Luke 2:22-40
2:22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
2:23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”),
2:24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.
2:26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
2:27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law,
2:28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
2:29 “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word;
2:30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
2:31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
2:32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
2:33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.
2:34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed
2:35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed–and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
2:36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
2:37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.
2:38 At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
2:39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
2:40 The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
[22] Καὶ ὅτε ἐπλήσθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ αὐτῶν κατὰ τὸν νόμον Μωϋσέως, ἀνήγαγον αὐτὸν εἰς ῾Ιεροσόλυμα παραστῆσαι τῷ Κυρίῳ,
[23]καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν νόμῳ Κυρίου ὅτι πᾶν ἄρσεν διανοῖγον μήτραν ἅγιον τῷ Κυρίῳ κληθήσεται,
[24]καὶ τοῦ δοῦναι θυσίαν κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ἐν νόμῳ Κυρίου, ζεῦγος τρυγόνων ἢ δύο νεοσσοὺς περιστερῶν.
[25]Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἦν ἄνθρωπος ἐν ῾Ιεροσολύμοις ᾧ ὄνομα Συμεών, καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος δίκαιος καὶ εὐλαβής, προσδεχόμενος παράκλησιν τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ Πνεῦμα ἦν ῞Αγιον ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν·
[26]καὶ ἦν αὐτῷ κεχρηματισμένον ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ῾Αγίου μὴ ἰδεῖν θάνατον πρὶν ἢ ἴδῃ τὸν Χριστὸν Κυρίου.
[27]καὶ ἦλθεν ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι εἰς τὸ ἱερόν· καὶ ἐν τῷ εἰσαγαγεῖν τοὺς γονεῖς τὸ παιδίον ᾿Ιησοῦν τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὸ εἰθισμένον τοῦ νόμου περὶ αὐτοῦ,
[28]καὶ αὐτὸς ἐδέξατο αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς ἀγκάλας αὐτοῦ καὶ εὐλόγησε τὸν Θεὸν καὶ εἶπε·
[29] νῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου, δέσποτα,
κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου ἐν εἰρήνῃ,
[30] ὅτι εἶδον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου τὸ σωτήριόν σου,
[31] ὃ ἡτοίμασας κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν λαῶν,
[32] φῶς εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν ἐθνῶν
καὶ δόξαν λαοῦ σου ᾿Ισραήλ.
[33]καὶ ἦν ᾿Ιωσὴφ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ θαυμάζοντες ἐπὶ τοῖς λαλουμένοις περὶ αὐτοῦ.
[34]καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς Συμεὼν καὶ εἶπε πρὸς Μαριὰμ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ· ἰδοὺ οὗτος κεῖται εἰς πτῶσιν καὶ ἀνάστασιν πολλῶν ἐν τῷ ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ εἰς σημεῖον ἀντιλεγόμενον.
[35]καὶ σοῦ δὲ αὐτῆς τὴν ψυχὴν διελεύσεται ῥομφαία, ὅπως ἂν ἀποκαλυφθῶσιν ἐκ πολλῶν καρδιῶν διαλογισμοί.
[36]Καὶ ἦν ῎Αννα προφῆτις, θυγάτηρ Φανουήλ, ἐκ φυλῆς ᾿Ασήρ· αὕτη προβεβηκυῖα ἐν ἡμέραις πολλαῖς, ζήσασα ἔτη μετὰ ἀνδρὸς ἑπτὰ ἀπὸ τῆς παρθενίας αὐτῆς,
[37]καὶ αὐτὴ χήρα ὡς ἐτῶν ὀγδοήκοντα τεσσάρων,, ἣ οὐκ ἀφίστατο ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ νηστείαις καὶ δεήσεσι λατρεύουσα νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν·
[38]καὶ αὕτη αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐπιστᾶσα ἀνθωμολογεῖτο τῷ Κυρίῳ καὶ ἐλάλει περὶ αὐτοῦ πᾶσι τοῖς προσδεχομένοις λύτρωσιν ἐν ῾Ιερουσαλήμ.
[39]Καὶ ὡς ἐτέλεσαν ἅπαντα τὰ κατὰ τὸν νόμον Κυρίου, ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἑαυτῶν Ναζαρέτ.
[40]Τὸ δὲ παιδίον ηὔξανε καὶ ἐκραταιοῦτο πνεύματι πληρούμενον σοφίας, καὶ χάρις Θεοῦ ἦν ἐπ᾿ αὐτό.
Comments
Τhe repeated connective καί (‘and’) binds the successive sentences throughout.
[22] ἐπλήσθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι: < πίμπλαμαι,pass., ‘I am filled’ (LSJ); the notion of completion is foremost.
παραστῆσαι τῷ Κυρίῳ: aor. inf., παρίστημι, παριστάνω, ‘I place beside, place before’ (cf. LSJ), ‘I present’ (EDNT). The inf. denotes the purpose of the principal vb, here the vb of motion ἀνήγαγον (‘they brought him up’).
[24] τοῦ δοῦναι θυσίαν: the inf. construed with the gen. of the article denotes purpose (‘to render sacrifice’), and is dependent on the vb ἀνήγαγον.
[25] Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἦν ἄνθρωπος ἐν ῾Ιεροσολύμοις ᾧ ὄνομα Συμεών, καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος δίκαιος καὶ εὐλαβής: ἰδοὺ has been explained in previous comments, which I repeat:
ἰδοὺ is an interjection that gives dramatic point in oral speech, the equivalent of ‘look here’, ‘behold’, aha, ‘voilá’(Montanari), and the Hebrew hinneh הִנֵּה.
The word is attested in classical Greek, but esp. freq. in the LXX and NT; of all NT authors, Matthew and Luke use this word most often (Matth. 62 times, Luke 57). As for the grammar: ἰδοὺ < εἴδω (an unrecorded vb = ‘to see’): ἰδοὺ is the 2nd pers. sg. imperative of εἰδόμην, 2nd aorist, middle voice. This imperative is used absolutely, i.e. without an obj., It is has an adverbial force, and can also be classified as a ‘demonstrative particle’ (EDNT)—i.e. a deictic word that points to something of note or signals another stage in the narrative. Cf. 34, ἰδοὺ οὗτος κεῖται, etc.
ἄνθρωπος first occurs without the definite article, and then with the article and the demon. pron. οὗτος.
παράκλησιν τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ: παράκλησις, a verbal noun which in LXX means ‘consolation, comfort’ (see Muraoka s.v.); here = ‘the consolation of Israel (sc. from the coming of the Messiah)’. τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ, gen. of object.
[26] ἦν αὐτῷ κεχρηματισμένον: neuter, pass. pf. part., χρηματίζομαι, in NT, ‘I receive a revelation from God, am directed’. (Only in act. vc in LXX.)
μὴ ἰδεῖν θάνατον: μή is used in oratio obliqua (indirect discourse) in koine where we might expect οὐ.
[27] τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτοὺς: the inf. + the article in the gen. τοῦ expresses purpose, and depends on the articular inf. in the prepositional phrase ἐν τῷ εἰσαγαγεῖν.
[34] κεῖται εἰς πτῶσιν καὶ ἀνάστασιν: κεῖμαι, lit., ‘I lie’; but here, ‘I am set up’ (already in Homer & cl. Gk poet. & prose).
[35] ὅπως ἂν ἀποκαλυφθῶσιν ἐκ πολλῶν καρδιῶν διαλογισμοί: ὅπως + ἂν +
subjunctive introduces a final (or purpose) clause in cl. Gk.
[37] ὡς ἐτῶν ὀγδοήκοντα τεσσάρων: ὡς, a relative adv.; here combined with a numeral, it means ‘about, approximately’ (a nuance left out in the Engl. tr.).
[38] αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐπιστᾶσα ἀνθωμολογεῖτο τῷ Κυρίῳ: αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ, ‘that very hour’ implies a significant event that occurs immediately (see EDNT s.v. ὥρα, p. 507).
ἐπιστᾶσα: 2nd aor. part. < ἐπέστην < ἐφίσταμαι, mid. vc, abs., ‘stand by or near’ (LSJ).
ἀνθωμολογεῖτο, 3rd pers. sg. impf. < ἀνθoμολογοῦμαι (έομαι), mid. vc, c. dat. pers., ‘I praise, extol someone’ (EDNT s.v.). The prefix ἀνθ- (ἀντι-) suggests doing something in turn or in return.
[39] ὡς ἐτέλεσαν ἅπαντα: ‘when they performed everything without exception’, ἅπαντα being emphatic.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 