Editing Nativity scene (section)

===Animals in nativity scenes===
[[File:9821 - Milano - Sant'Ambrogio - Sarcofago di Stilicone - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto 25-Apr-2007.jpg|thumb|The ox, the ass, and the infant Jesus in one of the earliest depictions of the nativity, (Ancient Roman Christian sarcophagus, 4th century)]]

A donkey (or ass) and an [[ox]] typically appear in nativity scenes. Besides the necessity of animals for an operating manger, this is an allusion to the [[Book of Isaiah]]: "the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider" ([[Isaiah 1:3]]). The Gospels  mention neither an ox and nor a donkey, however.<ref name="Hobgood-Oster">Hobgood-Oster, Laura. ''Holy Dogs and Asses: Animals in the Christian Tradition''. University of Illinois Press, 2008. {{ISBN|0-252-03213-6}}.</ref> The first Christian writer to mention the ox and the ass in the stable in Bethlehem is [[Origen of Alexandria]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Origen |title=Homilies on Luke |date=1996 |url=https://archive.org/details/homiliesonlukefr0000orig/page/55/ |quote="That was the manger of which the inspired prophet said, 'The ox knows his owner and the ass his master’s manger.' The ox is a clean animal, the ass an unclean animal. 'The ass knows his master’s manger.' The people of Israel did not know their Lord’s manger, but an unclean animal from among the Gentiles did."}}</ref> Another source for the tradition might be the extracanonical text, the [[Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew]] of the 7th century.<ref>{{cite book | title=John Gill's Exposition of the Bible | url=http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/habakkuk-3-2.html | year=1748–1763 | author-link=John Gill (theologian) | last=Gill | first=John | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821011101/http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/habakkuk-3-2.html | archive-date=2010-08-21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=The Eucharist in Romanesque France: iconography and theology | last=Saxon | first=Elizabeth | page=107 | publisher=Boydell Press | isbn=978-1-84383-256-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5DwQB4_6tG0C&q=Habakkuk+%22Between+two+animals%22&pg=PA107 | year=2006 | access-date=2020-10-19 | archive-date=2021-11-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107122436/https://books.google.com/books?id=5DwQB4_6tG0C&q=Habakkuk+%22Between+two+animals%22&pg=PA107 | url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Esslingen - Weihnachtskrippe.jpg|thumb|Living scene in Germany]]