Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 2:12

"And this [is] the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger." — Luke 2:12 (ASV)

This shall be a sign unto you.—The sign was not so in itself, but became so by its agreement with the prediction. It was something exceptional that a newborn infant should be found, not in a cradle, but in a manger; still stranger that that infant babe should be the heir of the House of David.