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25And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ [the Christ of the Lord]. 27And he came by the Spirit unto the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the law, 28Then took he [he took] Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: 30For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, 31Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people [all the nations, ðÜíôùí ôῶí ëáῶí ];
32A light to lighten [for a revelation to, åἰò ἀðïêÜëõøéí ] the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.
33And Joseph [His father, ὁ ðáôὴñ áὐôïῦ ] and His mother marvelled at those thingswhich were spoken of Him. 34And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary His mother,
Behold, this child [ ïὗôïò ] is set [appointed] for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
35(Yea, [And] a sword shall pierce through thy [thine] own soul also), That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
36And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the [a] daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser [Asher]: she was of a great age [of great age], and had lived with an [a] husband 37seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about [till] fourscore and four years, which [who] departed not from the temple, but served God [serving]38with fastings and prayers night and day. And she, coming in that instant [at that very hour, áὐôῇ ôῇ ὥñᾳ ], gave thanks likewise unto the Lord [God], and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
39And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
40And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, [being] filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him.
Luk_2:24. In the law of the Lord.—According to Exo_13:2, all the first-born were dedicated to God. In remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt, when the destroying angel spared the first-born of the Israelites, it was ordered, that the eldest son of every family should be considered as God’s special property, and be redeemed from the service of the sanctuary by the payment of five shekels (Num_18:16). The tribe of Levi afterward took the place of the first-born thus dedicated and redeemed. The fact that Mary was unable to bring a lamb and a turtle-dove [Lev_12:6], as she would undoubtedly desire to do, is a fresh proof of the truth of the apostolic word, 2Co_8:9.
Luk_2:25. Simeon.—The principal traditions concerning this aged saint are to be found in Winer in voce The very manner in which Luke mentions him, as ἄíèñùðïò ἐí Ἱåñïõó ., while he speaks with so much more of detail concerning Anna, supports the conjecture that, though acknowledged by God, he was not famous among his fellow-men. He may have been, however, one of the leading men of his country, and was probably aged, while he must certainly be numbered among those who waited for the redemption of Israel, Luk_2:25; Luk_2:38. A later tradition, describing him as blind, but receiving his sight on the approach of the child Jesus, suitable as its allegorical sense may be, is without historical foundation.
Luk_2:26. Revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit.—By an inward revelation, which it would be as impossible to describe as presumptuous to doubt. We prefer supposing an infallible consciousness, wrought by God, that his prayer in this respect was certainly heard, to imagining the intervention of some wonderful dream. If the spirit of prophecy had departed from Israel since the time of Malachi, according to the opinion of the Jews, the return of this Spirit might be looked upon as one of the tokens of Messiah’s advent.
Luk_2:26. See death.—Or, as it is elsewhere expressed, taste death, Mat_16:28; Heb_2:9. It means, not merely falling asleep, but the experience of death as death, with its terrible accompaniments. That he should depart immediately, or soon after seeing Christ, was not indeed revealed to him in so many words, but might naturally be expected by him. Lange beautifully remarks: “Simeon is in the noblest sense the eternal Jew of the Old Covenant who cannot die before he has seen the promised Messiah. He was permitted to fall asleep in the peace of his Lord before His crucifixion.”
Luk_2:27. And he came by the Spirit—Perhaps he was accustomed, like Anna, to go daily into the temple; at all events, he now felt an irresistible impulse from God to enter it. It is possible that he might have heard the narration of the shepherds of Bethlehem; but such a supposition is not necessary for the understanding of the gospel account.
Luk_2:29. Now lettest Thou, etc.—Simeon’s song of praise is genuinely Israelitish, not exclusively Jewish. Compared with the hymns of Zachariah and Mary, it is more peculiarly characterized by its psychological truth than even by its æsthetic beauty. The internal variety and harmony of these three compositions is a proof of the credibility of the early chapters of Luke which must not be overlooked.
According to Thy word.—A retrospect of the previous revelation.
Luk_2:30. Thy salvation.—His mind fastens on the thing, not the person; and he sees the world’s salvation, while beholding the form of a helpless child.
Luk_2:31. Before the face of all nations ( ðÜíôùí ôῶí ëáῶí ).—The true union of the particular and universal points of view. Salvation goes out from Israel to all people without distinction, in order to return to Israel again. The Sun of Righteousness makes the same circuit as the natural sun, Ecc_1:5.
Luk_2:32. A light for a revelation to (to lighten) the Gentiles, åἰò ἀðïêὰëõøéí ἐèíῶí .—The êÜëõììá is now taken away from the eyes of all nations, that they may see the Christ, the Light of the world.—And the glory.—Not a declaration that glory is the end proposed, but used as apposition to óùôÞñéïí , Luk_2:30. The highest glory of Israel consists in the salvation of Messiah.
Luk_2:33. And His father and mother marvelled.—Not because they learned from the song of Simeon anything that they had not heard of before, but they were struck and charmed by the new aspect under which this salvation was presented. Simeon sees fit to moderate their transports, by alluding to the approaching sufferings which must precede the glory. His words, however, contained nothing new or strange. The prophets had already announced, that the Servant of the Lord would undergo sufferings and persecution; and even the apparent poverty of the mother and of the holy child could not but convince the pious man, who well knew the carnal expectations of his fellow-countrymen, that a Messiah born in so lowly a condition could not fail to encounter the opposition of the nation. With regard to the ῥïìöáßá (Luk_2:35), it did not pierce Mary’s soul for the first time, but only for the last time, and the most deeply, on Golgotha.
His father.—[Our Saviour never speaks of Joseph as His father, see Luk_2:49; but he was His father in a legal sense and in the eyes of the people, and, as Alford observes in loc, in the simplicity of a historical narrative we may read ὁ ðáôὴñ áὐôïῦ and ïἱ ãïíåῖò , without any danger of forgetting the momentous fact of the supernatural conception.—P. S.]
Luk_2:34. Set for [ êåῖôáé åἰò , is appointed for] the fall.—Comp. Isa_8:14; Rom_9:33. This divine setting or appointing is always to be considered as caused by their own fault, in those who fall, by wilfully continuing in unbelief and impenitence. Mary had already expressed the same truth, in a more general form, Luk_1:52-53; while the Lord Himself still further develops it, Joh_9:39; Joh_9:41; Mat_21:44. We have here the first hint, given in New Testament times, of the opposition which the kingdom of Messiah would experience from unbelief. The angels had only announced great joy: it was given to the man of God, who saw heaven opened before his death, to go a step farther.
[And for a sign which shall be spoken against, óçìåῖïí ἀíôé ëåãüìåíïí signum, cui contradicitur.—Bengel: “Insigne oxymoron. Signa alias tollunt contradictionem: hoc erit objectum contradictions, quanquam per se signum est evidens fidei (Isa_55:13, Sept.); nam eo ipso, quia lux est, illustris et insignis est. Magnum erit spectaculum.” The fulfilment of this prophecy culminated in the crucifixion.—P. S.]
[Luk_2:35. And a sword shall pierce, etc.—This sentence is coördinate to the preceding one, and hence should not be inclosed in parenthesis, as in the E. V. The grief of Mary corresponds to the rejection and suffering of Christ. The sword that shall pierce the øõ÷Þ of Mary, must be referred to her sympathizing motherly anguish at beholding the opposition of the world to her Son, and especially His passion and crucifixion. It is a prophecy of the mater dolorosa apud crucem lacrymosa, who represents the church of all ages in the contemplation of the cross.—I cannot agree with Alford, who refers the ῥïìöáßá to the sharp pangs of sorrow for her sin and the struggle of repentance; referring to Act_2:37. This would require ðíåῦìá or êáñäéÜí rather than øõ÷Þí , and is hardly consistent with the character of Mary. She was probably one of those rare favorites of Divine grace who never forsake their “first love,” who are always progressing in goodness, and from their infancy silently and steadily grow in holiness, without passing through a violent change, or being able to mark the time and place of their conversion. Such were St. John, Zinzendorf, Mary of Bethany and other female saints.—P. S.]
Luk_2:35. That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.—The thoughts of Mary, who now as before (Luk_2:19) ponders and is silent, and the thoughts of all who, whether for their fall or rising again, should come in contact with her Son. Lasting neutrality with respect to the Lord is impossible; he that is not for Him is against Him; comp. Luk_11:23. His appearing brings to light the latent good and evil, as the same sun which dissipates the clouds that obscure the sky, also draws up the mists and vapor of earth.
Luk_2:36. A daughter of Phanuel.—It is remarkable that the name of Anna’s father should be mentioned, and not that of her husband. Perhaps he also was known as one who waited for the consolation of Israel. The pious words of Anna, Luk_2:38, cannot be the only reason of her being called a prophetess; such an appellation must have been caused by some earlier and frequent utterances, dictated by the Spirit of prophecy, by reason of which she ranks among the list of holy women who, both in earlier and later times, were chosen instruments of the Holy Ghost. Eighty-four years (fourscore and four) is mentioned as the sum of her whole life, not of that portion of it which had elapsed since the death of her husband. It is specially mentioned, to show also that, though she had passed but few years in the married state, she had reached this advanced age as a widow; a fact redounding to her honor in a moral sense, and ranking her among the comparatively small number of “widows indeed,” whom St. Paul especially commends, 1Ti_5:3; 1Ti_5:5. That her piety was of an entirely Old Testament character, gives no support to the opinion of certain Roman Catholic theologians, e.g. Sepp, Leben Jesu, 2. p. 54, that Mary was brought up under her guidance in the house of the Lord.
Luk_2:38. Likewise gave thanks, ἀíèùìïëïãåῖôï , vicissim laudabat, Psa_79:13.—She took up the theme of praise which had just fallen from the aged Simeon. We believe, with Tischendorf, that the correct reading here is ôῷ Èåῷ ; but even if we read ôῷ Êõñßῳ , with the Textus Receptus, we still have to apply it to the Jehovah of Israel. It is no acknowledgment of the new-born Christ, but a doxology to the Father who sent Him, that is here spoken of; while the words immediately following, and spake of Him, evidently allude to the child of Mary, whose name needs not to be repeated here, as He plays the chief part in the whole history.
Luk_2:38. That looked for redemption in Jerusalem.—There were then a certain number of pious persons dwelling in the capital, who lived in and upon the hope of salvation through the Messiah, and among whom the report of His birth was soon spread. Who knows how soon this report might not have spread also throughout the whole country through their means, had not the secret departure of the holy family to Egypt and Nazareth caused every trace of them to disappear from the eyes of this little band at Jerusalem? Perhaps, too, it was chiefly composed of the aged, the poor, and the lowly, whose influence would certainly not be very extensive. The new-born Saviour, now recognized, through the testimony of Simeon and Anna, by the noblest in Israel, was soon to receive the homage of the Gentile world also, through the arrival of the wise men from the east.
Luk_2:39. And when they had performed all things—they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.—The question naturally occurs here, whether the visit of the wise men, and the subsequent flight into Egypt, took place before or after the fortieth day. Although the former is by no means impossible (see Lange, Leben Jesu ii, p. 110), we think the latter conjecture preferable. The narrative of Luke (Luk_2:22-24), at least, gives us the impression, that the presentation in the temple took place at the customary time; and we should therefore find some difficulty in inserting the matter contained in Matthew 2. between the eighth and fortieth days. As long as Mary had not brought her offering of purification, she was obliged to remain at home, as unclean; and if Joseph, on his return from Egypt, as we find from Mat_2:22-23, was obliged to settle at Nazareth, instead of Bethlehem, from fear of Archelaus, it was not likely that he would then have ventured to go to Jerusalem, and even into the temple. We need not necessarily conclude, from Mat_2:1, that the event there mentioned took place in the days immediately following the birth of Jesus; nor can Luk_2:39 be considered a complete account of the whole occurrence. This would have required the return to Bethlehem, and its sad results, to be mentioned before the settlement at Nazareth. The passage is rather a concluding paragraph, wherewith the Evangelist closes his account of the early infancy of our Lord, before passing on to a somewhat later period. Completeness not being his aim in this preliminary history, he has no need to speak of the visit of the Magi, and the flight into Egypt, even if he were as well acquainted with these circumstances as Matthew was; but hastens on to the definitive settlement at Nazareth (Luk_1:26; Luk_2:4), where Mary and Joseph had previously dwelt; and even of this period he gives only a general account, Luk_2:40, and a single occurrence, Luk_2:41-52.
Luk_2:40. And the child grew, etc.—Comp. Luk_1:80. The same expressions are made use of concerning John, while somewhat more is added when Jesus is spoken of. There is no need of insisting on the anti-docetic character of the whole narrative.
2. In Simeon and Anna we see incarnate types of the expectation of salvation under the Old Testament, as in the child Jesus the salvation itself is manifested. At the extreme limits of life, they stand in striking contrast to the infant Saviour, exemplifying the Old Covenant decaying and waxing old before the New, which is to grow and remain. Old age grows youthful, both in Simeon and Anna, at the sight of the Saviour; while the youthful Mary grows inwardly older and riper, as Simeon lifts up before her eyes the veil hanging upon the future.
3. The coming of Simeon into the temple, “by the Spirit,” is entirely according to Old Testament experience. The Spirit does not dwell in him, permanently, as his own vital principle, as in the Christian believer; but comes upon and over him, as a power acting from without. Such exceptional manifestations among the saints in Israel, by no means prejudice the statement of St. John, Luk_7:39. There is a remarkable coincidence between the expectation of Simeon and that mentioned Isa_49:6. [Alford: “Simeon was the subject of an especial indwelling and leading of the Holy Ghost, analogous to that higher form of the spiritual life expressed in the earliest days by walking with God, and according to which God’s saints have often been directed and informed in an extraordinary manner by His Holy Spirit.”—P. S.]
4. A divine propriety, so to speak, seems to require that the new-born Saviour should receive first the homage of the elect of Israel, and afterward that of the representatives of the Gentile world. If so, the visit of the Magi must have been subsequent to the presentation in the temple. Besides, if the gold they offered had come into the hands of Mary and Joseph before this event, would they have brought only the offering of poverty?
5. The shepherds, Simeon, and Anna agree in this, that they all become, in their respective circles, witnesses to others of the salvation of God. They do not wait, or seek for suitable opportunity, but seize upon the first, as the best. Comp. Psa_36:1; Act_4:20. When the Saviour is seen by faith, the true spirit of testimony is already aroused.
6. The sacred art has not forgotten to glorify the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Think of the beautiful pictures of John van Eyk, Rubens, Guido Reni, Paul Veronese, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, and many others.
7. [Ambrose, on Luk_2:22 (Opera, tom. i. p. 1301):—“Christ received a witness at his birth, not only from prophets and shepherds, but also from aged and holy men and women. Every age, and both sexes, and the marvels of events, confirm our faith. A virgin brings forth, the barren becomes a mother, the dumb speaks, Elizabeth prophesies, the wise men adore, the babe leaps in the womb, the widow praises God … Simeon prophesied; she who was wedded prophesied; she who was a virgin prophesied; and now a widow prophesies, that all states of life and sexes might be there (ne qua aut professio deeset aut sexus.”—P. S.]
8. We shall have to speak more particularly, in the next division, of the manner of the genuine human development of Jesus. But the hint here given, is sufficient to direct our attention to its reality. Not only the body, but the soul and spirit of the Lord, grew incessantly and regularly. When He was a child, He spake as a child, before He could, with full consciousness, testify of God as His Father. Undoubtedly the awakening of His divine-human consciousness, His recognition of Himself, formed part of the filling with wisdom. As Sartorius says in his lectures on Christology, “The eye which comprehends heaven and earth within its range of vision, does not, by betaking itself to darkness or closing its lid, deprive itself of its power of sight, but merely resigns its far-reaching activity; so does the Son of God close His all-seeing eye, and betake Himself to human darkness on earth, and then as a child of man open His eye on earth, as the Light of the world, gradually increasing in brilliancy till it shines at the right hand of the Father, in perfect splendor.”
Starke:—The duty of all parents to present their children to God.—Majus:—Vows and sacrifices must be offered according to the law of God, not according to the notions of men.—The most pious are not always the richest; therefore despise none for their poverty.—God has a people of His own, even in the darkest seasons of the Church, 1Ki_19:18.—Quesnel:—The elect of God never die, till they have beheld, here on earth, the Christ of God with the eye of faith.—Hedinger:—The duty of yielding immediately to special impulses toward that which is good.—The death of God’s children, a loosening of the bondage of His life of misery.—The prosperity and adversity of the saints, determined beforehand in the counsels of God, even from eternity (Luk_2:34).—Whatever happens to Christ the Head, happens also to His members (Luk_2:34).—Zeisius:—Mary (Luk_2:35), a type of the Church, upon whom, as the spiritual mother, all the storms of affliction fall.—God, the God of the widow, Psa_68:6.—Holy people cannot but speak of holy things: what is the chief subject then of our discourse?—Langii Opus Bibl.:—Children should imitate the mind of Jesus, and grow stronger in what is good.—Jesus remained a child but a short time, and His believing people should not long remain children in faith.
Heubner:—Christian dedication of children: 1. Its nature; 2. its blessing.—Simeon’s faith, and Simeon’s end.—The prelude of the “Stabat mater … cujus animam trementem, contristatam et gementem, pertransivit gladius.”—Anna, the model of the Christian widow, forsaken by the world, and living alone and bereft; but not forsaken of God, and living in the happy future, and in the faith of Christ.—Early announcement of the destination of Jesus: 1. How and why it happened; 2. its truth and confirmation.
Rieger:—Of the spiritual priesthood of Christians.—J. Saurin:—Simeon delivered from fear of death by the child Jesus: 1. He cannot desire to see anything greater on earth; 2. he has the sacrifice for sin in his arms; 3. he is assured of eternal life, why then should he desire to remain any longer on earth?—F. W. Krummacher beholds, in the history of Simeon, 1. a divine “Forwards,” 2. a happy halt, 3. a safe anchorage, 4. a peaceful farewell, 5. a joyful welcome.—O. von Gerlach:—Jesus our all, when we, 1. have found in Him rest for our souls; 2. are resolved to fight for Him; and 3. to bear His reproach.—Rautenberg:—Simeon’s hope: 1. To what it was directed; 2. on what it was founded; 3. and how it was crowned.—Bobe:—Simeon in the temple: 1. The Holy Spirit his leader; 2. faith his consolation; 3. piety his life; 4. the Saviour his joy; 5. departure for his home his desire.—Krummacher:—Anna a partaker of a threefold redemption: 1. From an oppressive uncertainty; 2. from a heavy yoke; 3. from a heavy care.—Florey:—Directions on our pilgrimage for a new year (from Luk_2:33-40). We must go on our journey, 1. steadfast in the faith (Luk_2:34); 2. submissive to the divine will (Luk_2:35); 3. diligent in the temple of God (Luk_2:34); 4. waiting for the promises of God (Luk_2:38); 5. faithful in our daily work (Luk_2:39); and 6. growing in the grace of God (Luk_2:40).—L. Hofacker:—Simeon, one of the last believers of the Old Covenant, an encouraging example for the believers of the New.
Footnotes:
Luk_2:22.— Áὐôῶí is better authenticated (also by Cod. Sinait.) than áὐôïῦ , and still better than áὐôῆò , and refers to Mary and Joseph (not the child, nor the Jews), comp. the following ἀíÞãáãïí áὐôüí . In this instance the translators of King James followed the Complutensian reading áὐôῆò , which is almost without authority and a manifest correction from the misapprehension of a transcriber who thought that áὐôïῦ or áὐôῶí would imply the impurity of Christ. Wiclif and the Genevan Bible have Maries purification, the Rheims Test. her purification, but Tyndale and Cranmer correctly their purification.
Luk_2:33.—The original reading, which is sustained by Codd. Sinait., B., D., L., Origen, Vulgate (pater ejus et mater), etc., was no doubt: ὁ ðáôὴñ áὐ ôïῦ êáὶ ἡ ìÞôçñ (Cod. Sinait. adds a second áὐôïῦ ), and is adopted in the text of Tischendorf, Alford, and Tregelles (not of Lachmann). The substitution of ἸùóÞö for ðáôὴñ áὐôïῦ is easily explained from prejudice. The word is, of course, not to be taken in the physical, but in the legal and popular sense.
Luk_2:37.—The usual reading is ὡò , which is very usual in connection with numbers; but Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, and Tregelles read ἕùò , till, according to Coda. Sinait., B., L., Vulgate (usque ad), etc.
Luk_2:38.— Áὕôç is wanting in the best authorities and modem critical editions, and could easily be inserted from Luk_2:37.
Luk_2:38.— Ôῷ Èåῷ is the true reading (sustained also by Cod. Sinait.), and now generally adopted instead of the lect. rec. ôῷ Êõñßῳ .
Luk_2:38.— Ἐí is wanting in Codd. Sinait., Vat., etc., and dropped by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles. Alford puts it in brackets. In this case ἹåñïõóáëÞì must be taken as the genitive; for the redemption of Israel. But Meyer defends the ἐí , and explains its omission from Luk_2:25.
Luk_2:40.— Ðíåýìáôé seems to have been inserted from Luk_1:80, and is excluded from the text by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, Tregelles, on the best ancient authorities. Cod. Sinait. is likewise against it. Dr. van Oosterzee omits it in his German Version.—P. S.
[According to some, Simeon was the son of the famous Rabbi Hillel, and father of Gamaliel, the teacher of St. Paul (Act_5:34). The Rabbis say: “The birth of Jesus of Nazareth was in the days of R. Simeon, son of Hillel.” But this is, of course, a mere conjecture, without inherent probability.—P. S.]
[For an examination of the conflicting views of harmonists on the order of these events, the reader is referred to Sam. J. Andrews: The Life of our Lord, N. Y., 1863, p. 84 ff., who places the visit of the Magi and the flight into Egypt soon after the presentation in the temple. This is the view of the majority of modern harmonists, while the old traditional view puts the arrival of the Magi on the sixth day of January, or on the thirteenth day after the birth of our Saviour.—P. S.]