Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

Luke 2:12

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

KJV

καὶ τοῦτο ὑμῖν τὸ σημεῖον, εὑρήσετε βρέφος ἐσπαργανωμένον ἐν φάτνῃ.

Greek NT

Et hoc vobis signum : invenietis infantem pannis involutum, et positum in præsepio.

Vulgate

And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

ASV

And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

10 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

βρέφος
brephos
noun · 8×
εὑρίσκω
eurisko
verb · 175×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
οὗτος
outos
demonstrative · 1380×
σημεῖον
semeion
noun · 77×
σπαργανόω
sparganoo
verb · 2×
φάτνη
phatne
noun · 4×
ἐν
en
preposition · 2743×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὑμεῖς
umeis
pronoun · 1828×

Textual variants

2 variant units attested by manuscript witnesses and modern critical editions.

trivial
SBLGNT: τὸ | Treg/NIV/RP: τὸ
  • τὸ — SBLGNT
  • τὸ — Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27), Robinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus
trivial
SBLGNT: καὶ | WH/Treg/NIV: καὶ
  • καὶ — SBLGNT
  • καὶ — Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
source: sblgnt-apparatus

Historic Christian voices

6 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§333From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. When God "brings the firstborn into the world, he says: 'Let all God's angels worship him.'"196 Their song of praise at the birth of Christ has not ceased resounding in the Church's praise: "Glory to God in the highest!"197 They protect Jesus in his infanc…
§486The Father's only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is "Christ", that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning of his human existence, though the manifestation of this fact takes place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the Baptist, to the disciples.123 Thus the whole life of Jesus Christ will make manifest "how God …
§525Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family.202 Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest.203 The Church never tires of singing the glory of this night: The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal and the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible. The angels and shepherds praise him and the magi adva…

Cross-references

  • 1Sam 10:7 — And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.
  • 2Kgs 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 the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant
  • Ezek 16:4 — And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
  • Isa 7:11 — Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
  • Isa 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.
  • Isa 53:1 — Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
  • Luke 2:16 — And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
  • Ps 22:6 — But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.