Manger

man'-jer (phatne):

Properly the place in a stall or stable where the food of cattle is placed (in the Old Testament "crib" (Job 39:9; Proverbs 14:4; Isaiah 1:3)); thus also, apparently, in the narrative of the nativity in Luke 2:7,12,16. In Septuagint, the Greek word, representing different Hebrew words, has also the extended meaning of "stall" (2 Chronicles 32:28; Habakkuk 3:17); thus also in Luke 13:15, where the Revised Version margin has "manger." Old tradition says that Jesus was born in a cave in the neighborhood of Bethlehem; even so, a place for food for cattle may have been cut in the side of the rock.

James Orr