Greek word · G4683
σπαργανόω
sparganoō
to wrap
To wrap a newborn tightly in sparganon, strips or bands of cloth. This was done all over the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean world, to keep the baby warm and secure and, it was believed, to help the limbs grow straight.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
σπαργανόω, -ῶ
(σπάργανον, a swathing-band) [in LXX: Job 38:9, Ezekiel 16:4 (חָתַל pu.)* ;]
to swathe, wrap in swaddling-clothes: Luke 2:7, 12 (Hipp., Arist., Plut.).†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
To wrap a newborn tightly in sparganon, strips or bands of cloth. This was done all over the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean world, to keep the baby warm and secure and, it was believed, to help the limbs grow straight.
- Against the English
KJV 'swaddling clothes' and BSB 'swaddling cloths' are accurate but sound archaic. WEB 'bands of cloth' is clearer.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Wisdom of Solomon 7:4-5 has King Solomon say: 'I was nursed in swaddling cloths (en sparganois) and with cares; for no king had any other beginning of existence.' Ezek 16:4 describes the abandoned infant Jerusalem: 'you were not rubbed with salt, nor swaddled at all', a sign of utter neglect.
Where it appears
Luke · 2
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Luke 2:7 ἐσπαργάνωσεν wrapped in swaddling cloths
And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Here: She bound him in strips of cloth, the normal first care a newborn got. It marks him as a child properly cared for, not abandoned, and it becomes part of the shepherds' sign (2:12).
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Luke 2:12 ἐσπαργανωμένον swaddled
And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.