Luke 2:25

Luke 2:25-33 . Behold there was a man, &c. — There was now in Jerusalem one Simeon, venerable on account of his age, piety, and virtue. For, he was just and devout — Righteous toward his fellow-creatures, and holy toward God; waiting for the consolation of Israel — A common phrase for the Messiah, who was to be the everlasting consolation of the Israel of God. And the Holy Ghost was upon him — That is, as the word here signifies, he was a prophet. And it was revealed unto him, &c. — God, in reward of his piety, had favoured him so highly as to assure him by a particular revelation, that he should not die till he had seen the Messiah. And he came by the Spirit into the temple — That is, by a secret but powerful direction and impulse of the Holy Spirit; when the parents brought in the child Jesus — Just at that very juncture of time when they brought him into the court of Israel there. Then took he him up in his arms — Having discovered him by the supernatural illumination with which he was favoured; and blessed God, and said — Aloud, it seems, in the hearing of all the people then present; Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, &c. — Let me depart hence with the satisfaction of having seen the Messiah, according to the gracious promise thou wast pleased to make me. This good old man, having attained that which had long been his highest wish, the happiness of seeing God’s Messiah, and having no further use for life, desired immediate death.

Yet he would not depart of himself, knowing that man cannot lawfully desert his station till God, who placed him therein, calls him off. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation — Thy Christ, the Saviour. Simeon, being well acquainted with the prophetic writings, knew from them that the Messiah was to be the author of a great salvation, which, because it had its origin in the wisdom, power, and love of God, he refers to him; and, putting the abstract for the concrete, or the effect for the cause, he terms the Messiah God’s salvation. Thus, God is called, our defence, our song, our hope; that is, our defender, the subject of our song, the object of our hope. Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people — Here it appears that Simeon knew that this salvation was not confined to the Jews, but was designed for all mankind. A light to lighten the Gentiles — Who then sat in darkness, and who were to receive the knowledge of God, of true religion, and of divine things in general, especially of a future state, through him; and the glory of thy people Israel — It was an honour to the Jewish nation, that the Messiah sprung from one of their tribes, and was born, lived, and died among them. And of those who were Israelites indeed, of the spiritual Israel, he was indeed the glory, and will be so to all eternity, Isaiah 60:19 . For in him shall the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory, Isaiah 45:25 .

Devout (εὐλαβής) Used by Luke only. The kindred word, εὐλάβεια, godly-fear, occurs twice' Hebrews 5:7; Hebrews 12:28. From εὖ, well, and λαμβάνω, to take hold of. Hence of a circumspect or cautious person who takes hold of things carefully. As applied to morals and religion, it emphasizes the element of circumspection, a cautious, careful observance of divine law; and is thus peculiarly expressive of Old Testament piety, with its minute attention to precept and ceremony. Compare Acts 2:5. Consolation of Israel Compare hope of Israel, Acts 28:20, and Isaiah 40:1. The Messianic blessing of the nation. Of the Messiah himself, Rest. See Isaiah 11:10. A common form of adjuration among the Jews was, So may I see the consolation

Luke 2:25 f. Who this Simeon was (“primus propheta, qui diceret Christum venisse,” Bengel), is utterly unknown. The supposition that he was son of Hillel, and father of Gamaliel (Michaelis, Paulus, and older commentators), who became president of the Sanhedrim in A.D. 13, does not agree with Luke 2:26 ; Luke 2:29 , where he appears as an aged man; and there is generally the less ground for entertaining it, in proportion to the frequency of the name שִׁמְעוֹן . δίκαιος κ . εὐλαβής ] Comp. Plat. Polit. p. 311 B: τὸ δίκαιον κ . εὐλαβές , and shortly before: ἤθη εὐλαβῆ καὶ δίκαια . The word εὐλαβής is only used in the N. T. by Luke. It denotes religious conscientiousness.[54] παράκλησιν ] The Messianic blessing of the nation, as its practical consolation , after its sufferings (comp. λίτρωσιν , Luke 2:38 ), is called, according to prophetic precedent ( Isaiah 40:1 ), in the Rabbinical literature also very often נחמה . See Vitringa, Obs. V. p. 83; Lightfoot and Wetstein in loc. The Messiah Himself: מנחם . See Schöttgen, Hor. II. p. 18. The same in substance is: ΠΡΟΣΔΕΧΌΜ. ΤῊΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΊΑΝ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ , Mark 15:43 . ἘΠʼ ΑὐΤΌΝ. ] having come upon . κεχρηματισμ .] a divine responsum , see on Matthew 2:12 . There is no hint of a dream (Kuinoel). πρὶν ἤ ] See on Matthew 1:18 . τὸν Χριστὸν κυρίου ] comp. Luke 9:20 : the Messiah of God (whom God has destined and sent as Messiah). For the expression to see death , comp. Hebrews 11:5 ; John 8:51 ; Psalm 89:48 .

Luke 2:25-28 . Simeon .— Συμεών , introduced as a stranger ( ἄνθρωπος ἦν ). The legendary spirit which loves definite particulars about celebrities of Scripture has tried to fill up the blank. The father of Gamaliel the son of Hillel, one of the seventy translators of the Hebrew Bible, are among the suggestions. A bracketed passage in Euthy. Zig. says, in reference to the latter suggestion, that Simeon alone of the company objected to the rendering of Isaiah 7:14 : “the virgin shall conceive,” and that an angel told him he should live to take the virgin’s son into his arms.— δίκαιος καὶ εὐλαβής . The evangelist is careful to make known what this man was, while giving no indication who he was (“who they were no man knows, what they were all men know,” inscription on a tombstone in a soldiers’ graveyard in Virginia), just and God-fearing, a saint of the O. T. type.— προσδεχόμενος παράκλησιν τ . Ἰ .: an earnest believer in the Messianic hope, and fervently desiring its early fulfilment. Its fulfilment would be Israel’s consolation. The Messianic hope, the ideal of a good time coming, was the child of present sorrow—sin and misery prevalent, all things out of joint. The keynote of this view is struck in Isaiah 40:1 : “comfort ye”.— παρακαλεῖτε . The Rabbis called Messiah the Comforter, Menahem. Cf. προσδεχ . λύτρωσιν . in Luke 2:38 .

Luke 2:25 . Ἰερουσαλὴμ , Jerusalem ) The Saviour was shown to this city at the very earliest time.— Συμεὼν , Simeon ) the first prophet who said that Christ had come; and the one by whose instrumentality God proved that He, who was being presented to Him, was His First-begotten.— δίκαιος , just ) in the discharge of duties.— εὐλαβὴς ) Vulg. timoratus [27] in the disposition of his soul towards God.— ΠΡΟΣΔΕΧΌΜΕΝΟς ΠΑΡΆΚΛΗΣΙΝ ΤΟῦ ἸΣΡΑῊΛ , waiting for the consolation of Israel ) not merely as Jacob, Genesis 49:18 [I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord], looking to distant times; but as by this time approaching, Luke 2:38 . Gradually the expectation of believers became concentrated into a shorter compass [more brought to a point], as is the case now with respect to His glorious second coming.— ἐπʼ αὐτὸν , upon him ) as a prophet. See following verse. [27] “One whose character was marked by reverential fear:” this answers to the idea of caution or circumspection which is in εὐλαβὴς .—ED. and TRANSL. Μωνσέως . D reads αὐτοῦ : abc Vulg. ejus : Rec. Text, αὐτῆς .—ED. and TRANSL.

(25) Whose name was Simeon. —Some writers have identified the man thus described with a very memorable Simeon in the annals of the Jewish scribes, the son of Hillel, and the father of Gamaliel. He became president of the Sanhedrin, A.D. 13. Singularly enough, the Mishna, the great collection of expositions of the Law by the leading Rabbis, passes over his name altogether, and this suggests the thought that it may have done so because he was under a cloud, as believing in the prophet of Nazareth. On this assumption, his looking for the “consolation of Israel” may be connected on one side with the fact that he, too, was of the house of David, and on the other, with the cautious counsel of Gamaliel in Acts 5:38-39 . Against this view there is the fact that St. Luke’s way of speaking leaves the impression that the Simeon of whom he speaks was of a very advanced age, waiting for his departure, and that he, who names Gamaliel’s position ( Acts 5:34 ), would hardly have passed over Simeon’s. There was an aged Essene of this name living at the time of Herod’s death, who rebuked Archelaus for marrying his brother’s widow, and prophesied his downfall, and who more nearly fulfils the conditions; but the name was so common that all conjectures are very precarious. Devout.—The Greek word expresses the cautious, scrupulous side of the religious life, and is therefore used always in the New Testament (Acts 2:5; Acts 8:2; Acts 22:12) of Jewish devoutness.

The consolation of Israel.—This is the first occurrence of this word. In its general use it included the idea of counsel as well as comfort. Here the latter is obviously the dominant thought. We cannot pass over the words without remembering that the Child of whom Simeon spoke called Himself the Comforter, and promised His disciples to send them another, who should bear the same name (John 14:16). The Holy Ghost was upon him.—The words point to a special moment of inspiration, rather than a continuous guidance.

{5} And, 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 {i} Holy Ghost was upon him. (5) Simeon openly in the temple foretells the death of the coming of Messiah, of the casting out of the greatest part of Israel, and of the calling of the Gentiles. (i) He was endued with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and this is said using the figure of speech metonymy.

Verses 25-35. - The episode of Simeon and his inspired hymn . Verse 25. - And, 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 . Many expositors have believed that this Simeon was identical with Simeon (Shimeon) the son of the famous Hillel, and the father of Gamaliel. This Simeon became president of the Sanhedrin in A.D. . Strangely enough, the Mishna, which preserves a record of the sayings and works of the great rabbis, passes by this Simeon. The curious silence of the Mishna here was, perhaps, owing to the hatred which this famous teacher incurred because of his belief in Jesus of Nazareth. Such an identification, although interesting, is, however, very precarious, the name Simeon being so very common among the people. Waiting for the consolation of Israel. There was a general feeling among the more earnest Jews at this time that the advent of Messiah would not be long delayed. Joseph of Arimathaea is especially mentioned as one who "waited for the kingdom of God" ( Mark 15:43 ). Dr. Farrar refers to the common Jewish prayer-formula then ill use: "May I see the consolation of Israel!" A prayer for the advent of Messiah was in daily use. Luke 2:25