem’s Ecole Biblique where Dead Sea Scroll studies were based until recently, agrees that jesus probably was born in a home setting. However, he argues that Mary and Joseph lived in Bethlehem at the time. “They weren’t visiting in-laws,” Murphy O’Connor said. “When labor set in, Mary likely moved to the cave for privacy. Whether she was attended to by Joseph or her mother-in-law, we know she had relatives in the vicinity.”

a). The article has so many points I disagree with, but I only focused on one when writing the letter.

2). The ‘manger’ alternative doesn’t ring true. To the editor of The Post: “I read with much interest your article of Dec. 15 (“Jesus home not stable, scholars say”). After a little study and thought, I disagree with the conclusions made. For instance, the Greek word for manger, “phatne,” means a crib at which cattle are fed. Now, if Jesus was laid in this because “there was no room for them at the inn,” (luke 2:7), a logical conclusion is that Jesus was born in a stable area. Another factor is that of accessibility. The shephers were told in Luke 2:8-16 that they would find the savior lying in a manger. It does not say they knocked on doors and asked to see the downstairs area. No, the obvious conclusion is that they would look for him where the manger would be, in an outdoor place for animals, easy to find. True, the Bible does not say Jesu was born in a stable, but the traditional stable setting is a more logical conclusion that the “scholars’” speculation of a downstairs storage area.” DON COSTELLO Batavia.