7. first-born—So Mt 1:25; yet the law, in speaking of the first-born, regardeth not whether any were born after or no, but only that none were born before [LIGHTFOOT].

      wrapt him . . . laid him—The mother herself did so. Had she then none to help her? It would seem so (2Co 8:9).

      a manger—the manger, the bench to which the horses' heads were tied, on which their food could rest [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].

      no room in the inn—a square erection, open inside, where travellers put up, and whose rear parts were used as stables. The ancient tradition, that our Lord was born in a grotto or cave, is quite consistent with this, the country being rocky. In Mary's condition the journey would be a slow one, and ere they arrived, the inn would be fully occupied—affecting anticipation of the reception He was throughout to meet with (Joh 1:11).

   

But some "guests went and came" not "rudely," but reverently. God sent visitors of His own to pay court to the new-born King.

     Lu 2:8-20. ANGELIC ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS—THEIR VISIT TO THE NEWBORN BABE.