The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.
//Is it possible that this verse in Isaiah contributed to the legend of Jesus’ birth in a manger? Remember the story in the Gospel of Luke:
And [Mary] brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. –Luke 2:7
Is Luke playing up the idea of Israel’s misunderstanding? Even more interesting is the possible origin of the swaddling clothes. According to the Wisdom of Solomon, every king begins life in this humble manner:
I was nursed in swaddling clothes, and that with cares. For there is no king that had any other beginning of birth — Wisdom of Solomon 7:4-5
Jesus, the misunderstood king. Put the manger and the swaddling clothes together and we have a beautiful Christmas story!
