Born In A House Or a Manger?

I wanted to know if Jesus Christ was born in a house or manger? In Matthew 2:11 says house, but Luke 2: 6-7 says manger. Why did the Matthew say house and Luke say manger?

Q. I wanted to know if Jesus Christ was born in a house or manger? In Matthew 2:11 says house, but Luke 2: 6-7 says manger. Why did the Matthew say house and Luke say manger? Thank you.

A. Almost everyone agrees that Jesus was born in a manger. The confusion goes away once you realize that it’s highly unlikely that the Maji mentioned in Matt. 2 actually arrived on the night of the Lord’s birth.

The Maji were priests from Parthia, a remnant of Persia. Their ancestors had been royal astrologers in Babylon 500 years earlier when the Prophet Daniel had learned the time of the Messiah’s birth (Daniel 9:25) and told them. They had been looking for signs of it ever since, passing down the information Daniel gave them from father to son.

When they saw an unfamiliar star in the sky they set out for Bethlehem, but Parthia was several hundred miles away. The journey would have taken them several months at the least, so by the time they got there Mary and Joseph had found a house to live in. This also helps to explain why Herod, upon learning of the Lord’s birth had all the boys under 2 years of age killed, and not just the newborns (Matt. 2:16).