Passage

Luke 2.8

Book: Luke · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"6. And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered. 7. And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

"8. And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock."

"9. And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10. And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people:" (Luke 2:6-10, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"6. While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth. 7. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn."

"8. There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock."

"9. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10. The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people." (Luke 2:6-10, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"6. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

"8. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ^{watch: or, the night watches}"

"9. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." (Luke 2:6-10, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"6. And it came to pass, in their being there, the days were fulfilled for her bringing forth, 7. and she brought forth her son, the first-born, and wrapped him up, and laid him down in the manger, because there was not for them a place in the guest-chamber."

"8. And there were shepherds in the same region, lodging in the field, and keeping the night-watches over their flock,"

"9. and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear. 10. And the messenger said to them, 'Fear not, for lo, I bring you good news of great joy, that shall be to all the people --" (Luke 2:6-10, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.