Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

Babies were snugly wrapped in long strips of cloth, giving them warmth, protection of extremities, and a sense of security in their newborn existence. The combination of a newborn baby’s wrappings and the use of the manger for a crib would be a distinctive “sign” (Gk 4958). Perhaps they also imply that in spite of seeming rejection, symbolized by the manger, the baby was the special object of his mother’s care (compare this story with Eze 16:1–5). On the other hand, the “sign” might be only the strange circumstance of the newborn child being in the manger at all.