2:29 “Now, according to your word, 6 Sovereign Lord, 7 permit 8 your servant 9 to depart 10 in peace.
1 tn Grk “And it.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
2 tn The use of the passive suggests a revelation by God, and in the OT the corresponding Hebrew term represented here by κεχρηματισμένον (kecrhmatismenon) indicated some form of direct revelation from God (Jer 25:30; 33:2; Job 40:8).
3 tn Grk “would not see death” (an idiom for dying).
4 tn On the grammar of this temporal clause, see BDF §§383.3; 395.
5 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
6 sn The phrase according to your word again emphasizes that God will perform his promise.
7 tn The Greek word translated here by “Sovereign Lord” is δεσπότης (despoth").
8 sn This short prophetic declaration is sometimes called the Nunc dimittis, which comes from the opening phrase of the saying in Latin, “now dismiss,” a fairly literal translation of the Greek verb ἀπολύεις (apolueis, “now release”) in this verse.
9 tn Here the Greek word δοῦλος (doulos, “slave”) has been translated “servant” since it acts almost as an honorific term for one specially chosen and appointed to carry out the Lord’s tasks.
10 tn Grk “now release your servant.”