Luke 2:25-30

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  2:28 Simeon ¹⁶  took him in his arms and blessed God, saying, ¹⁷ 

2:29 “Now, according to your word, ¹⁸  Sovereign Lord, ¹⁹  permit ²⁰  your servant ²¹  to depart ²²  in peace.

2:30 For my eyes have seen your salvation ²³ 

Genesis 49:18

49:18 I wait for your deliverance, O Lord. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 64:4

64:4 Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, ²⁵ 

no eye has seen any God besides you,

who intervenes for those who wait for him.

Lamentations 3:25-26

ט (Tet)

3:25 The Lord is good to those who trust ²⁶  in him,

to the one ²⁷  who seeks him.

3:26 It is good to wait patiently ²⁸ 

for deliverance from the Lord. ²⁹ 

Matthew 24:42-44

24:42 “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day ³⁰  your Lord will come. 24:43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief ³¹  was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. 24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. ³² 

Mark 13:34-37

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ³³  in charge, assigning ³⁴  to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. 13:35 Stay alert, then, because you do not know when the owner of the house will return – whether during evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or at dawn – 13:36 or else he might find you asleep when he returns suddenly. 13:37 What I say to you I say to everyone: Stay alert!”

James 5:7-8

Patience in Suffering

5:7 So be patient, brothers and sisters, ³⁵  until the Lord’s return. ³⁶  Think of how the farmer waits ³⁷  for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient ³⁸  for it until it receives the early and late rains. 5:8 You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s return is near.

James 5:2

5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten.

James 1:13-15

1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, ³⁹  and he himself tempts no one. 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 1:15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.

Jude 1:20-21

1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ⁴⁰  1:21 maintain ⁴¹  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ⁴²  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ⁴³ 

[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.

[2:28]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Simeon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:28]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ sn The phrase according to your word again emphasizes that God will perform his promise.

[2:29]  ¹⁹ tn The Greek word translated here by “Sovereign Lord” is δεσπότης (despoth").

[2:29]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Grk “now release your servant.”

[2:30]  ²³ sn To see Jesus, the Messiah, is to see God’s salvation.

[49:18]  ²⁴ sn I wait for your deliverance, O Lord. As Jacob sees the conflicts that lie ahead for Dan and Gad (see v. 19), he offers a brief prayer for their security.

[64:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from ancient times they have not heard, they have not listened.”

[3:25]  ²⁶ tn Heb “wait for him”

[3:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to the soul…” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= “the soul who seeks him”) for the whole person (= “the person who seeks him”).

[3:26]  ²⁸ tn Heb “waiting and silently.” The two adjectives וְיָחִיל וְדוּמָם (vÿyakhil vÿdumam, “waiting and silently”) form a hendiadys: The first functions verbally and the second functions adverbially: “to wait silently.” The adjective דוּמָם (dumam, “silently”) also functions as a metonymy of association, standing for patience or rest (HALOT 217 s.v.). This metonymical nuance is captured well in less literal English versions: “wait in patience” (TEV) and “wait patiently” (CEV, NJPS). The more literal English versions do not express the metonymy as well: “quietly wait” (KJV, NKJV, ASV), “waits silently” (NASB), “wait quietly” (RSV, NRSV, NIV).

[3:26]  ²⁹ tn Heb “deliverance of the Lord.” In the genitive-construct, the genitive יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”) denotes source, that is, he is the source of the deliverance: “deliverance from the Lord.”

[24:42]  ³⁰ tc Most later mss (L 0281 Ï lat) have here ὥρᾳ ({wra, “hour”) instead of ἡμέρα (Jemera, “day”). Although the merits of this reading could be argued either way, in light of the overwhelming and diverse early support for ἡμέρᾳ ({א B C D W Δ Θ Ë¹³ 33 892 1424, as well as several versions and fathers}), the more general term is surely correct.

[24:43]  ³¹ sn On Jesus pictured as a returning thief, see 1 Thess 5:2, 4; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 3:3; 16:15.

[24:44]  ³² sn Jesus made clear that his coming could not be timed, and suggested it would take some time – so long, in fact, that some will not be looking for him any longer (at an hour when you do not expect him).

[13:34]  ³³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ³⁴ tn Grk “giving.”

[5:7]  ³⁵ tn Grk “brothers”; this phrase occurs again three times in the paragraph. See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[5:7]  ³⁶ tn Or “advent”; or “coming” (also in v. 8).

[5:7]  ³⁷ tn Grk “Behold! The farmer waits.”

[5:7]  ³⁸ tn Grk “being patient.”

[1:13]  ³⁹ tn Or “God must not be tested by evil people.”

[1:20]  ⁴⁰ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21]  ⁴¹ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ⁴² tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ⁴³ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”