Greek word · G5336

φάτνη

phatnē

manger

A feeding trough or crib for animals. By extension it can mean the stall or feeding place itself (Luke 13:15: untying an ox 'from the phatnē'). Troughs could be wooden, cut into stone, or built into the floor of a house.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

φάτνη, -ης, ἡ

[in LXX for אֵבוּס, etc. ;]

a manger: Luke 2:7, 12 2:16 13:15 (see DB, iii, 234a, DCG, ii, 111a),†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Luke 2:7

Range of meaning

A feeding trough or crib for animals. By extension it can mean the stall or feeding place itself (Luke 13:15: untying an ox 'from the phatnē'). Troughs could be wooden, cut into stone, or built into the floor of a house.

Against the English

'Manger' is accurate but is now a church word for the crib in a nativity scene. WEB's 'feeding trough' gets back the everyday, earthy sense.

How it drifted

'Manger' comes from French manger, 'to eat', so it once plainly meant a feeding trough. Today it is heard mostly at Christmas.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint, Isa 1:3: 'The ox knows its owner, and the donkey the phatnē of its lord; but Israel does not know.' Many interpreters hear this echoed in Luke, since animals know their trough while the shepherds come to 'know' the Lord's child laid in one. The echo is possible, not certain. Later tradition added the ox and the donkey to the scene from Isa 1:3 and from the Greek of Hab 3:2 (seen in the medieval Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew), not from Luke.

From the study of Luke 13:15

Range of meaning

Feeding trough or manger; by extension the stall or enclosure for animals.

Against the English

'Stall' (BSB, KJV, WEB, NIV, NASB) gives the setting. 'Manger' (ESV) keeps the literal object and the link to Luke 2. Both are defensible: an animal was usually tethered at its trough.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint Isaiah 1:3: 'the ox knows its owner and the donkey the manger (φάτνην) of its lord (κυρίου), but Israel does not know me'. Luke 2:7, 12, 16 (the infant laid in a φάτνη). Elsewhere in Greek literature it means a trough for horses or cattle.

Where it appears

Luke · 4

  1. Luke 2:7 φάτνῃ, a manger,

    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: An animals' feeding trough. It shows animals were kept close by, but the verse does not mention a stable, a barn or a cave. In Luke this unlikely cradle is the sign by which the shepherds will recognise the child (2:12, 16).

  2. Luke 2:12 φάτνῃ. a manger.

    And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

  3. Luke 2:16 φάτνῃ. manger.

    So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.

  4. Luke 13:15 φάτνης, stall,

    “You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water?

    Here: The feeding trough where an animal was tied up, or the stall around it. The same word is used for the manger where the infant Jesus was laid (Luke 2:7, 12, 16).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.