Remember the old game of gossip, where you whispered something in someone’s ear, and by the time the words got all the way around the circle, it was so convoluted it made no sense?
For the last two or three years, at Christmastime I’ve received copies of an essay about newborn lambs—the perfect lambs intended for sacrifice—that were swaddled and placed in a manger. The essay says shepherds in ancient Israel would be constantly on the lookout for perfect lambs that could be used as a sacrifice. They would place newborn lambs in a stone manger immediately after birth in order to search for any defect. If they found no defect, the lamb would be swaddled and kept in the manger so it would be protected. So when angels told the shepherds to look for a baby swaddled and lying in a manger, they knew immediately where to go and what they would find—the perfect Lamb of God.
That is a beautiful story, but it doesn’t fit the facts. The reality is just as amazing and miraculous.
Let’s look at a bit of history and some facts about raising lambs.
Nearly all the flocks around Bethlehem—sheep, cattle, and oxen—were intended for Temple sacrifice. The shepherds didn’t have to search for sacrificial candidates, because unless an animal was unhealthy, scarred, or maimed, it would qualify. These animals did not have to be pure white.
A perfect newborn lamb is a lamb without birth defects. Since most lambs are born without missing limbs, multiple heads, etc., an unblemished lamb would be the rule, not the exception.
Newborn lambs must bond with their mothers within the first thirty minutes after birth, however, so no savvy shepherd would separate that mother from her offspring. As soon as the lamb is born, the mother licks it until it stands and begins to nurse. If the lamb is not allowed to nurse, the mother may abandon it, and the lamb is likely to die unless it can bond with another mother.
What would be the point of keeping a newborn lamb in a stone manger? A swaddled lamb in a manger would not be able to walk or nurse or thrive. It would not survive more than a few days.
The Torah speaks against separating a newborn from its mother for at least seven days (Ex. 22:30). And newborns were never sacrificed immediately—sacrificial lambs were to be one-year-old males (of females, depending on the type of sacrifice) “without defect” (Ex. 12:5). God required that sacrificial animals be “without blemish” because sin requires a proper sacrifice, not a bargain animal of no use for breeding.
One version of the “swaddled lamb” essay mentions the tower of the flock, Migdal-Eder, and says the place had a stone manger, so that’s where the shepherds went when the angels told them to look for a baby in a feeding trough.
The opposite is much more likely. The shepherds would have been at Migdal-Eder1 when they heard the angel’s announcement, because that’s where they watched over the flocks intended for Temple sacrifice. The tower was located some distance away from Bethlehem.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The perfect Lamb of God was born, swaddled, and placed in a manger in the city of David.
Were lambs ever swaddled? I was surprised to learn that they often were—but not immediately after birth. They weren’t completely swaddled because they needed to be able to walk, eat, and defecate. Just like puppies and kittens, a lamb’s birthcoat is especially soft and fuzzy with halo hairs, the long, fine hairs that form a gentle “halo” around the lamb’s body.
To protect this fine wool, lambs were protected by coverings from two to fifteen months of age. Talmudic sources relate that in order to protect the wool of young lambs, some Awassi sheep, the most common breed in Israel, were wrapped in a cover, which eliminated the need for repeated washing and helped the wool retain lanolin. These coverings were adjusted as the lamb grew, and when the animal was old enough, the extra-soft wool was shorn. The average lamb produced only about half a pound of the prized wool. The practice of collecting this fine wool was recorded as early as the fourth century before Christ, and still continues today.
So the story of swaddled lambs is lovely, though not exactly accurate. But it does not change the truth of what really happened in Bethlehem on that miraculous night: the Son of God was born and placed in a manger. And angels appeared to shepherds, who left their flocks and hurried to Bethlehem because they had been especially invited to be among the first to view the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the World.
The simple story is more than enough to generate awe and wonder.
1 MIGDAL-EDER The place where Jacob sojourned after the death of Rachel (Gen. 35:21; Authorized Version: ‘tower of Eder’), known also in the Roman period. In the Septuagint it is located between Beth-El and Rachel’s tomb. In the time of the Mishna the place was still known, and it is there that the Messiah will make himself known. Eusebius (Onom. 43:12) and other early Christian sources identify Migdal-Eder with Shepherd’s Field 1 1/2 miles east of Bethlehem. Identified with Siyan al-Ghanam, southwest of Jerusalem.
Negev, Avraham. The Archaeological encyclopedia of the Holy Land 1990 : n. pag. Print.
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I always enjoy separating facts from fiction. Especially when it involves the history of the Bible. Thanks, Angie!
You’re very welcome, Tammy! Loved your post today! Tee hee.