Luke 2:25

The Prophecy of Simeon

2:25 Now ¹  there was a man in Jerusalem ²  named Simeon who was righteous ³  and devout, looking for the restoration ⁴  of Israel, and the Holy Spirit ⁵  was upon him.

Luke 2:34

2:34 Then ⁶  Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Listen carefully: ⁷  This child ⁸  is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising ⁹  of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. ¹⁰ 

Luke 4:25

4:25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, ¹¹  when the sky ¹²  was shut up three and a half years, and ¹³  there was a great famine over all the land.

Luke 7:9

7:9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed ¹⁴  at him. He turned and said to the crowd that followed him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith!” ¹⁵ 

Luke 24:21

24:21 But we had hoped ¹⁶  that he was the one who was going to redeem ¹⁷  Israel. Not only this, but it is now the third day since these things happened.

[2:25]  ¹ 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]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:25]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “deliverance,” “consolation.”

[2:25]  ⁵ 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.

[2:34]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[2:34]  ⁷ tn Grk “behold.”

[2:34]  ⁸ tn Grk “this one”; the referent (the child) is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:34]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and for a sign of contradiction.”

[4:25]  ¹¹ sn Elijah’s days. Jesus, by discussing Elijah and Elisha, pictures one of the lowest periods in Israel’s history. These examples, along with v. 24, also show that Jesus is making prophetic claims as well as messianic ones. See 1 Kgs 17-18.

[4:25]  ¹² tn Or “the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. Since the context here refers to a drought (which produced the famine), “sky” is preferable.

[4:25]  ¹³ tn Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see BDAG 1105-6 s.v. 8).

[7:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “pleased with him and amazed.” The expanded translation brings out both Jesus’ sense of wonder at the deep insight of the soldier and the pleasure he had that he could present the man as an example of faith.

[7:9]  ¹⁷ sn There are two elements to the faith that Jesus commended: The man’s humility and his sense of Jesus’ authority which recognized that only Jesus’ word, not his physical presence, were required.

[24:21]  ²¹ tn The imperfect verb looks back to the view that they held during Jesus’ past ministry.

[24:21]  ²² sn Their messianic hope concerning Jesus is expressed by the phrase who was going to redeem Israel.