Luke 2:25-27

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. 2:26 It ⁶  had been revealed ⁷  to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die ⁸  before ⁹  he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ¹⁰  2:27 So ¹¹  Simeon, ¹²  directed by the Spirit, ¹³  came into the temple courts, ¹⁴  and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law, ¹⁵ 

[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.

[2:26]  ⁶ tn Grk “And it.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:26]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Grk “would not see death” (an idiom for dying).

[2:26]  ⁹ tn On the grammar of this temporal clause, see BDF §§383.3; 395.

[2:26]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:27]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.

[2:27]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Simeon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:27]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the temple.”

[2:27]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to do for him according to the custom of the law.” See Luke 2:22-24.