Jesus: Born In A Barn?

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Webers.Home

Webers.Home

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• Luke 2:4-7 . . And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of
Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because
he was of the house and family of David, in order to register, along with
Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.

. . . And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed
for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she
wrapped him in cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no
room for them in the inn.

• Luke 2:8-12 . . And in the same region there were some shepherds staying
out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel
of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone
around them; and they were terribly frightened.

. . . And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you
good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the
city of David there has been born for you a savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and
lying in a manger.

The Greek word translated "manger" also can be translated "stall". For
example:

• Luke 13:15 . . Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his
donkey from the stall, and lead him away to water?

A stall would've provided Jesus' mom a measure of privacy during delivery;
and instead of having Joseph pick Jesus up and put him in a feed box, Mary
could've just laid him down right beside her on some straw; which means of
course that Luke 2:12 could be legitimately translated like this:

"This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying
in a stall."

Apparently Jesus' mom would've like to taken her new baby indoors after he
was born but alas, the inn had no vacancy at the time.
_
 
Dino246

Dino246

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I'm not sure what the point of your post is. Your title suggests that Jesus was not "born in a barn".
 
oyster67

oyster67

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Dino246 said:
I'm not sure what the point of your post is. Your title suggests that Jesus was not "born in a barn".
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You must admit that He got our attention:). I thought that he was going to say Jesus was born in one of Weber's pyramids out in Oregon.:giggle:

I have always assumed that the nativity scene on my coffee table was pretty close (donkey sniffing His head.):unsure:
 
Corban

Corban

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There is much symbolism in this matter.
  1. Joseph and Mary were law-abiding. They went according to the tax law even though it meant extreme discomfort
  2. Jesus, a King, from David's line, should have been born in a Palace. He forgoes this RIGHT. Later, He asks us disciples to forego our rights. He is the forerunner of setting one's rights aside
  3. Jesus, Maker and Owner and Heir to the world is born in a stable. He set wealth aside for the gospel. He asks us Christians to do it too
  4. To get God into man, it must be by the mouth. Man is placed in front of the Tree of Life and commanded to eat. The Passover Lamb must be eaten. Manna was to be eaten. In John 6, Christ is the "Bread" of Life. On resurrection day, Christ "breathed" INTO His disciples the Holy Spirit. The gospel must come from the disciple's mouth. New Jerusalem is a place of men eating their portion. God's plan is intimately connected with eating. A manger (where Christ was laid after birth) is a device for animals EATING - BOTH the clean and the unclean.
  5. And to top this, Jesus is not born in Bethel, which means "the House of God", but Bethlehem, which means "the House of BREAD".
 
B

Blackpowderduelist

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So it could be possible that Jesus laid in a manger, in a stall, in a stable. Because a manger is where the hay is put to feed animals that were kept in a stall, of the stable. However he could have been in the tack room, which is where the tools and equipment and feed are usually stored in a stable, which in those days was probably an unoccupied stall, which would also be equipped with a manger. So it still remains that Jesus was born in a barn, and was likely there for a week or so.
 
Webers.Home

Webers.Home

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Not all that long ago, I felt very strongly that Jesus was born in a house
wherein was lodging and then moved to a barn where he would be safe from
somebody stepping on him or knocking his bassinet over. I've heard that
inns were little more than spare rooms in private homes, and those rooms
were multiple occupancy.

But I'm pretty convinced now that little Jesus was both born and lodged in
the barn until such time as people began drifting away after the taxing.
Anyway, it was a house where the wise men caught up with him; which I
suspect was the inn wherein previously it was too crowded for mommies and
their babies.

A question I've yet to find explored on a forum is where were Joseph's
parents during the taxing? Didn't they have to go to Bethlehem too? And if
they did, then wouldn't Joseph's mom likely served as the midwife to assist
with Mary's delivery? To my knowledge, men didn't do those kinds of things
back then.
_
 
Webers.Home

Webers.Home

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Blackpowderduelist said:
So it still remains that Jesus was born in a barn, and was likely there for a week or so.
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In that case, then Jesus would have needed a crib; which was likely a feed
box.

The scene is difficult to assess because the Greek word for manger refers to
feed boxes and stalls so it's hard to know for sure what really happened when
Mary "laid him in a manger". Was it a feed box or the hay in a stall?
_
 
Corban

Corban

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Blackpowderduelist said:
So it could be possible that Jesus laid in a manger, in a stall, in a stable. Because a manger is where the hay is put to feed animals that were kept in a stall, of the stable. However he could have been in the tack room, which is where the tools and equipment and feed are usually stored in a stable, which in those days was probably an unoccupied stall, which would also be equipped with a manger. So it still remains that Jesus was born in a barn, and was likely there for a week or so.
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More than likely. Taxation was done with ink and pen and manual calculation. To do the then population of Bethlehem would have taken days.
 
B

Blackpowderduelist

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Corban said:
More than likely. Taxation was done with ink and pen and manual calculation. To do the then population of Bethlehem would have taken days.
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If not longer.
How would you like to have that job?
 
Webers.Home

Webers.Home

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oyster67 said:
I have always assumed that the nativity scene on my coffee table was pretty
close (donkey sniffing His head.)
Click to expand...
Xmas cards and whatnot often portray Jesus' mom riding on the back of a
burro to Bethlehem but she was in her third trimester. I rather think Mary
was transported in a wagon instead.

And her and Joseph are often depicted traveling alone; which I think is
probably not true.
_
 
B

Blackpowderduelist

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Webers.Home said:
.

Xmas cards and whatnot often portray Jesus' mom riding on the back of a
burro to Bethlehem but she was in her third trimester. I rather think Mary
was transported in a wagon instead.

And her and Joseph are often depicted traveling alone; which I think is
probably not true.
_
Click to expand...
I wasn't too safe to travel alone in those days. It would be more likely that they had a cart, and that Mary would have likely rode on the cart. They would have known that a 90 mile trip both ways and a stay there would require provisions. 90 miles travelling by donkey would be a minimum of 3 days.
 
Corban

Corban

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Blackpowderduelist said:
If not longer.
How would you like to have that job?
Click to expand...
Matthew did. He walked away from it when Christ was presented to him. I would not have liked the job. They collected taxes for a foreign master - and were hated. Added to this, for your own living, you had to cheat the taxpayer. See Luke 19:1-9.
 
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