to find (literally or figuratively) · verb — future active indicative, 2nd person plural
babe
βρέφοςbrephos
G1025
an infant (properly · noun — accusative singular neuter
clothes
ἐσπαργανωμένονesparganōmenon
G4683
from a derivative of the base of G4682 (σπαράσσω) meani… · verb — perfect passive participle, accusative singular neuter
lying
κείμενονkeimenon
G2749
to lie outstretched (literally or figuratively) · verb — present middle or passive deponent participle, accusative singular neuter
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
manger
φάτνῃ.phatnē
G5336
a crib (for fodder) · noun — dative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 53:1-2 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
Isaiah 7:11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
Psalms 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
2 Kings 19:29 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of…
Exodus 3:12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the peo…
1 Samuel 2:34 And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.
1 Samuel 10:2-7 When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 2:8-20
The meanest circumstances of Christ's humiliation were all along attended with some discoveries of his glory, to balance them, and take off the offence of them; for even when he humbled himself God did in some measure exalt him and give him earnests of his future exaltation. When we saw him wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, we were tempted to say, "Surely this cannot be the Son of God." But see his birth attended, as it is here, with a choir of angels, and we shall say, "Surely this cannot be the Son of God." But see his birth attended, as it is here, with a choir of angels, and we shall say, "Surely it can be no other than the Son of God, concerning whom it was said, when h…
a sign--"the sign."
the babe--"a Babe."
a manger--"the manger." The sign was to consist, it seems, solely in the overpowering contrast between the things just said of Him and the lowly condition in which they would find Him--Him whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting, "ye shall find a Babe"; whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, "wrapt in swaddling bands"; the "Saviour, Christ the Lord," lying in a manger! Thus early were these amazing contrasts, which are His chosen style, held forth. (See Co2 8:9.)
Adam Clarke on Luke 2:12
This shall be a sign (or token) unto you - You shall find this glorious person, however strange it may appear, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a stable! It is by humility that Christ comes to reign; and this is the only way into his kingdom! Pride is the character of all the children of Adam: humility the mark of the Son of God, and of all his followers. Christ came in the way of humility to destroy that pride which is the root of evil in the souls of men. And thus, according to the old medical aphorism, "Opposites are destroyed by their opposites."
John Gill on Luke 2:12
And this shall be a sign unto you,.... When they should come to Bethlehem, and to the inn where Joseph and Mary were:
ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger; for though there might be many other children, in the inn, yet none else in swaddling clothes, at least lying in a manger: this sign would distinguish the new born Saviour from all others; had not the angel given them this direction, they would never have thought to have looked for, and found: him in such a place: and moreover, it might have been a stumbling to them, and an objection with them against his being Christ, the Lord, had they not been told beforehand where he was; but by this means this objec…
The Church Fathers
(in Serm. Nativ. 4.) But if perhaps the swaddling clothes are mean in thy eyes, admire the Angels singing praises together. If thou despisest the manger, raise thy eyes a little, and behold the new star in heaven proclaiming to the world the Lord's nativity. If thou believest the mean things, believe also the mighty. If thou disputest about those which betoken His lowliness, look with reverence on what is high and heavenly.
The infancy of the Saviour was impressed upon us, both by frequent heraldings of Angels and testimonies of Evangelists, that we might be the more deeply penetrated in our hearts by what has been done for us. And we may observe, that the sign given us of the newborn Saviour was, that He would be found not clothed in Tyrian purple, but wrapped in poor swaddling clothes, not laying on gilded couches, but in a manger.
And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. The infancy of the Savior and the proclamations of angels and the testimonies of the evangelists have often been impressed upon us, so that it might be firmly fixed in our hearts what He became for us. For He was wounded for our iniquities, and He was made weak for our sins (Isaiah 53). And it should be noted more carefully that the sign of the born Savior is given, a baby not clothed in Tyrian purple, but wrapped in shabby clothes, not found in gold-adorned bedding, but in a manger. This is that not only the appearance of humility and mortality, but also of poverty, He took on for us. Because although He was rich, He became poor for us, so that through His poverty we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8). Although He was the Lord of the heavens, He became poor on earth, so that He might teach the earthly ones that through the poverty of the Spirit the kingdom of heaven can be acquired.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Birth — As soon as a child was born it was washed, and rubbed with salt (Ezek. 16:4), and then swathed with bandages (Job 38:9; Luke 2:7, 12). A Hebrew mother remained forty days in seclusion after the birth…
Crucifixion — A common mode of punishment among heathen nations in early times. It is not certain whether it was known among the ancient Jews; probably it was not. The modes of capital punishment according to the…
Jesus — (1.) Joshua, the son of Nun (Acts 7:45; Heb. 4:8; R.V., “Joshua”). (2.) A Jewish Christian surnamed Justus (Col. 4:11). Je’sus, the proper, as Christ is the official, name of our Lord. To distinguish…
Manger — (Luke 2:7, 12, 16), the name (Gr. phatne, rendered “stall” in Luke 13:15) given to the place where the infant Redeemer was laid. It seems to have been a stall or crib for feeding cattle. Stables and…
Angels · Announced: The birth of Christ — Announced: The birth of Christ
Children · Treatment of, at birth — Treatment of, at birth
Jesus, The Christ · .Angels appear to the shepherds (in the vicinity of Bethlehem) — .Angels appear to the shepherds (in the vicinity of Bethlehem)
Manger · (A feeding box for — (A feeding box for
Mary · 1. The mother of Jesus — 1. The mother of Jesus
Shepherd · Angels appeared to — Angels appeared to
Swaddle · .Of children — .Of children
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Luke 2:8-14
Luke 2:8-14
8. And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the fields, [134] and watching by night over their flock. [135] 9. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them: and the glory [136] of the Lord shone round about them, and they feared with a great fear. 10. And the angel said to them, Fear not: for, lo, I announce to you great joy, which shall be to all the people: 11. For this day is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. 12. And this shall be a sign to you: [137] you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling-bands [138] laid in a manger: 13. And suddenly there was present with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, [139]…
this sign: Shepherds would appreciate the paradox and incongruity between the security of strips of cloth and the lowly circumstances of lying in a manger. Seeing a baby in such a setting was very unusual—a fitting sign that God was at work.
