LrreRATTRE. — Lig-htfoot, Ktman's ed. iiL 211; Jos. Ant. xw X. 5, BJ n. viiL : Plumptre, Bib. Educ. iL 29. S2 ; art. in Smith's, Hastings', and Fairbaims DB (b.v Hackett, Cowan, and Dickson respectively), and in Eneyc BiJU. (bv Chevne).
H. C. Lees. MANASSEH. — The well-known king of Judali, inenrioned as a link in our Lord's genealogy, Mt 1".
MANGER.— The AV and RV tr. of ^twj, in Lk
2T. li. 15 Ijj l^ 1315 tije j,ni^ other place where
<t>a.TVT) cKcurs in ^T, AV and RV l>oth render it 'stall.' though RVm gives ' manger.' The precise meaning of (^nxrvrj is somewhat unc-ertain, opinions differing as to whether it denotes a stall or a manger within a staU,
Tristranj {Laivd of Israel, p. 73) sof^Mses that Mary and Joseph, who could not find room in the xKiri/.v^x, were obliged to go to some jxwr house hard by, where there was ' an upper platform ' for people and ' a lower platform ' for cattle, and that ' in the lower portion allotted to the cattle the Infant when born was naturally laid at once in the long earthen trough which senes for a manger, and into which the fodder is pushed from the floor.' If the »zrK/.vuA was like a modem Eastern khan, and if the »«Tvr belonged to it (see below), Hary and Joseph went to one of the stalls for cattle and bea^e of Imrdeii within the outside walL and there the babe was bom. Merer (on Lk 2'^ favours the view that jirvr means a feeding-trough placed in a stable. In any case, sarvr, as its derivation implies, designates a feeding-place for animals.
Opinions further differ as to whether the ^otftj in question was a aice or grotto in the limestone rock of the neighbourhood used as a stable, or an enclosure fenc-ed in.
The former view, w hich has the w^aght of persistent tzaditioo, is due to Justin Martyr, who tells as that Christ was bom * in a certain cave near the village," whidi cave, he says, had been pointed out by Isaiah as ' a agn.' For this latter circumstance he founds upon Is 33^^ LXX, ' He shall dwell in the krfty cave of The strong rock ' {Tiypko, 70 and 7&). A similar statement is made by Oi^en, vho affirms that in his day there was shown at Bethlehem ' the cave where Jesus was born, and the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling bands' (e. CeU. i 51X
There Ls, of c-ourse, nothing improljable in this traditional view that the place where Mary sought shelter was a cave, for throughout Palestine such caves or grottoes were and are c-ommonly used a.s stables. The other view, that the tparrri was an enclo>ure. is favoured by many. Acc-ording to Schleusner. it was the open courtyard attached to the inn and enclosed by a rough fence, into which the cattle would Ije shut at night, and where poorer travellers might lodge, when from want of room in the inn. or want of means to pay for room, they c-ould find no other place. This ^^ew is sup- ported by the Vulg. { prre.^cpiutro and the Peshitta. It is. moreover, significant that the earliest Chris- tian artists represent the Nativity as in an open courtyard.
Stanley, who opposes the view that the ix-nr. was a cave, does so partly on the ground of Mt 2^ and partly on the ground of the'super^nons tendency to associate sacred events with caves. He says {SP p. 440) : ' As soon as the rel^ion <rf Palestine fell into the hands of Eurcqieans, it is hardly too much to say that it became " a rdigion of caves.' ' He further notes that when the Convent of the Nativity was dismantled during the invasion of Ibrahim Pasha, it was found that the traditional cave had bem, in pre-Christian times, a place of sepulture, and was therefore not at all likely ever to have been used by Jews as a manger.
It has been commonly bat too readily assumed that the precise meaning of ipd-m] in St. Ltike's account mtist be determined by our interpretation of KaTdXvfia. This appears to be a grotmdless assumption. It is not said by St. Lake that the ^7^77 was connected with the inn. In 2"- ^ the definite article is not used ; for, though it appears in the TR and a few MSS of minor importanc-e, in which it was probably inserted to designate the 1 well-known (pd-nnj, preponderating evidenc-e is alto- ; gether against it. It ckcuts. as the best iI.S.S show, in v.i«, but there it clearly refers to the ipdrri] Spoken of in w.'* ^. It is at least possible that the ipdrrr) did not belong to the cardXrua at all, and it is worth noting as subordinate evidence for this that the Pnjtevangcl of James and the Arabk Gosp-:! of the Infancy do not c-onnect ' the cave' of which they l>oth sfieak ^vith the inn. I Our conclusion, then, seems clear that, whether the ^TVTj was a cave or an enclosure, it was c-er- taiidy a plac-e where cattle were hou.sed or fed. It c^annot be maintained that there is anything improbable or unreasonable in the c-ontinuous Christian tradition which goes l«ack to the first decade of the second century. Xor is the jdous sentiment groimdless wliich lias pictured the birth of the world's Redeemer in circumstances so humble, and ha.< lingered in loving and grateful meditation over His manger cradle. See also artt. Bethlehem and Cavx.