Luke 2:21-38

2:21 At ¹  the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given by the angel ²  before he was conceived in the womb.

Jesus’ Presentation at the Temple

2:22 Now ³  when the time came for their ⁴  purification according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary ⁵  brought Jesus ⁶  up to Jerusalem ⁷  to present him to the Lord 2:23 (just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male ⁸  will be set apart to the Lord” ⁹ ), 2:24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is specified in the law of the Lord, a pair of doves ¹⁰  or two young pigeons. ¹¹ 

The Prophecy of Simeon

2:25 Now ¹²  there was a man in Jerusalem ¹³  named Simeon who was righteous ¹⁴  and devout, looking for the restoration ¹⁵  of Israel, and the Holy Spirit ¹⁶  was upon him. 2:26 It ¹⁷  had been revealed ¹⁸  to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die ¹⁹  before ²⁰  he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²¹  2:27 So ²²  Simeon, ²³  directed by the Spirit, ²⁴  came into the temple courts, ²⁵  and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law, ²⁶  2:28 Simeon ²⁷  took him in his arms and blessed God, saying, ²⁸ 

2:29 “Now, according to your word, ²⁹  Sovereign Lord, ³⁰  permit ³¹  your servant ³²  to depart ³³  in peace.

2:30 For my eyes have seen your salvation ³⁴ 

2:31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples: ³⁵ 

2:32 a light, ³⁶ 

for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory ³⁷  to your people Israel.”

2:33 So ³⁸  the child’s ³⁹  father ⁴⁰  and mother were amazed ⁴¹  at what was said about him. 2:34 Then ⁴²  Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Listen carefully: ⁴³  This child ⁴⁴  is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising ⁴⁵  of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. ⁴⁶  2:35 Indeed, as a result of him the thoughts ⁴⁷  of many hearts will be revealed ⁴⁸  – and a sword ⁴⁹  will pierce your own soul as well!” ⁵⁰ 

The Testimony of Anna

2:36 There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, ⁵¹  having been married to her husband for seven years until his death. 2:37 She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. ⁵²  She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ⁵³  2:38 At that moment, ⁵⁴  she came up to them ⁵⁵  and began to give thanks to God and to speak ⁵⁶  about the child ⁵⁷  to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. ⁵⁸ 

[2:21]  ¹ tn Grk “And when eight days were completed.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:21]  ² sn Jesus’ parents obeyed the angel as Zechariah and Elizabeth had (1:57-66). These events are taking place very much under God’s direction.

[2:22]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[2:22]  ⁴ tc The translation follows most mss, including early and important ones ({א A B L}). Some copyists, aware that the purification law applied to women only, produced mss ({76 it^pt vg} [though the Latin word eius could be either masculine or feminine]) that read “her purification.” But the extant evidence for an unambiguous “her” is shut up to one late minuscule ({codex 76}) and a couple of patristic citations of dubious worth ({Pseudo-Athanasius} whose date is unknown, and the {Catenae in euangelia Lucae et Joannis}, edited by J. A. Cramer. The Catenae is a work of collected patristic sayings whose exact source is unknown [thus, it could come from a period covering hundreds of years]). A few other witnesses (D pc lat) read “his purification.” The KJV has “her purification,” following Beza’s Greek text (essentially a revision of Erasmus’). Erasmus did not have it in any of his five editions. Most likely Beza put in the feminine form αὐτῆς (auths) because, recognizing that the eius found in several Latin mss could be read either as a masculine or a feminine, he made the contextually more satisfying choice of the feminine. Perhaps it crept into one or two late Greek witnesses via this interpretive Latin back-translation. So the evidence for the feminine singular is virtually nonexistent, while the masculine singular αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) was a clear scribal blunder. There can be no doubt that “their purification” is the authentic reading.

[2:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Joseph and Mary) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:22]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “every male that opens the womb” (an idiom for the firstborn male).

[2:23]  ⁹ sn An allusion to Exod 13:2, 12, 15.

[2:24]  ¹⁰ sn The offering of a pair of doves or two young pigeons, instead of a lamb, speaks of the humble roots of Jesus’ family – they apparently could not afford the expense of a lamb.

[2:24]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Lev 12:8; 5:11 (LXX).

[2:25]  ¹² tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[2:25]  ¹³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:25]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “This man was righteous.” The Greek text begins a new sentence here, but this was changed to a relative clause in the translation to avoid redundancy.

[2:25]  ¹⁵ tn Or “deliverance,” “consolation.”

[2:25]  ¹⁶ sn Once again, by mentioning the Holy Spirit, Luke stresses the prophetic enablement of a speaker. The Spirit has fallen on both men (Zechariah, 1:67) and women (Elizabeth, 1:41) in Luke 1–2 as they share the will of the Lord.

[2:26]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And it.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:26]  ¹⁸ 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).

[2:26]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “would not see death” (an idiom for dying).

[2:26]  ²⁰ tn On the grammar of this temporal clause, see BDF §§383.3; 395.

[2:26]  ²¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:27]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.

[2:27]  ²³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Simeon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:27]  ²⁴ tn Grk “So in the Spirit” or “So by the Spirit,” but since it refers to the Spirit’s direction the expanded translation “directed by the Spirit” is used here.

[2:27]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the temple.”

[2:27]  ²⁶ tn Grk “to do for him according to the custom of the law.” See Luke 2:22-24.

[2:28]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Simeon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:28]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and said.” The finite verb in Greek has been replaced with a participle in English to improve the smoothness of the translation.

[2:29]  ²⁹ sn The phrase according to your word again emphasizes that God will perform his promise.

[2:29]  ³⁰ tn The Greek word translated here by “Sovereign Lord” is δεσπότης (despoth").

[2:29]  ³¹ 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.

[2:29]  ³² 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.

[2:29]  ³³ tn Grk “now release your servant.”

[2:30]  ³⁴ sn To see Jesus, the Messiah, is to see God’s salvation.

[2:31]  ³⁵ sn Is the phrase all peoples a reference to Israel alone, or to both Israel and the Gentiles? The following verse makes it clear that all peoples includes Gentiles, another key Lukan emphasis (Luke 24:47; Acts 10:34-43).

[2:32]  ³⁶ tn The syntax of this verse is disputed. Most read “light” and “glory” in parallelism, so Jesus is a light for revelation to the Gentiles and is glory to the people for Israel. Others see “light” (1:78-79) as a summary, while “revelation” and “glory” are parallel, so Jesus is light for all, but is revelation for the Gentiles and glory for Israel. Both readings make good sense and either could be correct, but Luke 1:78-79 and Acts 26:22-23 slightly favor this second option.

[2:32]  ³⁷ sn In other words, Jesus is a special cause for praise and honor (“glory”) for the nation.

[2:33]  ³⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.

[2:33]  ³⁹ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the child) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:33]  ⁴⁰ tc Most mss ([A] Θ [Ψ] ˹³ 33 Ï it) read “Joseph,” but in favor of the reading ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ (Jo pathr autou, “his father”) is both external (א B D L W 1 700 1241 pc sa) and internal evidence. Internally, the fact that Mary is not named at this point and that “Joseph” is an obviously motivated reading, intended to prevent confusion over the virgin conception of Christ, argues strongly for ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ as the authentic reading here. See also the tc note on “parents” in 2:43.

[2:33]  ⁴¹ tn The term refers to the amazement at what was happening as in other places in Luke 1–2 (1:63; 2:18). The participle is plural, while the finite verb used in the periphrastic construction is singular, perhaps to show a unity in the parents’ response (BDF §135.1.d: Luke 8:19).

[2:34]  ⁴² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[2:34]  ⁴³ tn Grk “behold.”

[2:34]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “this one”; the referent (the child) is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:34]  ⁴⁵ sn The phrase the falling and rising of many emphasizes that Jesus will bring division in the nation, as some will be judged (falling) and others blessed (rising) because of how they respond to him. The language is like Isa 8:14-15 and conceptually like Isa 28:13-16. Here is the first hint that Jesus’ coming will be accompanied with some difficulties.

[2:34]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “and for a sign of contradiction.”

[2:35]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “reasonings” (in a hostile sense). See G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:97.

[2:35]  ⁴⁸ sn The remark the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed shows that how people respond to Jesus indicates where their hearts really are before God.

[2:35]  ⁴⁹ sn A sword refers to a very large, broad two-edged sword. The language is figurative, picturing great pain. Though it refers in part to the cross, it really includes the pain all of Jesus’ ministry will cause, including the next event in Luke 2:41-52 and extending to the opposition he faced throughout his ministry.

[2:35]  ⁵⁰ sn This remark looks to be parenthetical and addressed to Mary alone, not the nation. Many modern English translations transpose this to make it the final clause in Simeon’s utterance as above to make this clear.

[2:36]  ⁵¹ tn Her age is emphasized by the Greek phrase here, “she was very old in her many days.”

[2:37]  ⁵² tn Grk “living with her husband for seven years from her virginity and she was a widow for eighty four years.” The chronology of the eighty-four years is unclear, since the final phrase could mean “she was widowed until the age of eighty-four” (so BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.α). However, the more natural way to take the syntax is as a reference to the length of her widowhood, the subject of the clause, in which case Anna was about 105 years old (so D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:251-52; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 123-24).

[2:37]  ⁵³ sn The statements about Anna worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day make her extreme piety clear.

[2:38]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “at that very hour.”

[2:38]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “And coming up.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. The participle ἐπιστᾶσα (epistasa) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[2:38]  ⁵⁶ tn The imperfect ἐλάλει (elalei) here looks at a process of declaration, not a single moment. She clearly was led by God to address men and women about the hope Jesus was. The testimony of Luke 1—2 to Jesus has involved all types of people.

[2:38]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the child) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:38]  ⁵⁸ tc A few mss (1216 pc) read ᾿Ισραήλ (Israhl, “Israel”) or ἐν τῷ ᾿Ισραήλ (en tw Israhl, “in Israel”), but this reading does not have enough ms support to be considered authentic. More substantial is the reading ἐν ᾿Ιερουσαλήμ (en Ierousalhm, “in Jerusalem”; found in A D L Θ Ψ 0130 ˹³ 33 Ï), though the preposition was almost surely added to clarify (and perhaps alter) the meaning of the original. The simple ᾿Ιερουσαλήμ, without preposition, is found in א B W Ξ 1 565* lat co.