Luke 2:26-32

2:26 It ¹  had been revealed ²  to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die ³  before ⁴  he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ⁵  2:27 So ⁶  Simeon, ⁷  directed by the Spirit, ⁸  came into the temple courts, ⁹  and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law, ¹⁰  2:28 Simeon ¹¹  took him in his arms and blessed God, saying, ¹² 

2:29 “Now, according to your word, ¹³  Sovereign Lord, ¹⁴  permit ¹⁵  your servant ¹⁶  to depart ¹⁷  in peace.

2:30 For my eyes have seen your salvation ¹⁸ 

2:31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples: ¹⁹ 

2:32 a light, ²⁰ 

for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory ²¹  to your people Israel.”

[2:26]  ¹ tn Grk “And it.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:26]  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).

[2:26]  ³ tn Grk “would not see death” (an idiom for dying).

[2:26]  ⁴ tn On the grammar of this temporal clause, see BDF §§383.3; 395.

[2:26]  ⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:27]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.

[2:27]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Simeon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:27]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Grk “the temple.”

[2:27]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “to do for him according to the custom of the law.” See Luke 2:22-24.

[2:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Simeon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:28]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ sn The phrase according to your word again emphasizes that God will perform his promise.

[2:29]  ¹⁴ tn The Greek word translated here by “Sovereign Lord” is δεσπότης (despoth").

[2:29]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “now release your servant.”

[2:30]  ¹⁸ sn To see Jesus, the Messiah, is to see God’s salvation.

[2:31]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ sn In other words, Jesus is a special cause for praise and honor (“glory”) for the nation.