Why Swaddling Clothes?

[traveller]

I wonder if the "swaddling" effect is comforting to babies because the "confines" of being in the womb.....curled up and cosey..LOL

Just like holding a newborn close to the chest...same kind of effect.

It could possibly give the infant a sense of security, like in the womb. Makes sense to me, anyway.

[AFaceInTheCrowd]

Bethlehem in Hebrew means "house of bread" and a manger is a feeding trough.Here we have JESUS,Bread of Life,from the house of bread, layed in a feeding trough. Just part of GOD's awesome plan! Food for thought and soul!

P.S. I think the manger was the sign.

[Botz]

I found this reply on Gary Moyers site concerning what he had written...hope Mark doesn't mind me using it here.

An intriguing thought, but having looked at your references, the jury's still out on this one for me. One of your references, http://www.angelfire.com/mt/tabor/Christmas.html, says that the Greek word for swaddling clothes is the same one used for burial cloths. However, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all use the word sindon for the linen strips used to wrap Jesus' body after the crucifixion. John uses keiria to describe the burial clothes of Lazarus and othonion for the linen strips left behind in the tomb after Jesus' resurrection. Conversely, Luke's account of the birth uses the verb sparganoo, to swaddle. The word also occurs in the LXX (Greek translation of the OT) in Ezekiel 16:4 in a context that can only refer to the typical wrapping of a newborn. Sparganon, the noun form of Luke's verb, is cited by Thayer in Euripides, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Plutarch, and others, all in the sense of "infant's swaddling clothes." Liddle and Scott also cites the same sense in Homer.

There was no mention in any Greek language source I consulted of the sparganon word group in reference to burial cloths.

I'm open to further evidence, but for now, I have to say it's an intriguing idea, but I wouldn't state it is fact.

Another thought occured to me....Mary was heavily pregnant...would they really journey all that way and not have the natural clothes ready for wrapping a baby in. The sign seems to be more about finding the baby in an open barn/annex than an emphasis on the swadding clothes...but having looked at things after the initial excitement, I am with Mark in this, and am undecided.

[Guest HIS girl]

I'm tossing up ideas....

If "swaddling" was normal custom to wrap babies then and now - they still do this with new borns in my home town...

then was THAT the sign?

Luke 2 v 11: "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." - This verse heralds the amazing news of WHO the Baby is and then the Angel proceeds to tell the shepherds WHERE you will find this Baby.

Or was the sign simply that there would be a Baby in a manger (feeding trough) and it will be EXACTLY as said....spoken by an Angel and confirmed in the witness of the Baby being in exactly the situation as what was told them. (the shepherds.) - therefore confirming to the shepherds WHO the Baby is.....

Hmmm...

[irishcowboy]

I'm tossing up ideas....

If "swaddling" was normal custom to wrap babies then and now - they still do this with new borns in my home town...

then was THAT the sign?

Luke 2 v 11: "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Or was the sign simply that there would be a Baby in a manger (feeding trough) and it will be EXACTLY as said....spoken by an Angel and confirmed in the witness of the Baby in exactly what was spoken.

Hmmm...

I do not believe that it was a common thing to do then. what is called swadding cloths now is more like a baby blanket, then most would have been wrapped in a blanket or a cloak or shawl (maybe even a prayer shawl, but that is very doubtful) the swaddling cloth then was not like now.

for ease in travel the luxuries would not have been taken, and maybe not even realizing maybe that she was so close to delivery (he may have been a premature birth by a few days)...... like was said in previous post, being wrapped in the swaddling cloth, a foreshadow of Christ being killed ( or dying) for us. even in those days, that would not be a common clothing for a baby.

some believe that a donkey was used instead of a wagon, was because a wagon would not have been affordable, but then we have to think of the terrain, was it such that a wagon would have been a comfortable ride for a prenant teen? or would a donkey actually have been more pleasent? I believe the latter.... also a carpenter may not have a need for a wagon so may not have owned a wagon, dome one else migh have delivered his material to him.

also,

being he (joseph) was a carpenter, there are different types of carpenters, some only use hammer and saw, others might use a knife and hammer.... a roofer intodays world, for the most part, still fall under the title of carpenter, some still do shake shingles and have a roofing hammer and maybe a draw knife and measuring devices. others that do furnature would use other tools so their mode of transportations would be different for the different needs.

most children would be born at home, so there would be plenty of rags or towels or blankets available and the "swaddling cloth" would not be needed or even desired as would be needed while on the road.

I am not saying Christ was a preme, not at all, I have no idea if He was early, late or right on time at the exact precise second.

why they did not have a blanket, i am not sure, like I mentioned earlier, it may have even been Mary's cloth, being she would probably had it unwrapped at that time frame anyways, or it may have become so loose at the time of Christ Birth that it was the first thing seen to use.

all i can do is speculate as to why it was used over another type of cloth or clothing..... I was not there, and the details to this is not available to me at this time.

mike

[Guest HIS girl]

If "swaddling" was normal custom to wrap babies then and now - they still do this with new borns in my home town...

I do not believe that it was a common thing to do then. what is called swadding cloths now is more like a baby blanket, then most would have been wrapped in a blanket or a cloak or shawl (maybe even a prayer shawl, but that is very doubtful) the swaddling cloth then was not like now.

mike - I was talking about the actual custom of "swaddling" as in firmly wrapping a baby after delivery...it was done then and is still being practised today.

Fair enough...I wasn't hitting on the actual "material" of the cloth...

and like I said, I'm just tossing up ideas...

[irishcowboy]

I understand that, that is why I do not try to convince people of certain types of details, like you said, just throwing up some idea's or thoughts on this.... I agree, the term is still used, and the action would also be, but there has to be some differance.... and that detail is there for a particular reason.

it may ahve been for an extra confirmation detail for the men to know which child it was for sure.

when discribing a man, a person can say brown hair, brown eyes, medium build average height. this would discribe many people.

now lets add some detail. wears glasses, is balding on the crown with out receding hair line, lantern jaw and very narrow nose. this would make it easier to find this person in a hotel that was full of people with brown hair and brown eyess.

we can even add some more detail. he wears a rose on his right lapel instead of his left as most. a simple little detail that most people might overlook, but if that was the instruction you would be looking for this as a way to confirm the person you were looking for... right?

I am sure that other children had been born and had been laid in a manger for a time, this may have even been a bit on the common side ( MAY HAVE BEEN )..... the swaddling cloths would add the extra detail.

anyways, there is alot of information taht is not givne to us, and the details given all have been included for a reason.

blessings....

mike

[Guest HIS girl]

I am sure that other children had been born and had been laid in a manger for a time, this may have even been a bit on the common side ( MAY HAVE BEEN )..... the swaddling cloths would add the extra detail.

Well see, you raise an interesting point..Bethlehem was quite busy in that time period because of the census...were their other families that were in the same position and couldn't find accomodation and needed to stay in an animals shelter at the back of an inn- having to use the feed troughs as cribs for their babies as well? Maybe....it is a possibility...and in that case - the swaddling cloths could have been THE sign - that this Baby was the Christ.

[Tehilah Ba'Aretz]

Bethlehem was not a huge town in the first century but it was a large village. There may have been more than one inn. Swaddling was not particularly unusual but was not so common as to be assumed. There are other historical records of swaddling in the area and near that time. The manger would have been in a secure and sheltered area with a certain degree of privacy which would have been desirable. It would also have some warmth in the cool of the evening.

Joseph and Mary may not have given birth on the first day they arrived. It isn't entirely clear from the New Testament story. It could be that Joseph had a little time to make it into a comfortable place for Mary. As for Mary riding a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem... You're kidding, right? Joseph actually liked her. I refuse to believe that he would have subjected her to that sort of torture. If I'm wrong about that, I'll let him tell me but until then, I'm not going to accept that one.

[Guest HIS girl]

'Tehilah Ba'Aretz'

As for Mary riding a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem... You're kidding, right? Joseph actually liked her. I refuse to believe that he would have subjected her to that sort of torture.

That is sooo true...

Even travelling in a car at 9 months of pregnancy is bad enough let alone sitting on a donkey stumbling over pebbles and rocks.. very much torture..!!