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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Luke 2:29 - 2:29
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29. Νῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου, δέσποτα. ‘Now art Thou setting free Thy slave, O Master, according to Thy word, in peace.’ Νῦν ‘now, at last!’ The present tense is the so-called praesens futurascens where an action still future is spoken of in the present because it is unalterably determined, and the result is already in course of accomplishment. See instances of it in Mat 26:2 ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται; Joh 14:3 πάλιν ἔρχομαι; Col 3:6; Heb 4:3. See Winer p. 331. This rapturous Psalm—the Nunc Dimittis—has formed a part of Christian evening worship certainly since the fifth century. Δεσπότης is not often used of God (Act 4:24; Rev 6:10); but Simeon here regards himself as a servant to be dismissed by the word of his Lord.
ἐν εἰρήνῃ. On leaving a dying person the Jews said, ‘Go in peace (Beshalôm), Gen 15:15. Otherwise they said, ‘Go to peace’ (Leshalôm) as Jethro did to Moses. See on Luk 7:50.