Jesus is brought to be presented in the temple. 24 And to offer a crifice according to the law of the Lord, 71 SECT. xi. Luke precept they now went up to redeem him, at the price of five shekels, which was the sum appointed to be paid for every eldest son, without any regard to the condition of the family (com- 11. 25. pare Numb. xviii. 15, 16). And to offer a 24 sacrifice, according to what is enjoined in the law of the Lord, Lev. xii. 6, 8. where they, whose A pair of turtle-doves, circumstances were so mean as that they could or two young pigeons. not conveniently afford a lamb, are ordered to bring a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons; which offering suited best the virgin's rank in life, and she did not affect on this occasion to exceed it. 25 And behold, there was a man in JerusaSimeon; and the same man was just and deyout, waiting for the and the Holy Ghost lem, whose name was consulation of Israel; And behold, there was then at Jerusalem a 25 certain man, whose name was Simeon; and he [was] one that was a singularly righteous and religious person, who was waiting, with many others at that time, for the coming of the Messiah, the great expected consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit of prophecy was sometimes in an ex26 And it was re- traordinary manner upon him: And among 26 vealed unto him by other things it was divinely revealed unto him by he should not see death the Holy Spirit, that he should not die before he before he had seen the had seen the Great Anointed of the Lord, and his eyes had beheld the promised Messiah. was upon him. the Holy Ghost, that Lord's Christ. They went up to redeem him.] GoD having acquired a peculiar right to the first-born of Israel, by preserving them amidst the destruction brought on the firstbora of the Egyptians, though he had accepted of the tribe of Levi as an equivalent, yet would have the memory of it preserved by this little acknowledgment of five shekels (or about twelve shillings and sixpence of our money), which was the price that every first-born child must be redeemed at; and in case of an omission here, it might reasonably have been expected that the child should be cut off by some judgment. The first-born therefore were redeemed by paying of this money, in such a sense as all the people were, when, at the time that they were numbered, each of them paid half a shekel as a ransom for their souls, that there might be no plague emong them; as there might otherwise have been if that acknowledgment of the Divine Goodness had been omitted: Exod. xxx. 12--16. But that the five shekels demanded for the first-born were paid to redeem them from being sacrificed on the altar, is one of the most false and malicious insinuations that ever came even from the most inveterate enemy of revelation. And a Whose name was Simeon.] Had Simeon been, as some suppose, the president of the council, and father of the celebrated Gamaliel, St. Luke would probably have inserted so honourable a circumstance. e The consolation of Israel.] This is a That he should not die.] Our transla- 72 SECT. xi. Simeon embraceth Christ. 27 And he came of the law, he 28 Then took And him up in his arms, 29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart And he came under the secret, but powerful impulse of the Spirit, into the temple, just at the by the Spirit into the temple: and when the Luke juncture of time when [his] parents brought in parents brought in the II. 27. the child Jesus into the court of Israel there, that child Jesus, to do for they might do for him according to the custom him after the custom which the authority of the divine law had re28 quired and established in such cases. when the pious Simeon had discovered him by and blessed God, and his prophetic gift and saw that well-known said, prophecy accomplished, (Hag. ii. 7.) that the Desire of all nations should come into that second temple, he was transported at the sight of this desirable Child, and took him with a sacred rapture into his arms, and praised God, and said, with the highest elevations of devotion and joy, 29 Now, O, my Sovereign Lord and Master, I thankfully acknowledge that thou dismissest thy servant to the repose of the grave in peace &; and I can die with pleasure, since thou hast dealt with me according to the gracious engagements of thy word to me; For mine eyes have at length beheld him, whom thou hast appointed as the have seen thy salvagreat instrument of thy long expected salvation; 31 Even that salvation, which thou hast prepared to set before the face of all people, as the glorious face of all people; 32 object of their faith and hope; Ordaining him to be a light for the illumination of the Gentiles, lighten the Gentiles, to reveal the way of life to them that sit in and the glory of thy darkness and in the shadow of death, as well as giving him to be the consolation and the glory of thy people Israel, who have the honour of being peculiarly related to him. 30 33 34 in peace according to thy word: 30 For mine eyes tion. 31 Which thou hast prepared before the 32 A light to en people Israel. 33 And Joseph and at those things which And when they heard this glorious testimony given to the infant Jesus, Joseph and his mother his mother marvelled were astonished at those things which were spoken were spoken of him. of him by so eminent a prophet; which appeared to them so much the more remarkable when compared with the miraculous circumstances which had attended his conception and birth. And Simeon, in the warmth of his devotion, blessed them both, praying affectionately for them, that the favour of God might continually attend them; and said to Mary his mother, Behold this [Child] of thine is appointed for an occasion of the fall and rising again of many in Israel, as he in fact shall be the means of bringing aggra g Thou dismissest thy servant in peace.] There may perhaps be an allusion here to the custoin of saying, especially to an in vated 34 And Simeon blessMary his mother, Behold this Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall ed them, and said unto be spoken against: ferior, when parting, Go in peace. See note 1, on Luke vii, 50. sect. lx. b A mark 55 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also;) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. 56 And there was ess, the daughter of The testimony of Anna. Yea, 35 xi. 73 vated ruin upon some by their rejecting him, as SECT. And there was also [one] Anna a prophetess, 36 one Anna a prophet- the daughter of Phanuel, a person of some conPhanuel, of the tribe siderable note in the tribe of Asher. She was of Aser: she was of now very far advanced in years, having lived a great age, and had only seven years with a husband from the time seven years from her of her virginity: And, as her husband died 37 while she was very young, she had now been a 37 And she was a widow about eighty-four years; who, whatever lived with a husband virginity; widow estate hA mark of contradiction and reproach.] reflected from his breast to hers in such a The word cu seems here to be used for a mark or butt to shoot or dart at; which finely intimates the deliberate malice and hellish artifice with which the character and person of Christ was assaulted while he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, Heb. xii. 3. iA dart shall pierce through thine own soul.] Though cupaia seems often to signify a sword, as particularly, in Rev. i. 16. ii. 12, 16. vi. 8.) yet we are assured by Grotius it properly signifies a Thracian javelin. It may perhaps (as L'Enfant observes) be a beautiful allusion to the preceding figure, as if it had been told her, that the darts levelled at her son should be manner as to wound her very heart. k Had now been a widow about eighty- 74 xi. Joseph and Mary depart from Jerusalem. and day. not thanks likewise unto. SECT estate she might have in the country, departed widow of about fournot from Jerusalem, but kept always so near the score and four years; which departed Luke temple as to be able to resort thither at the hours from the temple, but II. 37. of morning and evening sacrifice; serving [God] served God with fastwith frequent fastings and prayers in which this ings and prayers night devout matron spent a considerable part of the 38 night as well as of the day. And she coming 38 And she coming in at that very time, which was the hour of in that instant gave prayer, joined with Simeon in what he had done, the Lord, and spake and publicly made her acknowledgments to the of him to all them Lord, that is, to Jesus, who was now present tion in Jerusalem. in the temple; and afterwards spake concerning him to all those of her acquaintance in Jerusalem that were waiting, like her. for the promised redemption of Israel by the Messiah, of whose speedy appearance there was an earnest expectation raised among the pious and devout, as the appointed period of his coming now evidently approached ". 39 And the parents of Jesus, when they had that looked for redemp 39 And when they law per- had performed all formed all things according to the law of the Lord, things according to the departed from Jerusalem; and full of admiration at the glorious testimonies that were given to their Child, they some time afterwards returned I In which she spent a considerable part of the night as well as of the day.] This is plainly the meaning of night and day, nor can the expression possibly signify more. Perhaps she might sometimes attend those anthems which the priests sung in the temple during the night-watches, Ps. cxxxiv. 1, 2. to which David may also allude, Psal. cxix. 62. m Made her acknowledgments to the Lord, that is, to Jesus: Αηθωμολογείτο τω Κυρίω.] The late English version renders it, She expressed her thanks to the Lord, and spake of Jesus; and it must be acknowledged there are in this very section two instances in which the relative pronoun refers to a remote, and not immediately preceding, substantive; ver. 22 and 27. But it is so evident, that Christ is often called the Lord by Luke, as well as by the other sacred writers, that I can see no necessity for giving this passage such a turn, contrary to all the ordinary rules of language.--And if it be objected that the infant Jesus did not seem capable at that time of resenting her gratitude, as a rational agent, I answer that Anna might properly be said to to make her acknowledgments to the Lord, if she addressed herself to the Child, as Simeon had done, confessing him to be the Messiah. The original phrase may have a reference to Simeon's speech, and might be intended to intimate that this of Anna was a kind of response, or counterpart to his. But it is also very probable that she, like Simeon, might also address some lofty hymn of praise to the God of Israel on this great occasion; and if any one think the word Lord is here put for Jehovah, though the former interpretation seems to me more just and natural, I shall not oppose it as an error of any importance. n The period of his coming now evidently approached.] The sceptre now appeared to be departing from Judah, though it was not actually gone; Daniel's weeks were plainly near their period; and the revival of the spirit of prophecy, joined with the memorable occurrences relating to the birth of John the Baptist, and of Jesus, could not but encourage and quicken the expectation of pious persons at this time. • They Reflections on the testimonies of Simeon and Anna. xi. 75 to Galilee, to their own city Nazareth P, which SECT. IMPROVEMENT. WHO can behold the pious Simeon thus welcoming death, whilst Ver. he embraced his Saviour, without wishing to pass over the inter- 28 mediate moments of life to meet so peaceful a dissolution? May we, like him, approve ourselves the faithful servants of God; and then we may hope that, when our dismission comes, we shall share 29 in his serenity and joy! We may comfortably expect it, if our eyes are now opened to 30 behold with wonder and delight the great salvation he has pre- 31 pared for his people; and if our hearts, with our lips, are frequently praising him for this light which he hath given to lighten 32 the Gentiles as well as to be the glory of his people Israel. As such may Christ be universally owned and adored, both 34 by Jews and Gentiles! In the mean time, while he is set up as a mark of contradiction and contempt, let us not be ashamed of him or of his words; but rather let those indignities which are offered • They afterwards returned to Galilee.] Luke has omitted the account that Matthew gives us of the visit of the wise men, and of the holy family's retiring into Egypt; and so has taken no notice of their returning any more to Bethlehem. But there is no sufficient reason to conclude from hence, that these occurrences were antecedent to the purification of Mary, and that the holy family immediately returned from Jerusalem to Nazareth. For we have many other instances of a like kind, where events are connected by Luke and the other Evangelists, which did not immediately follow each other; of which Luke xxiv. 50, is particularly memorable, as will be shewn in its proper place. I have expressed it therefore with some latitude, as it seems to me probable that upon leaving Jerusalem they returned to Bethlehem, where they were visited by the wise men; and which, as they had found t to be the place appointed for the birth of Christ, they might suppose also to be the place designed for his education and abode, and might not chuse to remove from thence till God had ordered them to do it. (See Lightfoot's Harmony, Matt. ii. init.) However, if they now returned to Nazareth, it is more than possible that Providence might bring them afterwards to Bethlehem, upon some occa to sion or other, that when the wise men P To their own city Nazareth.] It hath was not their own. |