Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 2:22
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present [him] to the Lord;
22 24. The Presentation in the Temple
22. her purification ] Rather, their purification. The reading , ‘her’, of the Received Text is almost unsupported. All the Uncials read , ‘their,’ except D, which probably by an oversight reads , ‘His.’ Strictly speaking, the child was never purified, but only the mother. The purification took place on the fortieth day after the Nativity, and till then a mother was not permitted to leave her house. The feast of the Presentation was known in the Eastern Church as the Hypapant.
according to the law of Moses ] See this Law in Lev 12:2-4. Jesus was “made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem those that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons,” Gal 4:4-5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Days of her purification – Among the Hebrews a mother was required to remain at home for about forty days after the birth of a male child and about eighty for a female, and during that time she was reckoned as impure – that is, she was not permitted to go to the temple or to engage in religious services with the congregation, Lev 12:3-4.
To Jerusalem – The place where the temple was, and where the ordinances of religion were celebrated.
To present him to the Lord – Every first-born male child among the Jews was regarded as holy to the Lord, Exo 13:2. By their being holy unto the Lord was meant that unto them belonged the office of priests. It was theirs to be set apart to the service of God – to offer sacrifice, and to perform the duties of religion. It is probable that at first the duties of religion devolved on the father, and that, when he became infirm or died, that duty devolved on the eldest son; and it is still manifestly proper that where the father is infirm or has deceased, the duty of conducting family worship should be performed by the eldest son. Afterward, God chose the tribe of Levi in the place of the eldest sons, to serve him in the sanctuary, Num 8:13-18. Yet still it was proper to present the child to God, and it was required that it should be done with an offering.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 2:22; Luk 2:24
The days of her purification
The presentation in the temple
I.
1. Consider the inner meaning of the law which was here fulfilled by the Infant Jesus. Ever since the day that Israel had been delivered from bondage by the death of the first-born of the Egyptians, the first-born had been considered especially dedicated to the service of God.
2. Here the First-born, not of Mary only, but of all creation, is presented to the Father. Is He not the Only-begotten Son, begotten before all worlds? Now that He has come in the substance of our flesh He is the true Head of the human race, the First-born of a restored humanity. It is as such that He makes His first visit to Jerusalem–type of the heavenly Jerusalem–the Church of the First-born; and His first entry into the Temple, the Home of God upon earth.
3. Unto us a Son is given; as the Son of Man, the Hope of the Human Race, our First-born, He is presented to the Father as our best and only offering. From this day forward He is in the presence of God for us.
4. Inasmuch as we are members of Christ, we too are presented in His presentation. We also become the first-born, joint-heirs with Him, the first-fruits of creation, a royal priesthood, a chosen nation.
II. 1. Realize that we are ever being presented in the Temple of God through our union with our Head, even Jesus Christ.
2. Realize this especially in the Holy Eucharist, in which we plead before our Father the one perfect and sufficient sacrifice and oblation for the sins of the whole world, and at the same time, sharing in His life, we offer and present ourselves a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice.
3. Realize that as the first-born is especially claimed for the service of God, this sacrifice of ourselves must include the offering of our first-born, our best energies, our truest thoughts, our highest talents, our richest possessions. (Canon Vernon Hutton, M. A.)
Dedication to God from early youth
In congratulating Simeon and Anna on having seen the salvation of Israel, we should not overlook the fact, that by long preparation and longing they made themselves worthy of embracing the Saviour. If you desire the same happiness, make the same preparation Do not defer it to your old age, but in order to ensure the friendship of Jesus then, devote yourself to Him now
I. THIS IS A SACRIFICE EXCEEDINGLY WELCOME TO GOD.
1. God has a predilection for youth, and selects them as His instruments to attain His designs. Joseph, David, Daniel, Stephen.
2. The young are eminently fit for heaven (Mat 14:14).
3. So much the more does He value the self-sacrifice of youth, the devotion to Him from childhood being
(1) Firstlings (Gen 4:4). He who dissipates him youth, and in old age turns to God, offers fruits of which the sweetest have been tasted by the devil; and ears, the best grain of which has been taken by him.
(2) A sacrifice free from selfishness.
(3) A. stainless offering (Mal 1:8).
(4) An example to others.
II. VERY PROFITABLE FOR ONESELF.
1. Because you are led to perfection, which is the true beauty and riches of man.
(1) Virtue is a tree that strikes deeper roots in young hearts. Greater susceptibility–fewer storms internal and external. The coldness and miseries of life are not so much felt. The soul is not yet enervated by passions, nor petrified by custom and stupidity.
(2) The stem of this tree is harder and more solid. Virtue, like vice, is hardened into habit and passion. The conversion of old age is often unstable.
(3) This tree bears more delicious fruits, and in greater measure. The wine first taken from the press is the most delicious. Virtue is an art acquired by exercise.
2. Because you will gain happiness here on earth.
(1) Inner peace–the consciousness of being Gods friend.
(2) The prospect of proximate, abundant, eternal reward.
(3) The love and esteem of all who are of good will.
3. Happiness in the next world. (Q. Rossi.)
Consequences of good education
Mary is the happiest mother, because she carried in her arms the best Child. Where is there a father or mother who would not desire to have good children? The attainment of this wish is often frustrated by parents themselves. Yet they would find urgent motives to realize it, if they would consider the happy results of giving a wise and religious education to their children.
I. CONSEQUENCES TO THE PARENTS. Children well educated are–
1. An honour to their parents. Their good name reflects on those who brought them up.
2. Their joy, consolation, and help, in every condition of life.
3. Their eternal crown.
II. CONSEQUENCES TO THE CHILDREN. Parents wish nothing more than to see their children happy. Now it is on good education that–
1. Their temporal happiness depends.
2. Their eternal weal. You have planted for heaven, and in heaven, therefore, you will reap your reward. No dowry equals this.
III. CONSEQUENCES TO FESTIVITY.
1. In regard to the family (Psa 3:2; Psa 3:8).
2. In regard to civil society. Good and bad morals are rapidly spread and are kept up for a long time. (Tirinus)
The purification
The question meets us, If the blessed Virgin conceived the Son by the operation of the Holy Ghost, and if He Himself were absolutely and entirely pure, then what need of purification? What defilement was there, from which the Virgin Mother could be purified? And an answer is ready to hand which seems abundantly sufficient, namely, that as Jesus was circumcised, so Mary was purified; in each case there was submission to the letter of a Divine law, and there was no desire and no attempt to establish an exception. Our Lord was a Jewish boy, and was treated as Jewish boys were treated; Mary was a Jewish mother, and acted as Jewish mothers were wont to act. Our English version speaks of the days of her purification, and this is what we might have expected, but it should not be concealed that the best copies of the original Scriptures give, some of them His, some of them their purification; and there can be little doubt that this last form of the sentence is the correct one (so Revised Version). It would seem to indicate that, in the popular belief and feeling of the Jews the sacrifice which was instituted for the purification of the mother (Levit. 12.) did in reality also apply to the child; and this being so, St. Luke appears not to have hesitated to use a phrase, which, literally interpreted, would imply the need of purification on the part of our blessed Lord Himself. This is only another instance of the complete and unreserved manner in which the Head of our race is identified with ourselves. Perhaps the most interesting point in these verses is the incidental testimony to the poverty of the Holy Family. The offering might be a lamp and a turtle-dove if the parents were rich, and two doves or two pigeons if they were poor. Hence the mention of the pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons marks the worldly condition of the Blessed Virgin and Joseph; they came with the poor mans and poor womans offering; and thus again the poverty of our Lord was declared in the most striking manner during His infancy. (Bishop Goodwin.)
The days of purification
When the fixed time of purification was passed (seven days for a boy and fourteen for a girl), the mother still remained at home thirty-three days for a boy and sixty-six for a girl. Then she went up to the Temple. (E. Stapfer, D. D.)
Her forty days were no sooner out than Mary comes up to the Holy City. She comes with sacrifices, whereof one is for a burnt-offering, the other for a sin-offering; the one for thanksgiving, the other for expiation; for expiation of a double sin–of the mother that conceived, of the Child that was conceived. We are all born sinners, and it is a just question whether we do more infect the world, or the world us. They are gross flatterers of nature that tell her she is clean. But, O the unspeakable mercy of our God I we provide the sin, He provides the remedy. Every poor mother was not able to bring a lamb for her offering; there was none so poor but might procure a pair of turtles or pigeons. God looks for somewhat of every one, not of every one alike. Since it is He that makes differences of abilities (to whom it were as easy to make all rich), His mercy will make no difference in the acceptation. The truth and heartiness of obedience is that which He will crown in His meanest servants. A mite, from the poor widow, is more worth to Him than the talents of the wealthy. The blessed Virgin had more business in the temple than her own. She came, as to purify herself, so to present her Son. Every male that first opened the womb was holy unto the Lord. He that was the Son of God by eternal generation before time, was also, by common course of nature, consecrated unto God. It is fit the Holy Mother should present God with His own. Her first-born was the first-born of all creatures. It was He whose temple it was that He was presented in, to whom all the first-born of all creatures were consecrated, by whom they were accepted; and now is He brought in His mothers arms to His own house, and, as man, is presented to Himself as God. Under the gospel we are all first-born, all heirs; every soul is to be holy unto the Lord; we are a royal generation, an holy priesthood. Our baptism, as it is our circumcision, and our sacrifice of purification, so is it also our presentation unto God. Nothing can become us but holiness. O God! to whom we are devoted, serve Thyself of us, glorify Thyself by us, till we shall by Thee be glorified with Thee. (Bishop Hall.)
No myth
A mythus generally endeavours to ennoble its subject, and to adapt the story to the idea. If, then, the gospel narrative were mythical, would it have invented, or even suffered to remain, a circumstance so foreign to the idea of the myth, and so little calculated to dignify it as the above. A mythus would have introduced an angel, or, at least, a vision, to hinder Mary from submitting the child to a ceremony so unworthy of its dignity; or the priests would have received an intimation from heaven to bow before the infant, and prevent its being reduced to the level of ordinary children. (A. Neander.)
Early dedication to the Lord
The old Romans used to hold the face of all their new-born infants towards the sky, to denote that they must look above the world to celestial glories. We solemnly and prayerfully dedicate our children to God in baptism, &c. And, remembering their immortality and the uncertainty of their life, should we not also constantly devote them to God, and train them for Him and for heaven! My dear mothers prayers with and for me influenced me more to what is good than any earthly thing besides ever did. Richard Cecil spoke of his mother as one that had great nearness to God in prayer, and he says she was to him as an angel of God in her counsels and prayers, which most deeply impressed him. At a college were one hundred and twenty young men were studying for the ministry, it was found, as the result of special inquiry, that more than a hundred of them had been converted mainly through a mothers prayers and labours. But Sunday-schoolteachers, ministers, church members, young people themselves, and everybody should join in loving, prayerful efforts to present young people and others to the Lord. And if Gods grace be obtained for them, will they not be restrained from evil, and also led to good? Then children themselves should humbly, earnestly, lovingly, and through faith in Christ, present themselves to the Lord. A dear boy, who was soon after killed in a moment, prayed, Lord, make me quite, quite ready, in ease Jesus comes for me in a hurry. (Henry R. Burton.)
Early piety a safeguard
In one of the public enclosures of Philadelphia the fountain was recently left to play all night. During the hours of darkness a sharp frost set in; and those who passed by next morning found the water, still playing indeed, but playing over a mass of gleaming icicles. But that was not all. The wind had been blowing steadily in one direction through all these hours, and the spray had been carried on airy wings to the grass which fringed the pool in which the fountain stood. On each blade of grass the spray had fallen so gently as hardly to bend it, descending softly and silently the whole night long. By slow and almost imperceptible processes each blade became coated with a thin layer of ice; by the same noiseless processes each layer grew thicker, until in the morning what before had been a little patch of swaying grass was a miniature battleground of upright, crystal spears, each holding within it, as its nucleus, a single blade of grass, now cold, rigid, and dead. In human life, in like manner, it may seem a light thing leave a young heart outside of Christs fold, and exposed to the cold winds of the worlds great unbelief. There is no violent transformation of the character in such a case. Yet silently and surely the worlds frost settles upon the flowers of the heart, covering them with the chill spray of doubt, binding them with soft bonds which harden into chains of ice, encasing them in a coat of crystal mail, polished, cold, and impenetrable. You have met persons in whose heart this freezing process has been accomplished. You have seen beneath the icy surface the nucleus of good which might have grown to so fair a harvest, just as you have seen the dead blade of grass preserved at the core of the icicle. You can do little now for either the person or the plant: nothing but heavens sunshine can melt the ice which holds them in its deadly thrall. But you can take care that none of those for whom you are responsible will be left out in the worlds cold, to suffer so deadly a change. You can bring them within the warm influences of Christian life, where no frost will gather upon them, and where the souls highest powers will be gently wooed to their best growth.
Training children for the Lord
An aged Christian, a widow of fourscore years, relates the following experience of her early days. When she first entered upon her married life, she and her husband could lock their cottage door, and go together, forenoon and afternoon, to the house of God. After the birth of their first son they had to enjoy this privilege in turn; one going in the forenoon, and the other in the afternoon. But the sickness or fretfulness of the child not unfrequently detained the mother at home during the whole of the Sabbath. This she felt to be a great privation. On one such occasion a neighbour, coming in to inquire about her welfare, found her in tears. The dejected young mother was a Christian; she had early been brought to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus; she was a lover of the Lords house, and of the Lords day; she trusted in Jesus as her Saviour; but she had not yet learned lovingly to accept all His discipline. There were things connected with it too painful for her. She did not know what was to compensate her for tile want of the days in the courts of the Lord; and so she told her neighbour the cause of her dejection. Woman, replied her neighbour, in the broad dialect of that land, dye no mind the word that says, Take this child, and nurse him for Me; and I will give thee thy wages? It was a word in season; and, with greater or less power, it sustained and comforted that mother during the whole of her subsequent nursing of ten children. Her home in the valley of the Tweed was long ago exchanged for one on the banks of the Mohawk. But the God whose Word thus comforted her in early womanhood is with her still when she is old and greyheaded; and she can gratefully speak of her eleven children, nursed for Him, as all walking in the ways of God on earth, or taken away to another home into which sickness and death can never come. (Mothers Treasury.)
Holy education of children
Good laws will not reform us, if reformation begin not at home. This is the cause of all our misdeeds in Church and State, even the want of a holy education of children. (R. Baxter.)
Permanence of early impressions
The late Rev. Richard Knill, a most devoted and useful missionary in Russia, returned home to his native village. It so happened that he slept in the chamber where he had slept as a boy. All night long he lay awake thinking of the mercy and goodness of God to him through life. Early in the morning he looked out of a window, and saw a tree in the garden beneath which his mother had prayed with him forty years before. He went out, and on the same spot knelt down and thanked God for a praying mother. Here was the reward of a mother who trained her children in the way to heaven.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 22. Days of her purification] That is, thirty-three days after what was termed the seven days of her uncleanness-forty days in all: for that was the time appointed by the law, after the birth of a male child. See Le 12:2; Le 12:6.
The MSS. and versions differ much in the pronoun in this place: some reading , HER purification; others , HIS purification; others , THEIR purification; and others , the purification of THEM BOTH. Two versions and two of the fathers omit the pronoun, , their, and , his, have the greatest authorities in their support, and the former is received into most of the modern editions. A needless scrupulosity was, in my opinion, the origin of these various readings. Some would not allow that both needed purification, and referred the matter to Mary alone. Others thought neither could be supposed to be legally impure, and therefore omitted the pronoun entirely, leaving the meaning indeterminate. As there could be no moral defilement in the case, and what was done being for the performance of a legal ceremony, it is of little consequence which of the readings is received into the text.
The purification of every mother and child, which the law enjoined, is a powerful argument in proof of that original corruption and depravity which every human being brings into the world. The woman to be purified was placed in the east gate of the court, called Nicanor’s gate, and was there sprinkled with blood: thus she received the atonement. See Lightfoot.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In these verses is a record of the virgins obedience to two laws, the one concerning the purification of the woman after child birth; the other concerning the presenting of the male child before the Lord. We have the law concerning purification, Lev 12:1-8 throughout. The sum was, That if a woman had brought forth a male child, she should be unclean seven days, and after that continue in the blood of her purifying thirty-three days. If she brought forth a female, she was to be unclean fourteen days, and afterward to continue in the blood of her purifying sixty-six days. So that the time of the womans purification after the birth of a female was fourscore days, for a male (which was the present case) forty. After the expiration of which time, she was to bring a lamb of a year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering, to the priest to the tabernacle, who was to offer it for her, and to make an atonement. If she were poor, and not able to bring a lamb, (which seems the present case), then she was to bring only two turtle doves, or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering, the other for a sin offering. The evangelist takes no notice of any lamb, but only
a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons; which lets us know she was poor, and so obliged by the law no further. Mary, after her forty days were expired, cometh up to the temple, to yield obedience to this law. And not so only, but also to present her child before the Lord. This depended upon two laws. We find the one Exo 13:2, where, in remembrance of Gods sparing the Israelites, when he smote the first born of the Egyptians, he gave the Israelites this law: Sanctify unto me all the first born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. So Exo 22:29; 34:19. Instead of these, God took the Levites, as appears by Num 8:16; yet were the first born to be presented before the Lord, and redeemed by the payment of five shekels apiece, for all those who were above the number of the Levites, as appeareth by Num 3:44-47; and five shekels was the redemption price of any male upon a singular vow, Lev 27:6. For these two ends, after six weeks, Joseph, and Mary, and, Jesus come up to Jerusalem.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22, 24. her purificationThoughthe most and best copies read “their,” it was the motheronly who needed purifying from the legal uncleanness of childbearing.”The days” of this purification for a male child were fortyin all (Lev 12:2; Lev 12:4),on the expiry of which the mother was required to offer a lamb for aburnt offering, and a turtle dove or a young pigeon for a sinoffering. If she could not afford a lamb, the mother had to bringanother turtle dove or young pigeon; and, if even this was beyond hermeans, then a portion of fine flour, but without the usual fragrantaccompaniments of oil and frankincense, as it represented a sinoffering (Lev 12:6-8;Lev 5:7-11). From theintermediate offering of “a pair of turtle doves or two youngpigeons,” we gather that Joseph and the Virgin were in poorcircumstances (2Co 8:9), thoughnot in abject poverty. Being a first-born male, they “bring himto Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord.” All such had beenclaimed as “holy to the Lord,” or set apart to sacred uses,in memory of the deliverance of the first-born of Israel fromdestruction in Egypt, through the sprinkling of blood (Ex13:2). In lieu of these, however, one whole tribe, that of Levi,was accepted, and set apart to occupations exclusively sacred (Nu3:11-38); and whereas there were two hundred seventy-three fewerLevites than first-born of all Israel on the first reckoning, each ofthese first-born was to be redeemed by the payment of five shekels,yet not without being “presented (or brought) unto theLord,” in token of His rightful claim to them and theirservice (Num 3:44-47; Num 18:15;Num 18:16). It was in obedience tothis “law of Moses,” that the Virgin presented her babeunto the Lord, “in the east gate of the court called Nicanor’sGate, where she herself would be sprinkled by the priest with theblood of her sacrifice” [LIGHTFOOT].By that Babe, in due time, we were to be redeemed, “not withcorruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood ofChrist” (1Pe 1:18; 1Pe 1:19),and the consuming of the mother’s burnt offering, and the sprinklingof her with the blood of her sin offering, were to find their abidingrealization in the “living sacrifice” of the Christianmother herself, in the fulness of a “heart sprinkled from anevil conscience,” by “the blood which cleanseth from allsin.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when the days of purification,…. Of the Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord; though most copies read, “of their purification”; and so read the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, including both Mary and Jesus: and now, though Mary was not polluted by the conception, bearing, and bringing forth of Jesus, that holy thing born of her; yet inasmuch as she was in the account of the law clean; and though Jesus had no impurity in his nature, yet seeing he was made sin for his people, both came under this law of purification, which was for the sake of the son or daughter, as well as for the mother; though our reading, and which is according to the Complutensian edition, best agrees with the Hebrew phrase, , the days of her purifying or purification, in Le 12:4
according to the law of Moses, in Le 12:1.
were accomplished; which for a son were forty days: the seven first days after she gave birth she was unclean; and then she continued three and thirty days in the blood of her purifying, which made forty; see
Le 12:2 but though the time of her purifying was upon the fortieth day, yet it was not till the day following that she came to the temple with her offering: for so runs the Jewish canon w;
“a new mother does not bring her offering on the fortieth day for a male, nor on the eightieth day for a female, but after her sun is set: and she brings her offering on the morrow, which is the forty first for a male, and the eighty first for a female: and this is the day of which it is said, Le 12:6 and “when the days of her purifying are fulfilled for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring”, c.”
And this was the time when they, Joseph and Mary, brought him, the child Jesus, to Jerusalem, and to the temple there, to present him to the Lord, to the priest his representative and which was done in the eastern gate, called the gate of Nicanor: x for here,
“they made women, suspected of adultery, to drink, and purified new mothers, and cleansed the lepers.”
And here Mary appeared with her firstborn son, the true Messiah; and this was the first time of his coming into his temple, as was foretold, Mal 3:1
w Maimon. Hilch Mechosre Cappara, c. 1. sect. 5. x Misn. Sota, c. 1. sect. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The days of their purification ( ). The old manuscripts have “their” () instead of “her” () of the later documents. But it is not clear whether “their” refers to Mary and Joseph as is true of “they brought” or to Mary and the child. The mother was Levitically unclean for forty days after the birth of a son (Le 12:1-8).
To present him to the Lord ( ). Every first-born son was thus redeemed by the sacrifice (Ex 13:2-12) as a memorial of the sparing of the Israelitish families (Nu 18:15f.). The cost was about two dollars and a half in our money.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The days of her purification [ ] . The A. V. follows the reading aujthv, her : but all the best texts read aujtwn, their; the plural including Joseph with Mary as partaking of the ceremonial defilement. The mother of a child was levitically unclean for forty days after the birth of a son, and for eighty days after the birth of a daughter. Women on this errand commonly rode to the temple on oxen; that the body of so large a beast between them and the ground might prevent any chance of defilement from passing over a sepulchre on the road. For details, see Edersheim, “Life and Times of Jesus,” 1, 195; “The Temple,” page 302; Geikie, “Life and Words of Christ,” 1, 127.
To present him to the Lord. The first born son of every household must be redeemed of the priest at the price of five shekels of the sanctuary; about two dollars and fifty cents. Num 18:15, 16; Exo 13:2.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And when the days of her purification,” (kai hote eplesthesan hai hemerai tou katharismou auton) “And when the days of their cleansing were completed,” a period of forty days after the birth of a male child, Lev 12:2, during which time the mother was to stay at home, private, as one defiled, setting forth the defilement of the race by sin, and in need of purification.
2) “According to the law of Moses were accomplished,” (kato ton nomon mouseos eplesthesan) “Were completed according to, in satisfaction of, or in harmony with the Law of Moses,” Lev 12:1-4. And the period of purification of a mother at birth of a female child was for a period of eighty days, Lev 12:5.
3) “They brought him to Jerusalem,” (anegagon auton eis lerosoluma) “They took him into Jerusalem,” to the temple, the holy place, for His commitment ceremony, “holy to the Lord.”
4) “To present him to the Lord,” (parsastesai to kurio) “To present or stand him forth to the Lord,” as one to be holy, committed to God, as the firstborn, to fulfill the Law of Moses, Exo 13:13; Not that Jesus had any sin from which He needed to be redeemed, Mat 5:17-18; Heb 7:26. By that babe we were to be redeemed, even by the first-born, only begotten of the Father, 1Pe 1:18-19.
The first-born male of every species was sacred to the Lord, and the first-born male child was to be redeemed for money, to commemorate the deliverance of Israel from Egypt’s bondage, Exo 12:29-30; Exo 13:2; Exo 13:11-15; Num 18:15-16; and the whole tribe of Levi was regarded as substituted for the firstborn, Num 3:12-13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
22. And after that the days were fulfilled On the fortieth day after the birth, (Lev 12:2,) the rite of purification was necessary to be performed. But Mary and Joseph come to Jerusalem for another reason, to present Christ to the Lord, because he was the first-born. Let us now speak first of the purification. Luke makes it apply both to Mary and to Christ: for the pronoun αὐτῶν, of them, can have no reference whatever to Joseph. But it ought not to appear strange, that Christ, who was to be, made a curse for us on the cross,” (Gal 3:13,) should, for our benefit, take upon him our uncleanness with respect to legal guilt, though he was “without blemish and without spot,” (1Pe 1:19.) It ought not, I say, to appear strange, if the fountain of purity, in order to wash away our stains, chose to be reckoned unclean. (191) It is a mistake to imagine that this law of purification was merely political, and that the woman was unclean in presence of her husband, not in presence of God. On the contrary, it placed before the eyes of the Jews both the corruption of their nature, and the remedy of divine grace.
This law is of itself abundantly sufficient to prove original sin, while it contains a striking proof of the grace of God; for there could not be a clearer demonstration of the curse pronounced on mankind than when the Lord declared, that the child comes from its mother unclean and polluted, and that the mother herself is consequently defiled by childbearing. Certainly, if man were not born a sinner, if he were not by nature a child of wrath, (Eph 2:3,) if some taint of sin did not dwell in him, he would have no need of purification. Hence it follows, that all are corrupted in Adam; for the mouth of the Lord charges all with pollution.
It is in perfect consistency with this, that the Jews are spoken of, in other passages, as “holy branches of a holy root,” (Rom 11:16 🙂 for this benefit did not properly belong to their own persons. They had been set apart, by the privilege of adoption, as an elect people; but the corruption, which they had by inheritance from Adam, was first in the order of time (192) We must, therefore, distinguish between the first nature, and that special kindness through a covenant, by which God delivers his own people from the curse which had been pronounced on all. And the design of legal purification was to inform the Jews, that the pollutions, which they brought with them into the world at their birth, are washed away by the grace of God.
Hence too we ought to learn, how dreadful is the contagion of sin, which defiles, in some measure, the lawful order of nature. I do own that child-bearing is not unclean, and that what would otherwise be lust changes its character, through the sacredness of the marriage relation. But still the fountain of sin is so deep and abundant, that its constant overflowings stain what would otherwise be pure.
(191) “ Si celuy qui est la fontaine de toute purete, a voulu estre tenu pour immonde et souille, afin de laver toutes nos ordures.” — “If he, who is the fountain of all purity, determined to be reckoned unclean and defiled in order to wash away our pollutions.”
(192) “ La corruption hereditaire procedante d’Adam precedoit un tel bien, et estoit plus ancienne.” — “The hereditary corruption proceeding from Adam preceded such a benefit, and was more ancient.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Butlers Comments
SECTION 2
Prophecies (Luk. 2:22-38)
22 And 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 23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord) 24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. 25Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lords Christ. 27And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, 28he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word;
30for mine eyes have seen thy salvation
31 which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel.
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; 34and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against
35(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.
36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, 37and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luk. 2:22-24 Homage: For forty days after childbirth, a Hebrew mother was considered ceremonially unclean by the Law of Moses (Lev. 12:1-8). The regulation was for hygienic reasons to start with. If the mother and child are isolated from everyone else (as those who were ceremonially unclean must be) for forty days the chances for survival are greatly increased. This regulation had nothing to do with making the mother sinful because she had given birth. The really fundamental purpose of all the Levitical laws of ceremonial purification was to develop the sensitivity of the human being to his sinfulness and Gods holiness and to also develop the habit of obedience to the laws of God whether man understood them or agreed with them or not. When a Hebrew became ceremonially unclean he was unable to worship God or have fellowship with Gods covenant people until he purified himself according to the rituals of the Law. This emphasized to him the necessity for the grace of God in providing a way for him to be restored to covenant relationship. For Mary to be declared ceremonially clean again, she was required to offer to the priest for sacrifice a lamb and a young pigeon. If she were poor she could offer two pigeons or two turtledoves (costing about sixteen cents). So, about the first week in February, Mary, with her husband Joseph, traveled the five or six miles from Bethlehem to Jerusalem and presented herself with two turtledoves to receive cleansing from the priest.
The Law of Moses also required that each first-born male, animal or child, must be set apart or called holy to the Lord. The Hebrew word avar (Exo. 13:12) means literally, to pass over. The first-born were also to be Redeemed (Heb. padah), that is, a ransom payment had to be made to the temple of five shekels (about $5.00 now) (Num. 18:15-16). Redeeming the firstborn was (1) a memorial to Israels redemption from Egypt; (2) and a response and repayment to God for sparing the firstborn of Israel in Egypt (see comments by Wilbur Fields, Exodus, pgs. 277284, College Press). Christians are all called first-born in Heb. 12:23, thus all Christians are redeemed and set apart unto the Lord.
The word homage means to honor with submission and obedience. This is exactly what Mary and Joseph were doing when they took the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to observe these two laws of the Old Testament. They were devout and God-fearing people. Besides, this Child was special. They both knew He had some kind of uniquely divine mission. He must be set apart unto the Lord according to the Lords revealed will. They would do all in their power to dedicate Him to Jehovahs service. It was predicted that the Messiah would be obedient to the Law of Jehovah (cf. Psa. 45:6-7; Heb. 1:8-9; Isa. 50:4-9; Php. 2:5-7; Gal. 4:4). Although the Messiah was the Incarnate God and the One who was the Lawgiver Himself, He humbly observed His own law (cf. Mat. 17:24-27; Heb. 5:7-9).
Luk. 2:25-35 Heraldry: Simeon, or Shimeon in Hebrew, is from the word shama which means to hear, to obey. He was righteous and devout, filled with faith and hope that he would see the Messiah because the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that before he died he would see the consolation of Israel. Consolation in Greek is paraklesin from the word which may also be translated comforter. Comfort, consolation in Hebrew is menuchach (from the root nacham) from which also the proper names Nahum, Menahem, and Menachem are formed. This is the Hebrew word used in many messianic passages of the Old Testament (cf. Isa. 40:1; Isa. 49:13; Isa. 51:3; Isa. 52:9; Isa. 54:11; Isa. 61:2; Isa. 66:13; Jer. 31:13). Simeon, the obedient, was obeying the prophecies of Gods Old Testament and the revelation he had from the Holy Spirit. He was eagerly looking (every day) for the Christ (kristos, anointed) of the Lord. The Messiah is called mashiyach, anointed in Dan. 9:26. The aged Simeon was directed by the Holy Spirit to go to the Temple and when Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus arrived there, he was guided by the Spirit to take Marys baby into his arms and pronounce what is called the Nunc Dimittis (Latin for, Now dismiss . . .)
Simeons righteous and devout character is manifested by his attitude toward the Lord. His salutation, Lord, is despota in Greek and is the word from which we get despot in English; he accepted the Lord as the absolute sovereign of his life. Simeon referred to himself as doulon, or slave, absolute servant. Simeon had been promised by the Holy Spirit that when he saw the Anointed One (the Messiah), he would be loosed from (apolueis, Greek) this life. Simeon had been told that he would be the Lords bond-slave in this life until the coming of the Anointed One. This Christ, whom Simeon would live to see with his own eyes, would be not only the Consoler of Israel, He would also be the Light to those who sat is darkness (the Gentiles). This Christ would bring salvation to the whole world. Now Simeon is ready to be released from this life, apparently looking forward to peace and glory in the next life because Gods Anointed One has come, Simeons phraseology echoes the prophecy of Isa. 61:1-2 (cf. Luk. 4:16-19). There the Messiah is predicted as coming to usher in the Jubilee of God when all the slaves will be set free (see our comments, Isaiah, Vol. III, pgs. 410411, College Press). Simeon has come to his own Jubilee and now asks permission from his Master to be set free. Paul was anxious to leave this life and be with the Lord in the next life (cf. Php. 1:19-26; 2Co. 5:1-10), and so should we. But we must also be ready and willing to serve the Lord here in this world so long as He provides us the life to do so. If we do so devoutly, obediently and faithfully, we will someday be released and hear the trumpet signal our own Jubilee. Simeon announced that the Babe in his arms was Savior of the whole world. He was the Revelation (apokalupsin in Greek; the word from which we get the English, apocalypse) to the Gentiles. The Gentiles had tried to discover God in their philosophies and other cultural disciplines (cf. 1Co. 1:18-31), but man cannot discover GodGod reveals Himself to man, in order that no man should boast! That is just as true today as it was then. God has chosen to reveal Himself in Nature and in His Word (for the purpose of salvation, in His Son alone). If any man wishes to know God in a saving relationship, he must know His Son through the agency of His Spirit, in the Bible!
Simeon was a herald of bad news too. While Joseph and Mary were caught up in a reverie contemplating the marvelous things said about this Baby, the old man brought a sudden chill upon the mothers heart with a prediction of the dark clouds of persecution and suffering that would characterize this Childs life. It would all end in a soul-piercing tragedy for the mother. The shadow of the cross fell across the life of this Child even before He was born. Isaiah the prophet indicated in no uncertain terms that the Messiah-Servant of God would suffer and die (and be raised from the dead) (cf. Isa. 52:13 –Isa. 53:12). Daniel, too, had predicted that the Anointed Prince of God would be cut off (cf. Dan. 9:24-27).
The Temple courts were always crowded with worshipers, sight-seers and priests. How many were within hearing of the aged Simeon we are not told. Those who would have believed his predictions about the Baby Jesus would have been very few, if any! Most Jews (even including Jesus apostles) stumbled over any prediction that their Messiah would be of such humble origins or suffer such an ignominious death. Mary could hardly be expected to comprehend the full impact of these words then. But the day would come (33 years later) when the terrible reality of Simeons predictions would stab her heart as she saw her first-born nailed to a cross.
The phrase . . . set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against. . . . echoes the prophecies of the Psalmist and Isaiah concerning the despising and rejection of the Messiah (Isa. 53:1-12; Psa. 22:1-18, etc.). It was also predicted that the Messiah would become a stumbling block over which many in Israel would fall (cf. Isa. 8:14; Psa. 118:22; Luk. 20:18; Rom. 9:32-33; 1Co. 1:23; 1Pe. 2:8, etc.), and The Cornerstone upon which many true Israelites (Christians) would build (Isa. 28:16; 1Pe. 2:5; 1Co. 3:11, etc.). All of the good and bad to come to and through this Child was in order . . . that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. The Incarnation (God coming in flesh in Christ), the Atoning Death and the Resurrection was witnessed historically by some, believed by many, and has brought millions to a mental and emotional confrontation with the reality of God. It has caused multitudes to repent and come into saving, regenerating fellowship with God through the completed work of Christ. What people think of Christ reveals the true thoughts of their hearts! Men in rebellion against the Creator take a relativistic, self-centered attitude toward everything. Once men are confronted with the historical Christ and His Absolute Deity, they are compelled to make a decision. They must either deny His historicity and lordship (which would reveal intellectual and moral dishonesty of heart) or they must accept both (which is repentance and salvation). Confronted with the truth of Christ, men cannot hide from God, from themselves or from others.
Luk. 2:36-38 Hope: Another aged Israelite who had maintained hope that God would send His Messiah as He promised was Anna daughter of Phanuel (which means face of God), a prophetess. After a marriage of seven years she had lived in widowhood eighty-four years. If she married at 15 she would have been 106 years old and born about 110 B.C. Julius Caesar was born about 100 B.C. Anna had lived through the declining years of the Maccabean rule of Israel which brought relative freedom for the Jews for the first time in over 200 years since the days of Ezra and Nehemiah; she grew up in the days when Alexander Jannaeus (once pelted by his own people with rotten fruit and vegetables) was king and high priest; she lived when a woman, Alexandra, the widow of Alexander Jannaeus, ruled Palestine; she would have been about 40 years old when the illustrious Roman general, Pompey, conquered the mid-East for the Roman empire; she saw the Romans appoint the hated Idumeans (Edomites) of the Herodian family rulers of Palestine; during all this she saw the development of two strong religious factions (Pharisees and Sadducees) and two antagonistic political parties (Herodians and Zealots) within her own people. These factions with their legalisms on one hand and libertinisms on the other plus political compromise versus political fanaticism caused many of the common people, oppressed by heavy taxation and religious legalism, to wish for messianic redemption. It appears that this aged saint never missed a service in the Temple night and day! Coming into the Temple at the very time Simeon was heralding the birth of the Messiah, she gave thanks to God and kept on speaking (elalei, Greek imperfect tense) to all who were looking for the redemption of Israel.
After these experiences in the Temple in early February, Mary and Joseph returned to Bethlehem with the Baby. They were lodging in a house when the wise men from the East came and presented their gifts and worshiped Him (Mat. 2:1-12). The wise men had stopped in Jerusalem to ask about the birth of the king of the Jews. The cruel and crafty Herod sent them to Bethlehem hoping they would find Jesus so he might kill Him. The wise men returned to their homes in the East without reporting to Herod the whereabouts of the Child. Immediately, an angel appeared to Jospeh and directed him to flee with the Child to Egypt (Mat. 2:13-23). The trip to Egypt would be about 100 miles but Mary and Joseph fled there with Jesus. Back in Bethlehem Herod was having every baby two years old and under slain, hoping to eliminate this announced king of the Jews as a threat to his throne. When Herod died, an angel of the Lord spoke again to Joseph telling him it was safe to return to Israel, so they began their return. Hearing that a son of Herod (Archelaus) reigned over Judea, they did not return to Bethlehem or Jerusalem but went directly to Nazareth in Galilee their original home. Herod the Great died at the end of March or during the first few days of April, 4 B.C. Jesus was, therefore, about three or four months old when He was brought back to live in Nazareth.
STUDY STIMULATORS:
1.
Why were women declared unclean for 40 days after childbirth?
2.
What is involved in the dedication of the Hebrew child after 40 days?
3.
How does that Hebrew ritual relate typically to the Christian experience?
4.
What did Simeon mean by calling the baby Jesus, the consolation of Israel?
5.
What did Simeon mean by calling God, despot?
6.
If man cannot discover God, how is man to know God?
7.
Why did Simeon tell Mary a sword would pierce her heart?
8.
How does Christ reveal the thoughts of mans hearts to them?
9.
What had the aged prophetess Anna lived through in history that would cause her to wish for a Messiah?
10.
After their presentation of Jesus in the Temple, where did Mary and Joseph reside with the Child?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Appleburys Comments
Presenting the Child to the Lord
Scripture
Luk. 2:22-40 And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. 25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lords Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do concerning him after the custom of the law, 28 then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29
Now lettest thou thy servant depart, Lord,
According to thy word, in peace;
30
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
31
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples;
32
A light for revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of thy people Israel.
33
And his father and his mother were marvelling at the things which were spoken concerning him; 34 and Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; 35 yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul; that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. 36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, 37 and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years), who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks unto God, and spake of him to all them that were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. 39 And when they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
40 And the child grew, and waxed strong, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
Comments
purification according to the law of Moses.See Lev. 12:1-8 for this law of purification. It was a ceremonial purification in connection with the birth of a child. It had nothing to do with so-called original sin. The reference to their cleansing does not suggest that Jesus had inherited the taint of Adams sin. Adams sin did involve all of his descendants in physical death (Rom. 5:1-21; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 7:1-25; Rom. 8:1-39; Rom. 9:1-33; Rom. 10:1-21; Rom. 11:1-36; Rom. 12:1-21). But as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive (1Co. 15:22).
holy to the Lord.All of the firstborn were to be dedicated to the Lord, because He had saved them from death during the plague in Egypt (Exo. 13:1-6). Later, the Lord took the tribe of Levi instead of the firstborn (Num. 3:11-12). The law of redemption of the firstborn of man is given in Num. 18:15.
A pair of turtledoves.The law provided for those who could not afford a lamb. They were allowed to take a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons and offer them as a burnt offering and as a sin offering (Lev. 12:8). The fact that Mary and Joseph brought such an offering indicates something of their humble circumstances.
the consolation of the Lord.Israel had been waiting for the coming of Messiah for a long time. They needed someone to help them in their weakness, someone to console them in their sorrow; they needed someone to save them from their sins.
Simeon had been told that he would not die until he had seen the Lords Christ, for He is the consolation of Israel and the Savior of His people. The Holy Spirit who revealed this to him gave him the words he spoke to Mary and Joseph about the Child. He spoke of Him as salvation for the Lords people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel.
Christ provided salvation for His people through His death on the cross. He gives light that reveals the way through the preaching of His Word even to Gentiles. He is the glorythe presence of Godto Israel.
the falling and rising of many in Israel.Christ was a stone of stumbling. Just as one might stumble over a protruding rock in his pathway, some stumbled over Christ. They were the ones who had their own idea about what Messiah should do for them: overcome the Roman bondage and restore their national dignity. But many who had fallen by the wayside because of sin were to be raised up and set on the highway of holiness and dignity in the sight of the Lord.
sign that is spoken against.Men ridiculed Jesus as He was dying on the cross, but the cross was a sign of Gods love for the world and His power to save the believer (1Co. 1:18-25). His resurrection is the cornerstone of our faith (Rom. 10:9-10). It is because the apostles preached the resurrection of the Lord that they were persecuted (Act. 4:1-4).
a sword shall pierce through thine own soul.These words refer to the cross and to the sorrow of Mary as she watched Him there (Joh. 19:25). No other experience is mentioned in the Gospels that can fulfill this prophecy of her grief. What memories flooded her mind in that tragic hour! How her grief must have been intensified by them! But that sorrow was turned into gladness when she knew that He had been raised from the dead.
looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.The majority of the people were looking for someone to release them from Roman bondage. Some were looking for the Savior who would redeem them from the bondage to sin. This is what Christ came to do, but the Roman bondage continued until it reached its awful climax in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D.
to their own city Nazareth.Matthew says that they went back to Bethlehem and from Bethlehem they went to Egypt where they stayed until Herod was dead. Then they came back to Judea, but because Archelaus was ruling instead of his father, Joseph was warned in a dream to go to Galilee (Mat. 2:13-23). Both Luke and Matthew agree that they went to Nazareth, but Luke does not tell of the trip to Egypt, Luke usually gives these interesting sidelights, but in this case did not choose to do so.
At the Age of Twelve
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(22) When the days of her purification . . .The primary idea of the law of Lev. 12:1-6, would seem to have been that of witnessing to the taint of imperfection and sin attaching to every child of man, just as that of circumcision (its merely physical aspects being put aside) was that of the repression or control of one chief element of that sinfulness. Here neither was necessary; but the whole mystery of the birth was not as yet revealed to Mary, and therefore her act was simply one of devout obedience to the law under which she lived. The period of purification lasted for forty days from the birth, bringing the Feast of the Purification in our Church Calendar to February 2nd.
To present him to the Lord.This, as the next verse shows, was only done according to the law of Exo. 13:2, when the firstborn child was a son. It was obviously a witness of the idea of the priesthood of the firstborna survival of the idea in practice, even after the functions of that priesthood had been superseded by the priesthood of the sons of Aaron. The firstborn of every house had still a dedicated life, and was to think of himself as consecrated to special duties. Comp. Heb. 12:23 as giving the expansion of the thought to the whole company of those who are the firstborn, as they are also the firstfruits of humanity (Jas. 1:18). As a formal expression of the obligation thus devolving on them, they had to be redeemed by the payment of five shekels to the actual Aaronic priesthood (Num. 18:15).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. JESUS PRESENTED IN THE TEMPLE, Luk 2:22-38 .
The presentation in the temple must have preceded the arrival of the Magi; as after their presence Jesus would have not have been safe from Herod’s hands.
Jesus underwent circumcision as he underwent death; not because of his own sin, but because he stood as representative of sinners and as a bearer of the sins of others.
Called Jesus See note on Mat 1:21.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22. Days of her purification These were forty days after the birth of a male child; during which the mother was held ceremonially impure, and remained in her own house. The design of this institution was to teach the Jews that man is impure from conception and birth conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22. Brought him to Jerusalem From Bethlehem to the temple at Jerusalem.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Luk 2:22. And when the days of her purification As Jesus was circumcised, though perfectly free from sin; so his mother submitted to thepurifications prescribed by the law, notwithstanding she was free from the pollutions common in other births. It was evident, indeed, that she was a mother,but her miraculous conception was not generally known. Because the law required that the child should be presented in the temple at the end of forty days fromhis birth, and that the usual offering should be made, our Lord’s parents would therefore find it more convenient to go up with him from Bethlehem, where he was born, at the distance of sixty miles only, than after Mary’s recovery to carry him first to Nazareth, which was a great way from Jerusalem: so that we may suppose reasonably enough, that they continued in Bethlehem all the days of the purification; and that from Bethlehem they went straightway to Jerusalem.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 2:22 . Women after childbirth, when the child was a boy, were unclean for seven days, and had besides to stay at home thirty-three days more (at the birth of a girl these periods were doubled). Then they were bound to present in the temple an offering of purification, namely, a lamb of a year old as a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon or turtle-dove as a sin-offering; or else, if their means were too small for this, two turtle-doves or young pigeons, the one as a burnt-offering, the other as a sin-offering. See Lev 12:2 ff.; Lund, Jd. Heiligth. , ed. Wolf, p. 751; Michaelis, Mos. R. 192; Ewald, Alterth. p. 178 f.; Keil, Archol. I. p. 296. Accordingly . : the days, which (i.e. the lapse of them) were appointed for their legal cleansing ( , passive , comp. Luk 2:14 ). Mary brought the offering of the poor, Luk 2:24 .
] applies contextually ( ) not to the Jews (van Hengel, Annot. p. 199), but to Mary and Joseph . Comp. Euthymius Zigabenus, also Bleek. The purification in itself indeed concerned only the mother; but in the case before us Joseph was, and that by means of the presentation of the first-born son associated therewith, also directly interested; hence the expression by way of synecdoche , which is usually referred to the mother and the child (so also by Kuinoel, Winer, de Wette).
.] applies to . . ., indicating the legal duration thereof.
, like of the journeying to Jerusalem.
] All first-born sons were the property of Jehovah, destined to the temple-service originally and before the institution of the Levites (Num 8:14 ff.); hence they had to be presented in the temple to God as His special property, but were redeemed from Him for five shekels, Exo 13:2 ; Num 8:16 ; Num 18:15 f.; Lightfoot, p. 753; Lund, l.c. p. 753; Michaelis, Mos. R. 227, 276; Saalschtz, Mos. R. p. 97.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
B. The Fortieth Day; or, the Redemption from the Temple Service. Luk 2:22-40
22And when the days of her [their]21 purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished [completed], they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord;23(As it is written in the law of the Lord [Exo 13:2], Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord); 24And to offer a sacrifice, according to that which is said in the law of the Lord [Lev 12:8], A pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons.
25And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lords Christ [the Christ of the Lord]. 27And he came by the Spirit unto the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the law, 28Then took he [he took] Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: 30For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, 31Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people [all the nations, ];
32A light to lighten [for a revelation to, ] the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.
33And Joseph [His father, ] and His mother22 marvelled at those thingswhich were spoken of Him. 34And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary His mother,
Behold, this child [] is set [appointed] for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
35(Yea, [And] a sword shall pierce through thy [thine] own soul also), That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
36And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the [a] daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser [Asher]: she was of a great age [of great age], and had lived with an [a] husband 37seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about [till]23 fourscore and four years, which [who] departed not from the temple, but served God [serving]38with fastings and prayers night and day. And she,24 coming in that instant [at that very hour, ], gave thanks likewise unto the Lord [God],25 and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in26 Jerusalem.
39And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
40And the child grew, and waxed strong27 in spirit, [being] filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Luk 2:22. Their (not her) purification.The law of Moses declared, that the mother was unclean seven days after the birth of a son (fourteen days after the birth of a daughter), and must remain separate for thirty-three days from this period. These forty days are together denoted the days of the . If several persons are spoken of (, their), we must not refer it to the Jews in general, nor to the mother and the child (for the Mosaic precept, Lev 12:4-6, had regard only to the mother, not the child), but to the mother and the father. Joseph was not obliged to be present in the temple, yet he might take part in the solemnity of purification, as it was his part to present the firstborn to the Lord. It appears from the reference to Lev 12:8, that Mary brought the offering of the poor.
Luk 2:24. In the law of the Lord.According to Exo 13:2, all the first-born were dedicated to God. In remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt, when the destroying angel spared the first-born of the Israelites, it was ordered, that the eldest son of every family should be considered as Gods special property, and be redeemed from the service of the sanctuary by the payment of five shekels (Num 18:16). The tribe of Levi afterward took the place of the first-born thus dedicated and redeemed. The fact that Mary was unable to bring a lamb and a turtle-dove [Lev 12:6], as she would undoubtedly desire to do, is a fresh proof of the truth of the apostolic word, 2Co 8:9.
Luk 2:25. Simeon.The principal traditions concerning this aged saint are to be found in Winer in voce28 The very manner in which Luke mentions him, as ., while he speaks with so much more of detail concerning Anna, supports the conjecture that, though acknowledged by God, he was not famous among his fellow-men. He may have been, however, one of the leading men of his country, and was probably aged, while he must certainly be numbered among those who waited for the redemption of Israel, Luk 2:25; Luk 2:38. A later tradition, describing him as blind, but receiving his sight on the approach of the child Jesus, suitable as its allegorical sense may be, is without historical foundation.
Luk 2:26. Revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit.By an inward revelation, which it would be as impossible to describe as presumptuous to doubt. We prefer supposing an infallible consciousness, wrought by God, that his prayer in this respect was certainly heard, to imagining the intervention of some wonderful dream. If the spirit of prophecy had departed from Israel since the time of Malachi, according to the opinion of the Jews, the return of this Spirit might be looked upon as one of the tokens of Messiahs advent.
Luk 2:26. See death.Or, as it is elsewhere expressed, taste death, Mat 16:28; Heb 2:9. It means, not merely falling asleep, but the experience of death as death, with its terrible accompaniments. That he should depart immediately, or soon after seeing Christ, was not indeed revealed to him in so many words, but might naturally be expected by him. Lange beautifully remarks: Simeon is in the noblest sense the eternal Jew of the Old Covenant who cannot die before he has seen the promised Messiah. He was permitted to fall asleep in the peace of his Lord before His crucifixion.
Luk 2:27. And he came by the SpiritPerhaps he was accustomed, like Anna, to go daily into the temple; at all events, he now felt an irresistible impulse from God to enter it. It is possible that he might have heard the narration of the shepherds of Bethlehem; but such a supposition is not necessary for the understanding of the gospel account.
Luk 2:29. Now lettest Thou, etc.Simeons song of praise is genuinely Israelitish, not exclusively Jewish. Compared with the hymns of Zachariah and Mary, it is more peculiarly characterized by its psychological truth than even by its sthetic beauty. The internal variety and harmony of these three compositions is a proof of the credibility of the early chapters of Luke which must not be overlooked.
According to Thy word.A retrospect of the previous revelation.
Luk 2:30. Thy salvation.His mind fastens on the thing, not the person; and he sees the worlds salvation, while beholding the form of a helpless child.
Luk 2:31. Before the face of all nations ( ).The true union of the particular and universal points of view. Salvation goes out from Israel to all people without distinction, in order to return to Israel again. The Sun of Righteousness makes the same circuit as the natural sun, Ecc 1:5.
Luk 2:32. A light for a revelation to (to lighten) the Gentiles, .The is now taken away from the eyes of all nations, that they may see the Christ, the Light of the world.And the glory.Not a declaration that glory is the end proposed, but used as apposition to , Luk 2:30. The highest glory of Israel consists in the salvation of Messiah.
Luk 2:33. And His father and mother marvelled.Not because they learned from the song of Simeon anything that they had not heard of before, but they were struck and charmed by the new aspect under which this salvation was presented. Simeon sees fit to moderate their transports, by alluding to the approaching sufferings which must precede the glory. His words, however, contained nothing new or strange. The prophets had already announced, that the Servant of the Lord would undergo sufferings and persecution; and even the apparent poverty of the mother and of the holy child could not but convince the pious man, who well knew the carnal expectations of his fellow-countrymen, that a Messiah born in so lowly a condition could not fail to encounter the opposition of the nation. With regard to the (Luk 2:35), it did not pierce Marys soul for the first time, but only for the last time, and the most deeply, on Golgotha.
His father.[Our Saviour never speaks of Joseph as His father, see Luk 2:49; but he was His father in a legal sense and in the eyes of the people, and, as Alford observes in loc, in the simplicity of a historical narrative we may read and , without any danger of forgetting the momentous fact of the supernatural conception.P. S.]
Luk 2:34. Set for [ , is appointed for] the fall.Comp. Isa 8:14; Rom 9:33. This divine setting or appointing is always to be considered as caused by their own fault, in those who fall, by wilfully continuing in unbelief and impenitence. Mary had already expressed the same truth, in a more general form, Luk 1:52-53; while the Lord Himself still further develops it, Joh 9:39; Joh 9:41; Mat 21:44. We have here the first hint, given in New Testament times, of the opposition which the kingdom of Messiah would experience from unbelief. The angels had only announced great joy: it was given to the man of God, who saw heaven opened before his death, to go a step farther.
[And for a sign which shall be spoken against, signum, cui contradicitur.Bengel: Insigne oxymoron. Signa alias tollunt contradictionem: hoc erit objectum contradictions, quanquam per se signum est evidens fidei (Isa 55:13, Sept.); nam eo ipso, quia lux est, illustris et insignis est. Magnum erit spectaculum. The fulfilment of this prophecy culminated in the crucifixion.P. S.]
[Luk 2:35. And a sword shall pierce, etc.This sentence is cordinate to the preceding one, and hence should not be inclosed in parenthesis, as in the E. V. The grief of Mary corresponds to the rejection and suffering of Christ. The sword that shall pierce the of Mary, must be referred to her sympathizing motherly anguish at beholding the opposition of the world to her Son, and especially His passion and crucifixion. It is a prophecy of the mater dolorosa apud crucem lacrymosa, who represents the church of all ages in the contemplation of the cross.I cannot agree with Alford, who refers the to the sharp pangs of sorrow for her sin and the struggle of repentance; referring to Act 2:37. This would require or rather than , and is hardly consistent with the character of Mary. She was probably one of those rare favorites of Divine grace who never forsake their first love, who are always progressing in goodness, and from their infancy silently and steadily grow in holiness, without passing through a violent change, or being able to mark the time and place of their conversion. Such were St. John, Zinzendorf, Mary of Bethany and other female saints.P. S.]
Luk 2:35. That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.The thoughts of Mary, who now as before (Luk 2:19) ponders and is silent, and the thoughts of all who, whether for their fall or rising again, should come in contact with her Son. Lasting neutrality with respect to the Lord is impossible; he that is not for Him is against Him; comp. Luk 11:23. His appearing brings to light the latent good and evil, as the same sun which dissipates the clouds that obscure the sky, also draws up the mists and vapor of earth.
Luk 2:36. A daughter of Phanuel.It is remarkable that the name of Annas father should be mentioned, and not that of her husband. Perhaps he also was known as one who waited for the consolation of Israel. The pious words of Anna, Luk 2:38, cannot be the only reason of her being called a prophetess; such an appellation must have been caused by some earlier and frequent utterances, dictated by the Spirit of prophecy, by reason of which she ranks among the list of holy women who, both in earlier and later times, were chosen instruments of the Holy Ghost. Eighty-four years (fourscore and four) is mentioned as the sum of her whole life, not of that portion of it which had elapsed since the death of her husband. It is specially mentioned, to show also that, though she had passed but few years in the married state, she had reached this advanced age as a widow; a fact redounding to her honor in a moral sense, and ranking her among the comparatively small number of widows indeed, whom St. Paul especially commends, 1Ti 5:3; 1Ti 5:5. That her piety was of an entirely Old Testament character, gives no support to the opinion of certain Roman Catholic theologians, e.g. Sepp, Leben Jesu, 2. p. 54, that Mary was brought up under her guidance in the house of the Lord.
Luk 2:38. Likewise gave thanks, , vicissim laudabat, Psa 79:13.She took up the theme of praise which had just fallen from the aged Simeon. We believe, with Tischendorf, that the correct reading here is ; but even if we read , with the Textus Receptus, we still have to apply it to the Jehovah of Israel. It is no acknowledgment of the new-born Christ, but a doxology to the Father who sent Him, that is here spoken of; while the words immediately following, and spake of Him, evidently allude to the child of Mary, whose name needs not to be repeated here, as He plays the chief part in the whole history.
Luk 2:38. That looked for redemption in Jerusalem.There were then a certain number of pious persons dwelling in the capital, who lived in and upon the hope of salvation through the Messiah, and among whom the report of His birth was soon spread. Who knows how soon this report might not have spread also throughout the whole country through their means, had not the secret departure of the holy family to Egypt and Nazareth caused every trace of them to disappear from the eyes of this little band at Jerusalem? Perhaps, too, it was chiefly composed of the aged, the poor, and the lowly, whose influence would certainly not be very extensive. The new-born Saviour, now recognized, through the testimony of Simeon and Anna, by the noblest in Israel, was soon to receive the homage of the Gentile world also, through the arrival of the wise men from the east.
Luk 2:39. And when they had performed all thingsthey returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.The question naturally occurs here, whether the visit of the wise men, and the subsequent flight into Egypt, took place before or after the fortieth day. Although the former is by no means impossible (see Lange, Leben Jesu ii, p. 110), we think the latter conjecture preferable. The narrative of Luke (Luk 2:22-24), at least, gives us the impression, that the presentation in the temple took place at the customary time; and we should therefore find some difficulty in inserting the matter contained in Matthew 2. between the eighth and fortieth days. As long as Mary had not brought her offering of purification, she was obliged to remain at home, as unclean; and if Joseph, on his return from Egypt, as we find from Mat 2:22-23, was obliged to settle at Nazareth, instead of Bethlehem, from fear of Archelaus, it was not likely that he would then have ventured to go to Jerusalem, and even into the temple. We need not necessarily conclude, from Mat 2:1, that the event there mentioned took place in the days immediately following the birth of Jesus; nor can Luk 2:39 be considered a complete account of the whole occurrence. This would have required the return to Bethlehem, and its sad results, to be mentioned before the settlement at Nazareth. The passage is rather a concluding paragraph, wherewith the Evangelist closes his account of the early infancy of our Lord, before passing on to a somewhat later period. Completeness not being his aim in this preliminary history, he has no need to speak of the visit of the Magi, and the flight into Egypt, even if he were as well acquainted with these circumstances as Matthew was; but hastens on to the definitive settlement at Nazareth (Luk 1:26; Luk 2:4), where Mary and Joseph had previously dwelt; and even of this period he gives only a general account, Luk 2:40, and a single occurrence, Luk 2:41-52.29
Luk 2:40. And the child grew, etc.Comp. Luk 1:80. The same expressions are made use of concerning John, while somewhat more is added when Jesus is spoken of. There is no need of insisting on the anti-docetic character of the whole narrative.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Even the second occurrence in the life of our Lord, His presentation in the temple, is elucidated by a reference to what is written. From this time forth, the will continually recur, and the whole life of the God-Man present a realization of the ideal, depicted in the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. The offering of doves, brought by Mary on this occasion, while it shows the poverty of her condition, testifies at the same time to the depths of humiliation to which the Son of God descended. Mary cannot bring a lamb for an offering: she brings something better, even the true Lamb of God, into the temple.
2. In Simeon and Anna we see incarnate types of the expectation of salvation under the Old Testament, as in the child Jesus the salvation itself is manifested. At the extreme limits of life, they stand in striking contrast to the infant Saviour, exemplifying the Old Covenant decaying and waxing old before the New, which is to grow and remain. Old age grows youthful, both in Simeon and Anna, at the sight of the Saviour; while the youthful Mary grows inwardly older and riper, as Simeon lifts up before her eyes the veil hanging upon the future.
3. The coming of Simeon into the temple, by the Spirit, is entirely according to Old Testament experience. The Spirit does not dwell in him, permanently, as his own vital principle, as in the Christian believer; but comes upon and over him, as a power acting from without. Such exceptional manifestations among the saints in Israel, by no means prejudice the statement of St. John, Luk 7:39. There is a remarkable coincidence between the expectation of Simeon and that mentioned Isa 49:6. [Alford: Simeon was the subject of an especial indwelling and leading of the Holy Ghost, analogous to that higher form of the spiritual life expressed in the earliest days by walking with God, and according to which Gods saints have often been directed and informed in an extraordinary manner by His Holy Spirit.P. S.]
4. A divine propriety, so to speak, seems to require that the new-born Saviour should receive first the homage of the elect of Israel, and afterward that of the representatives of the Gentile world. If so, the visit of the Magi must have been subsequent to the presentation in the temple. Besides, if the gold they offered had come into the hands of Mary and Joseph before this event, would they have brought only the offering of poverty?
5. The shepherds, Simeon, and Anna agree in this, that they all become, in their respective circles, witnesses to others of the salvation of God. They do not wait, or seek for suitable opportunity, but seize upon the first, as the best. Comp. Psa 36:1; Act 4:20. When the Saviour is seen by faith, the true spirit of testimony is already aroused.
6. The sacred art has not forgotten to glorify the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Think of the beautiful pictures of John van Eyk, Rubens, Guido Reni, Paul Veronese, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, and many others.
7. [Ambrose, on Luk 2:22 (Opera, tom. i. p. 1301):Christ received a witness at his birth, not only from prophets and shepherds, but also from aged and holy men and women. Every age, and both sexes, and the marvels of events, confirm our faith. A virgin brings forth, the barren becomes a mother, the dumb speaks, Elizabeth prophesies, the wise men adore, the babe leaps in the womb, the widow praises God Simeon prophesied; she who was wedded prophesied; she who was a virgin prophesied; and now a widow prophesies, that all states of life and sexes might be there (ne qua aut professio deeset aut sexus.P. S.]
8. We shall have to speak more particularly, in the next division, of the manner of the genuine human development of Jesus. But the hint here given, is sufficient to direct our attention to its reality. Not only the body, but the soul and spirit of the Lord, grew incessantly and regularly. When He was a child, He spake as a child, before He could, with full consciousness, testify of God as His Father. Undoubtedly the awakening of His divine-human consciousness, His recognition of Himself, formed part of the filling with wisdom. As Sartorius says in his lectures on Christology, The eye which comprehends heaven and earth within its range of vision, does not, by betaking itself to darkness or closing its lid, deprive itself of its power of sight, but merely resigns its far-reaching activity; so does the Son of God close His all-seeing eye, and betake Himself to human darkness on earth, and then as a child of man open His eye on earth, as the Light of the world, gradually increasing in brilliancy till it shines at the right hand of the Father, in perfect splendor.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The offering of pious poverty acceptable to God.The inconsiderable redemption-money paid for Christ; the infinite price of redemption paid by Christ.Simeon, a type of an Israelite indeed: 1. Just and devout; 2. waiting for the consolation of Israel; 3. filled with the Holy Ghost.The Holy Ghost, 1. witnesses of Christ; 2. leads to Christ; 3. and teaches to praise Christ.The song of Simeon, the last note of the psalmody of the Old Testament.He who has seen the salvation of Christ can depart in peace.Christ, according to the prophecy of Simeon, 1. the glory of Israel; 2. the light of the Gentiles; 3. the highest gift of God to both.The death that glorifies God, has, 1. a song on the lips; 2. Christ in the arms; 3. heaven in view.Christ set for the fall of some, and the rising of others: 1. It is not otherwise; 2. it cannot be otherwise; 3. it ought not to be otherwise; 4. it will not be otherwise.The sign that is spoken against, 1. in its continual struggle; 2. in its certain triumph.Christ, the touchstone of the heart.The Saviour came into this world for judgment, Joh 9:39.The sword in Marys heart: the depth of the wound; the balm for its healing.Anna the happiest widow of Holy Scripture.A pious old age, cheered with the light of Christs salvation.The first female testimony to Christ, a testimony, 1. excited by longing expectation; 2. based on personal vision; 3. given with full candor; 4. sealed by a holy walk; 5. crowned by a happy old age.The Annas of the Old and New Testament, 1 Samuel 2 : Both tried, heard, and favored in a peculiar manner.In Christ there is neither male nor female, old nor young, etc.; but faith which worketh by love.The significancy of the events of the fortieth day, 1. to Simeon and Anna; 2. to Mary and Joseph; 3. to Israel; 4. to Christendom in after ages.The holy childhood.The grace of God on the holy child.The most beautiful flower on the field of Nazareth.
Starke:The duty of all parents to present their children to God.Majus:Vows and sacrifices must be offered according to the law of God, not according to the notions of men.The most pious are not always the richest; therefore despise none for their poverty.God has a people of His own, even in the darkest seasons of the Church, 1Ki 19:18.Quesnel:The elect of God never die, till they have beheld, here on earth, the Christ of God with the eye of faith.Hedinger:The duty of yielding immediately to special impulses toward that which is good.The death of Gods children, a loosening of the bondage of His life of misery.The prosperity and adversity of the saints, determined beforehand in the counsels of God, even from eternity (Luk 2:34).Whatever happens to Christ the Head, happens also to His members (Luk 2:34).Zeisius:Mary (Luk 2:35), a type of the Church, upon whom, as the spiritual mother, all the storms of affliction fall.God, the God of the widow, Psa 68:6.Holy people cannot but speak of holy things: what is the chief subject then of our discourse?Langii Opus Bibl.:Children should imitate the mind of Jesus, and grow stronger in what is good.Jesus remained a child but a short time, and His believing people should not long remain children in faith.
Heubner:Christian dedication of children: 1. Its nature; 2. its blessing.Simeons faith, and Simeons end.The prelude of the Stabat mater cujus animam trementem, contristatam et gementem, pertransivit gladius.Anna, the model of the Christian widow, forsaken by the world, and living alone and bereft; but not forsaken of God, and living in the happy future, and in the faith of Christ.Early announcement of the destination of Jesus: 1. How and why it happened; 2. its truth and confirmation.
Rieger:Of the spiritual priesthood of Christians.J. Saurin:Simeon delivered from fear of death by the child Jesus: 1. He cannot desire to see anything greater on earth; 2. he has the sacrifice for sin in his arms; 3. he is assured of eternal life, why then should he desire to remain any longer on earth?F. W. Krummacher beholds, in the history of Simeon, 1. a divine Forwards, 2. a happy halt, 3. a safe anchorage, 4. a peaceful farewell, 5. a joyful welcome.O. von Gerlach:Jesus our all, when we, 1. have found in Him rest for our souls; 2. are resolved to fight for Him; and 3. to bear His reproach.Rautenberg:Simeons hope: 1. To what it was directed; 2. on what it was founded; 3. and how it was crowned.Bobe:Simeon in the temple: 1. The Holy Spirit his leader; 2. faith his consolation; 3. piety his life; 4. the Saviour his joy; 5. departure for his home his desire.Krummacher:Anna a partaker of a threefold redemption: 1. From an oppressive uncertainty; 2. from a heavy yoke; 3. from a heavy care.Florey:Directions on our pilgrimage for a new year (from Luk 2:33-40). We must go on our journey, 1. steadfast in the faith (Luk 2:34); 2. submissive to the divine will (Luk 2:35); 3. diligent in the temple of God (Luk 2:34); 4. waiting for the promises of God (Luk 2:38); 5. faithful in our daily work (Luk 2:39); and 6. growing in the grace of God (Luk 2:40).L. Hofacker:Simeon, one of the last believers of the Old Covenant, an encouraging example for the believers of the New.
Footnotes:
[21]Luk 2:22. is better authenticated (also by Cod. Sinait.) than , and still better than , and refers to Mary and Joseph (not the child, nor the Jews), comp. the following . In this instance the translators of King James followed the Complutensian reading , which is almost without authority and a manifest correction from the misapprehension of a transcriber who thought that or would imply the impurity of Christ. Wiclif and the Genevan Bible have Maries purification, the Rheims Test. her purification, but Tyndale and Cranmer correctly their purification.
[22]Luk 2:33.The original reading, which is sustained by Codd. Sinait., B., D., L., Origen, Vulgate (pater ejus et mater), etc., was no doubt: (Cod. Sinait. adds a second ), and is adopted in the text of Tischendorf, Alford, and Tregelles (not of Lachmann). The substitution of for is easily explained from prejudice. The word is, of course, not to be taken in the physical, but in the legal and popular sense.
[23]Luk 2:37.The usual reading is , which is very usual in connection with numbers; but Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, and Tregelles read , till, according to Coda. Sinait., B., L., Vulgate (usque ad), etc.
[24]Luk 2:38. is wanting in the best authorities and modem critical editions, and could easily be inserted from Luk 2:37.
[25]Luk 2:38. is the true reading (sustained also by Cod. Sinait.), and now generally adopted instead of the lect. rec. .
[26]Luk 2:38. is wanting in Codd. Sinait., Vat., etc., and dropped by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles. Alford puts it in brackets. In this case must be taken as the genitive; for the redemption of Israel. But Meyer defends the , and explains its omission from Luk 2:25.
[27]Luk 2:40. seems to have been inserted from Luk 1:80, and is excluded from the text by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, Tregelles, on the best ancient authorities. Cod. Sinait. is likewise against it. Dr. van Oosterzee omits it in his German Version.P. S.
[28][According to some, Simeon was the son of the famous Rabbi Hillel, and father of Gamaliel, the teacher of St. Paul (Act 5:34). The Rabbis say: The birth of Jesus of Nazareth was in the days of R. Simeon, son of Hillel. But this is, of course, a mere conjecture, without inherent probability.P. S.]
[29][For an examination of the conflicting views of harmonists on the order of these events, the reader is referred to Sam. J. Andrews: The Life of our Lord, N. Y., 1863, p. 84 ff., who places the visit of the Magi and the flight into Egypt soon after the presentation in the temple. This is the view of the majority of modern harmonists, while the old traditional view puts the arrival of the Magi on the sixth day of January, or on the thirteenth day after the birth of our Saviour.P. S.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 1475
PRESENTATION OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE
Luk 2:22-24. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
IT is a comfortable consideration to the poor and ignorant, that they may possess the knowledge of salvation, though they have never been instructed in the nature of the Mosaic law, or seen its full connexion with Christianity. But it is certain that a comprehensive knowledge of the Scriptures tends exceedingly to establish us in the faith, and to quicken us to a holy obedience. The importance of being acquainted with the Old Testament, appears from the frequent reference which there is to it in the New Testament. Sometimes we meet with references put interrogatively, What is written in the law? What saith the law? and sometimes positively, It is written in the law. Hence it is obvious that, without an acquaintance with the law, much of the force and evidence of the Christian Scriptures must be lost: and therefore we cannot but earnestly recommend an attention to the Old Testament, as the means of more fully comprehending the New. In the short passage before us, we are directed no less than three times to compare the history with the ordinances which had before been given to Moses: the time of the Virgins purification, the offering she offered, and the presentation of her infant Son in the temple, are all said to be according to the law of the Lord. To that then we shall refer you, while we consider,
I.
The purification of the mother
For the elucidation of this subject, there are several distinct inquiries to be made
What did the law enjoin in relation to purification after child-birth?
[A woman was deemed unclean for seven days after her deliverance from child-birth, so that she rendered every one unclean who even came in contact with her: and for thirty-three days afterwards she was not permitted to touch any holy thing, or to enter into the temple. The time was doubled for a female child: the mother was then more or less unclean for eighty days. She was then to come to the door of the tabernacle, and to present there a lamb and a pigeon; the pigeon for a sin-offering, and the lamb for a burnt-offering: by the sin-offering acknowledging her sinfulness, and by the burnt-offering testifying her gratitude for the mercies vouchsafed unto her. If the mother were poor, she might offer a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons; the burnt-offering might be suited to her means; but, whatever were her circumstances, her sin-offering must be the same: because the same atonement is necessary for all; but the modes of testifying our gratitude must vary according to our various situations in life [Note: See Lev 12:1-8.].
Such was the ordinance itself. We proceed to ask,]
What sentiments was this law intended to convey?
[The very offerings which were presented on the occasion, intimated, that they who had experienced deliverance from child-birth had just occasion for renewed expressions of humiliation and gratitude. Such is the state of human nature since the fall; that a taint is contracted, and communicated also, by that law which was given to man in innocence, Increase and multiply. David says, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Indeed the very pangs of child-birth, remind all who are called to endure them, of the first transgression; and, as being inflicted on account of sin, they call for acknowledgments of our sinful state. This, I say, was intimated by the sin-offering, whereby an atonement was made for her who offered it. The burnt-offering, as a token of gratitude, needs no comment; every one must see that it was proper for the occasion, and justly expressed what might be supposed to be the state of her mind.
Yet there is good reason to inquire,]
What necessity was there for the mother of our Lord to obey this law?
[Certainly, whatever taint may be contracted by others, none could have been by her on this occasion. Yet, as the manner of her conception was not generally known, and Joseph was her reputed husband, it was proper to comply with the requisitions of the law, as much as if she had borne a child in the common way. It would have ill become her to cast a stumbling-block before others on this occasion: and her own heart was so full of love to God, that she counted nothing a burthen that she could do for him. She determined therefore, as Jesus himself did in the instance of his baptism, to fulfil all righteousness to the utmost of her power.
It may be asked however,]
What is this law to us?
[Doubtless, as to the ceremonial part of it, it is abrogated altogether: but, as to its spiritual import, it speaks as loudly to us as ever it did to the Jews. Humiliation and gratitude are the proper fruits of mercies received: I say, humiliation first, and then gratitude. This is not the order in which these feelings arise in the mind of a philosopher: but it is the order in which they rise in the heart of a Christian: a sense of unworthiness abases his soul in the dust, and enhances, beyond all expression, the favours conferred upon him. We appeal to every spiritual person for the truth of this: and we call on every one, whatever be the mercies he has received, to express his sense of them in this way. Certainly they who have been delivered from the pains of child-birth, have abundant reason to present such offerings to God: and we do not hesitate to say, that their expressions of gratitude should be diversified and enlarged according to the opportunities and abilities that God has given them. We must not however limit the subject to this particular deliverance; for, whatever mercy God has vouchsafed unto us, we should endeavour to requite him according to the loving-kindness he has shewn us.]
Having thus considered the purification of the mother, let us direct our attention to,
II.
The presentation of her Son
Here is the same reference to the law, as before. We will state to you,
1.
What connexion it had with Christs presentation in the temple
[Upon the destruction of the Egyptian first-born, whilst not one of the first-born, either of men or cattle, that belonged to Israel, died, God claimed the first-born of Israel, both of men and beasts, as his peculiar property [Note: Exo 13:2.]; and required that the reason of his so doing should be transmitted carefully to the latest posterity [Note: Exo 13:11-14.]. Afterwards he accepted the tribe of Levi and their cattle in the place of the first-born and their cattle [Note: Num 3:11-13.]; and appointed them, with very peculiar and impressive solemnities [Note: Num 8:5-23.], to be consecrated to his service in their stead. He appointed also that the precise number of the persons belonging to each should be ascertained; and it being found that the first-born were two hundred and seventy-three more in number than the Levites, he ordered that they should be redeemed at the price of five shekels a-piece, (about 12s. 6d. each,) and that the money should be paid to Aaron and his sons for the service of the tabernacle [Note: Num 3:39-51.], and from that time it was an established law, that every male which opened the womb should be holy to the Lord [Note: Num 18:15-16.]; the clean beasts were to be sacrificed to him; and the unclean to be redeemed with a Iamb: but the first-born of men were universally to be redeemed; his mercy to them, and his consequent property in them, being thus kept in everlasting remembrance [Note: If the whole of the various passages cited upon this subject be not read, very large and copious extracts at least should be made, in order to lay the subject fully before the audience.].
Now Christ, as Marys first-born, came under this law; and though his life had never been forfeited, yet, to fulfil the law, and cut off all occasion of offence, he must be redeemed in the same manner as others. For this purpose his parents carried him to the Temple, and presented him before the Lord, in the way that God had appointed.
But it may be asked, Did the blessed Virgin wish to exempt him from the peculiar service of her God? No: she knew that he was sent into the world to be his servant, and that his ear was bored to the door-post as soon as he assumed our nature [Note: Compare Psa 40:6. with Heb 10:5.]: but she would omit nothing which the Law required, either at her hands or his: teaching us thereby to sink all personal concerns in a regard for the honour of our God, and the good of our fellow-creatures.]
2.
What their compliance with the law in this instance may teach us
[Loudly indeed does it speak to mothers. Behold the blessed Virgin taking her infant child to present him to the Lord: is not this the thing which you should do the very moment you embrace your new-born babe? Should you not do it every time that you administer to its necessities, or supply its wants? Methinks you should never draw out the breast to it, without lifting up your heart in prayer for it, and entreating God to accept and own it, as a child of his. How can any of you endure the thought of bringing forth for Satan, and nourishing a child for him? Surely your prayer should often be Lord, I ask not for my child the things of this world; (give him food and raiment, and I am content;) but I ask for grace; I ask for mercy; I ask for peace; I ask for all the blessings of salvation for him. I ask that thou thyself mayest be his portion, and that he may be the lot of thine inheritance. Yes, ye who have travailed in birth with your dear children, let your anxieties for them be summed up in this, that they may be heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. If you travail in birth with them again and again till Christ be formed in them, so far from pitying your anguish, I will rejoice over you, and say, that your labour shall not be in vain. Little do mothers consider how much, under God, the salvation of their children depends on them. Little do they think how the prayers they have offered for, and with, their children, and the tears they have shed over them, would impress their tender minds, long after their tongues have been silent in the grave: and probably induce a penitential sorrow, when some concurring providence shall have softened and prepared their minds. Were parents more anxious about the spiritual welfare of their children, we should not so often find them in their declining years bowed down with trouble, and their grey hairs brought with sorrow to the grave.
And does not the Presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple speak to young people also? Yes surely; and that too in most instructive terms. You are ready to think it too early yet awhile to give yourselves to the Lord: but can that ever be too early, which is your most indispensable duty, your highest privilege, your surest felicity? Did Samuel ever regret that he was given to the Lord even from his mothers womb? Did Timothy spend a less happy life, because he followed the faith and piety of Lois and Eunice? If you could but once taste the blessedness of true religion, you would never think of it as a toil, or dread it as a bondage: having drunk water out of the wells of salvation,you would most contentedly leave to others the muddy draughts which they with difficulty collect from their own broken cisterns. Be prevailed upon, then, to make the attempt; to give yourselves to the Lord; to commence that blessed course which Jesus trod before you. You have a special promise given you by God himself; They that seek me early, shall find me: The Lord impress it on your minds, and lead you to a sweet experience of its truth and blessedness!
But the subject speaks to all of us; yes, I say, to all. Do we not all profess to be the Church of the first-born? and is it not on that ground that we hope to be numbered with the general assembly, who are written in heaven? Behold then, we all belong to God: he lays claim to every one of us, and says, They are mine. True, we have been redeemed, yea redeemed, not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. But wherefore have we been redeemed? That we might not serve the Lord? Nay; but that we might serve him: Christ has redeemed us, that he might purify us unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. In the name of God then I say, Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price; therefore ye should glorify God with your bodies and your spirits, which are his. And here let me observe to you, that there is no commutation of service admitted or allowed. If all the tribes of the earth should offer to stand in your place, and to serve God in your stead, he would not regard their offer, nor dispense with your service. All of you must surrender up yourselves to him. You have already been devoted to him in baptism: remember then the vows that are upon you: Remember whose you are, and whom you are bound to serve: and know assuredly, that those words which are so often, but so ignorantly, uttered by us in our prayers, contain the very truth of God; his service is perfect freedom.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
Ver. 22. And when the days of her purification ] She was rather sanctified than polluted by bearing Christ, yet wrangleth not with the law, nor claimeth an immunity. Now if she were so officious in ceremonies, what in the main duties of morality?
According to the law ] This law of purification proclaims our uncleanness, whose very birth infects the mother that bare us. She might not till the seventh day converse with men, nor till the 40th day appear before God in the sanctuary, nor then without a burnt offering for thanksgiving, and a sin offering for expiation of a double sin, viz., of the mother that conceived, and of the son that was conceived.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
22 38. ] THE PURIFICATION IN THE TEMPLE. SYMEON AND ANNA RECOGNIZE AND PROPHESY OF HIM.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
22. ] See Lev 12:1-8 , where however the child is not, as here, expressly included in the purification. (It is hardly possible that Joseph should be implied in the , as Euthym [25] , Meyer, interpret it.) The reading is remarkable, and hardly likely to have been a correction. , adopted by the E. V., is almost without authority (see var. readd.), and is a manifest correction.
[25] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
Bengel denies that either the Lord or His mother wanted purification; and mentions that some render ‘ of the Jews ,’ but does not approve of it ( Joh 2:6 is certainly no case in point). See the last note, on the necessity of purification for both .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 2:22 . . The law relating to women after confinement is contained in Lev 12 : at the close of these forty days of purification His parents took Jesus up to Jerusalem from Bethlehem. The Greek form of the name for Jerusalem, , occurs here and in a few other places in Lk. is the more common form. , a word used by Lk. and St. Paul (Rom 12:1 ), in the sense of dedication. This act was performed in accordance with the legal conception that the first-born belonged to God, His priestly servants before the institution of the Levitical order (Num 8:18-19 ). J. Weiss suggests that the narrative is modelled on the story of the dedication of Samuel (1Sa 1:21-28 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 2:22-24
22And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Luk 2:22 “the days for their purification” The pronoun “their” has bothered Bible students because it involves a sin offering for both the mother and the child. Jesus was born under the law (cf. Luk 2:21-22; Luk 2:27; Gal 4:4-5) and He was to fulfill all things (cf. Mat 3:15). He completely identified with the Jewish customs of His day. The period of purification was forty days after birth for a son and eighty days for a daughter (cf. Lev 12:1-5). See Contextual Insights, B.
“up to Jerusalem” Bethlehem is higher than Jerusalem physically, but to the Jews, no place on earth was spiritually higher than Jerusalem. In the Bible one must always go “up to Jerusalem.” There are two or three Jewish rituals mentioned in Luk 2:22-44. The first was performed locally (circumcision), the others at the Temple at a later time. Mary’s purification after forty days and buying back the firstborn male child was done according to later rabbinical traditions on the thirty-first day.
Luk 2:23 “Every firstborn male” This Jewish rite (cf. Exo 13:2; Exo 13:12-13; Exo 13:15) was instituted at Passover (cf. Exodus 12). The Levites as a group took the place of the firstborn as God’s special servants. The price of redemption in Jesus’ day was five shekels, which was given to any priest (cf. Num 18:16). This was the normal price of a sacrificial lamb. See Contextual Insights, C.
Luk 2:24 “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” This was the cheapest purification offering one could make. One bird was for a sin offering and the other was for a burnt offering (cf. Lev 12:6-8). This rite is in reference to the purification of Luk 2:22. Any bodily emission made a Jewish person ceremonially unclean, therefore, birth was something that had to be dealt with by sacrifice. The women could watch the ritual by looking from the Nicor gate, but they could not enter into the inner court of the Temple because (1) they were considered ceremonially unclean and (2) they were women.
This offering shows that the wise men from the East had not yet brought their gifts.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the days: i.e. forty days after the birth of a son (eighty after a daughter). See Lev 12:2-4
her = their. So all the texts; i.e. Joseph and Mary.
according to. Greek. kata. App-104. See Exo 13:12; Exo 22:29; Exo 34:19. Num 3:12, Num 3:13, Num 18:15.
the law. Mentioned five times in this chapter, oftener than all the rest of Luke, to show the truth of Gal 1:4, Gal 1:4.
Him = brought Him up. to. Greek. eis. App-104. present, &c. Exo 13:2. Num 18:15, Num 18:16.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
22-38.] THE PURIFICATION IN THE TEMPLE. SYMEON AND ANNA RECOGNIZE AND PROPHESY OF HIM.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 2:22. ) See App. Crit., Ed. ii. p. 174. Never is [26] so placed, as that it should be understood of , and His mother, to be supplied as the antecedents. Neither Jesus Himself nor His mother needed purification. There are some who interpret as the Jews; but Luke mentions purification, not as a custom of the Jews, but as a divine institution.- , the law of Moses) In a higher point of view, it is presently after called the law of the Lord [Luk 2:23-24].-, they led [brought] Him up to) This is properly said of one more matured, as , [when the parents brought in] to lead in, introduce, Luk 2:27. This was a prelude to His future visits to the temple.-, to present) This is presently explained in Luk 2:23. This was additional to the purification, which was done in the case of every child-birth, not merely in the case of the first-born.
[26] AB read . Iren. 187, and 2 MSS. of Memph. Vers. omit -. D reads : abc Vulg. ejus: Rec. Text, .-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Lev 12:2-6
Reciprocal: Lev 12:4 – General Lev 12:6 – a lamb Lev 12:8 – she be not able to bring a lamb 1Sa 1:22 – then 1Sa 1:25 – brought Luk 2:27 – to
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE PURIFICATION AND THE PRESENTATION
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord.
Luk 2:22
Let us meditate on this profoundly interesting subject in relation to Mary and Jesus.
I. Of the manifested excellences of the Virgin mother, let us think of
(a) Her knowledge. Little or no information is given of the early years of Mary. Parentage, birth, and childhood are wrapt in mystery. We know her only in her maidenhood and lowliness. But that she was thoroughly familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures cannot be doubted in the light of her own sublime hymn. She was a type of those Bible-loving women of whom we have further examples in the mother and grandmother of Timothy.
(b) Her faith. This sprang from her scriptural knowledge, and the new life quickened in her soul in early days by the Holy Ghost. She implicitly believed the promise given to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. This was the grand distinction in her character, and the crown of her life.
(c) Her humility. In her noble hymn of praise she speaks of her low estate and low degree, referring, doubtless, to her outward condition, which, in the eye of the world, or in contrast with the throne of her father David, was one of meanness and poverty. The descendant of a line of kings, she was reduced to be the bride of a poor carpenter, and her village was so obscure that none imagined she would become the mother of the God-promised King of Israel. But she believed she should.
II. The ceremony in the Temple was indeed beautiful.The presentation of Christ in that hallowed fane was the complement of the Epiphany. Instead of Wise men from the East, there were present Simeon and Anna, with Joseph and Mary.
(a) The presentation was a joint action. It is said by Luke that theyHis reputed father and real motherbrought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord. Arrived at the Temple, Joseph takes part with Mary in His presentation. This guileless man accompanied Mary from the mean stable to the sacred shrine, and, while she carried in her arms the Divine Infant, he bore in his hands the pair of turtle doves. Verily, they were well matched! The faith and obedience of Joseph rank next to the faith and obedience of Mary.
(b) This joint action was typical. The turtle doves were intended for a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, and as such they were typical, not only of the perfect innocence of the Lamb of God, but also of His efficacious sacrifice; and just as they were accepted by the priest in the Temple, so was Jesus accepted by His Father in heaven.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
FULFILLING THE LAW
The Law of Moses was here obeyed to the very letter by Christ and His mother. That Law was meant for sinners. Now Christ alone of all men was born without spot of sin. Yet this Law was obeyed to the utmost in the only case which ever happened of a perfectly sinless birth. This incident teaches us many lessons.
I. Men should never think themselves so good, or so confirmed in goodness, that they can dispense with observing the rules of a careful and even scrupulous life. The people who are really firm in goodness are so busy in going straight forward on the path of life that they never think of breaking through. They keep all the rules of a careful, sober, godly life, both in church and out of church, in their prayers and in their business, and in all that they do and think of, just as the Blessed Virgin obeyed the Law of Moses, and as our Lord, Who knew no sin, was yet brought to circumcision and offered to the Lord in His temple like any other child of any other Jewish mother.
II. Children are Gods gift.If they are to be a blessing they must be regarded as such. This was what was meant by Gods claiming the first-born as His peculiar property. It was by way of reminding parents that all children were not theirs, but His, and that if they wished them to be a blessing, the only way was to offer them to Him. What does offering them to God mean? What did offering them to God in their earliest babyhood mean? It meant that it was the parents duty from the very first to treat their children as Gods children, and to bring them up accordingly.
III. All of Thee.It is not children only that are Gods gifts to men and women. All that we are and have is His gift. Our energies, our talents, our advantages, our positions in society, our gifts of knowledge, or powers of pleasing, or of gaining influence or of making moneyall these are His gifts and must be presented to Him.
Illustration
It is said that at least half a dozen festivals in commemoration of the leading events in the life of the Blessed Virgin have been celebrated in the early history of the Christian Church. Be this as it may, the English Church now celebrates only those of the Annunciation and the Purification; and these chiefly because they belong, in the higher sense, to the Christ of God. Bishop Sparrow speaks of the latter feast as the double feast, partly in memory of the Virgins Purification, but principally in memory of her Sons presentation in the Temple, which the Gospel commemorates. The institution of this double festival was, according to Justinian, a.d. 541, and the popular name given to it was Candlemas Day, because in the medival Church, says Dean Hook, this day was remarkable for the number of lighted candles which were borne in processions, and placed in churches, in memory of Him Who, in the beautiful words of Simeons song, came to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2
See the law on this subject in Lev 12:1-6.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
[When the days of her purification were accomplished; etc.] “R. Asai saith, the child whose mother is unclean by childbearing is circumcised the eighth day; but he whose mother is not unclean by childbearing is not circumcised the eighth day.”
You will ask probably, what mother that is, that is not unclean by childbearing. Let the Gloss upon this place make the answer: “She whose child is cut out of her womb: as also a Gentile woman who is brought to bed today, and the next day becomes a proselyte; her child is not deferred till the eighth day, but is circumcised straightway.” And the Rabbins a little after: “One takes a handmaid big with child, and while she is with him brings forth; her child is circumcised the eighth day. But if he takes a serving-maid, and with her a child newly born, that child is circumcised the first day.”
They did not account a heathen woman unclean by child-bearing, because she was not yet under the law that concerned uncleanness. Hence, on the other side, Mary was unclean at her bearing a child, because she was under the law; so Christ was circumcised because born under the law.
II. After seven days the woman must continue for three and thirty days in the blood of her purifying; Lev 12:4; where the Greek, in her unclean blood; far enough from the mind of Moses. And the Alexandrian MS much wider still: She shall sit thirty and ten days in an unclean garment.
Pesikta; as before, col. 4, it is written “in the blood of her purifying: though she issue blood like a flood, yet is she clean. Nor doth she defile any thing by touching it, but what is holy. For seven days, immediately after she is brought to bed, she lies in the blood of her uncleanness; but the three-and-thirty days following, in the blood of her purifying.”
[To present him to the Lord.] I. This was done to the first-born, but not to the children that were born afterward: nor was this done to the first-born unless the first-born were fit for the priest. For in Becoroth they distinguish betwixt a first-born fit for inheritance; and a first-born fit for a priest. That is, if the first-born should be any ways maimed, or defective in any of his parts, or had any kind of spot or blemish in him, this laid no bar for his inheriting, but yet made him unfit and incapable of being consecrated to God.
II. The first-born was to be redeemed immediately after the thirtieth day from his birth. “Every one is bound to redeem his first-born with five shekels after he is thirty days old; as it is said, ‘From a month old shalt thou redeem,’ ” Num 18:16. Not that the price of that redemption was always paid exactly upon the thirtieth day, but that then exactly it became due. Hence in that treatise newly quoted: “If the child die within the thirty days, and the father hath paid the price of his redemption beforehand, the priest must restore it: but if he die after the thirty days are past, and the father hath not paid the price of his redemption, let him pay it.” Where we find the price of redemption supposed as paid either before or after the thirty days.
III. The women that were to be purified were placed in the east gate of the court called Nicanor’s Gate, and were sprinkled with blood.
There stood Mary for her purifying: and there, probably, Christ was placed, that he might be presented before the Lord, presented to the priest.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 2:22. Their purification. This refers to Mary and Joseph, rather than to Mary and the child. In Lev 12:4-6, there is no hint of the purification of the child. The presence of Joseph was required by the law respecting the redemption of the first-born (see on Luk 2:23), and the ceremonial uncleanness, which lasted until the fortieth day in the case of a male child (Lev 12:2-4), affected the husband.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
A twofold act of obedience doth the Holy Virgin here perform to two ceremonial laws, the one concerning the purification of women after child-birth, the other concerning the presenting the male-child before the Lord.
The law concerning the purification of women we have recorded. Leviticus 12 Where the time mentioned for the woman’s purification is set down; namely, after a male-child forty days; after a female, four score days:after which time she was to bring a lamb of a year oldfor a burnt-offering, in case she was a person of ability; or a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons, in case of extreme poverty.
Now as to the Virgin’s purification, observe, 1. That no sooner was she able and allowed to walk, but she travels to the temple.
Where note, that she visited God’s house at Jerusalem, before her own house at Nazareth.
Learn thence, that such women whom God has blessed with safety of deliverance, if they make not their first visit to the temple of God to offer up their praises and thanksgivings there, they are strangers to the Virgin’s piety and devotion.
Observe, 2. Another act of Mary’s obedience to the ceremonial law: she presented her child at Jerusalem to the Lord.
But how durst the blessed Virgin carry her holy babe to Jerusalem into Herod’s mouth? It was but a little before that Herod sought the young child’s life to destroy it; yet the Virgin sticks not, in obedience to the commands of God, to carry him to Jerusalem.
Learn hence, that no apprehension of dangers, either imminent or approaching, either at hand or afar off, ought to hinder us from performing our duty to Almighty God. We ought not to neglect a certain duty, to escape an uncertain danger.
Observe farther, as the obedience, so the humility, of the Holy Virgin, in submitting to the law for purifying of uncleanness: for thus she might have pleaded, “What need have I of purging, who did not conceive in sin? Other births are from men, but mine is from the Holy Ghost, who is purity itself. Other women’s children are under the law, mine is above the law.” But, like the mother of him whom it beloved to fulfil all righteousness, she dutifully fulfils the law of God without quarreling or disputing.
Observe, lastly, as the exemplary humility, so the great poverty, of the Holy Virgin; she has not a lamb, but comes with her two doves to God. Her offering declares her penury. The best are sometimes the poorest, seldom the wealthiest: Yet none are so poor, but God expects an offering from them: he looks for some what from every one, not from every one alike.
The providence of God it is that makes difference in person’s abilities, but his pleasure will make no difference in the acceptation; Where there is a willing mind, it shall be accepted according to what a person hath. 2Co 8:12
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Luk 2:22-24. When the days of her purification were accomplished It appears, from Lev 12:1-6, that for the first seven days, every woman who had borne a child, was considered as unclean in so great a degree, that whoever touched or conversed with her was polluted. For thirty-three days more, she was still, though in an inferior degree, unclean, because she could not all that time partake in the solemnities of public worship. At the conclusion of this term, she was commanded to bring certain sacrifices to the temple, by the offering of which the stain laid on her by the law was wiped off, and she restored to all the purity and cleanness she had before. This was the law of the purification after bearing a son. But for a daughter, the time of separation was double; the first term being fourteen days, and the second sixty-six; in all eighty days before she could approach the sanctuary. Now as Jesus was circumcised, though perfectly free from sin, so his mother submitted to the purifications prescribed by the law, notwithstanding she was free from the pollutions common in other births. It was evident, indeed, that she was a mother, but her miraculous conception was not generally known. They brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord Because the law required that he should be presented in the temple at the end of forty days from his birth, and that the usual offerings should be made, his parents would find it more convenient to go up with him from Bethlehem, where he was born, at the distance of six miles only, than, after Marys recovery, to carry him first to Nazareth, which was a great way from Jerusalem. We may, therefore, reasonably enough suppose that they tarried in Bethlehem all the days of her purification, and that from Bethlehem they went straightway to Jerusalem. Here, entering the temple, the sacrifices prescribed for the purification of women, after child-bearing, were offered for Mary, who, according to custom, waited in the outer court till the service respecting her was performed. As it is written, Every male that openeth the womb, &c. See this explained in the note on Exo 12:2. And to offer a sacrifice, a pair of turtle doves, &c. This was the offering required from the poor, Lev 12:6; Lev 12:8. Those in better circumstances were commanded to bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt-offering, and a turtle-dove, or a young pigeon, for a sin-offering. It is evident, from the offering they made, that although Joseph and Mary were of the seed royal, they were in very mean circumstances. The evangelist mentions the presentation of the child to the Lord before the offering of the sacrifice for the mothers purification; but in fact this preceded the presentation, because, till it was performed, the mother could not enter the temple; accordingly Luke himself introduces both the parents as presenting Jesus.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2. The presentation: Luk 2:22-38.
And first the sacrifice, Luk 2:22-24. After the circumcision there were two other rites to observe. One concerned the mother. Levitically unclean for eight days after the birth of a son, and for fourteen days after that of a daughter, the Israelitish mother, after a seclusion of thirty-three days in the first case, and of double this time in the second, had to offer in the temple a sacrifice of purification (Leviticus 12). The other rite had reference to the child; when it was a first-born, it had to be redeemed by a sum of money from consecration to the service of God and the sanctuary. In fact, the tribe of Levi had been chosen for this office simply to take the place of the first-born males of all the families of Israel; and in order to keep alive a feeling of His rights in the hearts of the people, God had fixed a ransom to be paid for every first-born male. It was five shekels, or, reckoning the shekel at 2 Samuel 4 d., nearly 12s. (Exo 13:2; Num 8:16; Num 18:15).
Vers. 22 and 23 refer to the ransom of the child; Luk 2:24 to Mary’s sacrifice. , their purification, is certainly the true reading. This pronoun refers primarily to Mary, then to Joseph, who is, as it were, involved in her uncleanness, and obliged to go up with her. Every detail of the narrative is justified with the greatest care in the three verses by a legal prescription.
The sacrifice for the mother (Luk 2:24) consisted properly of the offering of a lamb as a sin-offering. But when the family was poor, the offering was limited to a pair of pigeons or two turtle-doves (Lev 12:8).
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Observe here how God joins and couples in Christ the humble with the sublime, the human with the divine, the poison with the antidote, to show that in Him human nature was joined to the Divine Majesty. Christ would be circumcised, so taking on Him the appearance of sin, but presently, when He wipes away this appearance He gives Him the name of Jesus-the Saviour that heals all sins. So, too, He would have Christ born in a stable and laid in a manger, as being poor and abject, but soon He summoned by the star the three kings, and by the angel the shepherds to adore Him. So, again, He would have Him suffer, be crucified, and die; but at the same time He darkened the sun and the moon, rent the rocks and shook the earth, that all the elements might testify of, and mourn for, the ignominious murder of their Creator. The more, then, Christ humbled Himself, the more the Father exalted Him. To thee, Christian, He will do the same; wherefore fear not to be humbled, knowing, for certain that by this means thou art to be exalted. For the road to glory is humiliation, according to that promise of Christ, “Every one that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Ver. 22.-And when the days of her purification according to the law o Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord. Observe that here three different ordinances are intertwined and joined together. The first is that of Lev 12:2, et seq., that a woman, if she have borne a male child, shall remain unclean for forty days, and then be purified in the temple legally, that is by the sacrificial rite prescribed by the law. The second, that the mother offer to God a lamb, as a holocaust for her own purification (not that of her child, as S. Augustine would have it), and a young turtle-dove or pigeon as a sin-offering, if she be rich; but if poor, only a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons (Lev 12:6-7). And the third, that if the offspring be a male, and the firstborn, it be set before God, and offered to Him as His due, and holy, that is, consecrated on account of the immunity of the firstborn of the Hebrews granted them by God, when the firstborn of Pharaoh and the Egyptians were smitten by the angel in the time of Moses (Exo 13:1). The child, however, so offered might be redeemed by his parents for five shekels (Num 3:47). Symbolically, these five shekels stood for the five wounds of Christ, with which, as with a price, He redeems the human race.
The days of her purification. In the old law the woman bearing a child was unclean, with a natural, a legal, and a moral uncleanness; but especially because she bore a child whom she conceived in original sin. The natural uncleanness was that physically incidental to her gestation and delivery; and the legal defilement was consequent upon this, for the law, on account of these impurities, regarded her as impure, and directed that she be kept away from the temple, and be held, as it were, “unclean” for forty days, until, on the fortieth day, she was purified by the prescribed rite.
With reference to the question whether the Blessed Virgin suffered this impurity, S. Jerome (Ep. 22 ud Eustochium), John of Avila, commenting on Lev. xii., and Erasmus on this same passage, affirm that she did. All other authorities, however, agree in the contrary view, since the Virgin’s parturition was perfectly pure. See S. Augustine (de Quinque hresibus, ch. v). This point has been treated in what has been said on v. 7 of the present chapter. Hence the Blessed Virgin incurred no defilement, and therefore was not bound by the law of purification. Yet, in her zeal for humility, in order to make herself like other women who bear children, that she might not give scandal in seeming to be singular, and that she might conceal her virginity and her conception by the Holy Ghost, the Blessed Virgin was willing to be purified, even as Christ, for similar reasons, was willing to be circumcised. Hence S. Bernard (Serm. 3 On the Purification) says: “In this conception, and in this child-birth, there was nothing impure, nothing sinful, nothing that had to be purged, for this offspring is the fount of purity, and is come to make a cleansing of sins. What is there in me for a legal observance to purify-in me, who, by this immaculate parturition, am become most pure? Truly, 0 Blessed Virgin, thou hadst no need for purification; but had thy Son need of circumcision? Be thou among women as one of them, for so too is thy Son among men.”
Tropologically, the purification of the soul is penance, and this the Blessed Virgin underwent, not for her own sins, seeing that she had none, but for those of others, as Christ did. Still she did not undergo the Sacrament of Penance, because she had no sins of her own to confess. See S. Chrysostom, Tertullian, S. Augustine, and S. Ambrose in his book “On Penance.”
To present Him to the Lord. The Syriac version has “in the presence of the Lord.” The Blessed Virgin, holding Christ in her hands, on bended knee, offered Him to God with the greatest reverence and devotion, saying, “Behold, 0 Eternal Father, this is Thy Son whom Thou hast wished to take flesh from me for the salvation of men. To Thee I render Him, and to Thee I offer Him entirely, that Thou mayest do with Him and with me as it shall please Thee, and by Him mayest redeem the world.” So saying, she presented Him to the priest as to the representative of God; and then she redeemed Him with five shekels, as the law prescribed.
Ver. 23.–As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to Me Lord (Exo 13:12)-that is, shall be offered and consecrated to God as a thing dedicated and holy. Christ was not bound by this law, both because He subsisted in the Person of the Word, which is bound by no laws, and also because He did not open His mother’s womb, but came forth while it remained closed. So Cyril (Hom. De Occurs. Dom.), Pope Hormisdas (Ep. i ch. iii.), Bede, and others.
Rupertus, John of Avila, Jansenius, and Maldonatus, therefore, who take the phrase “that openeth the womb” as merely equivalent to “first-born,” and suppose, on this ground, that Christ was included by these words, but otherwise excepted from the law as being God and the Son of God, are incorrect in their view. Lastly, I quote the following from S. Bernard’s “Sermon on the Purification”-“Very slight, brethren, does this oblation seem, in which He is but presented to the Lord, redeemed with birds, and straightway taken back. The time shall come when He shall be offered up not in the temple, nor within the arms of Simeon, but outside the city in the arms of the Cross. The time shall come when He shall not be redeemed with blood not his own, but with His own blood shall redeem others, because God the Father hath sent him to be the redemption of His people. That shall be an evening sacrifice, this is a morning sacrifice-this is the more joyous, that shall be the fuller.”
Ver. 24.-And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, because they were poor; for the rich were obliged to give in addition to this a lamb for a holocaust. Although the three kings had offered to Christ a great quantity of gold, still the Blessed Virgin, zealously affected towards poverty, accepted but little of it, that she might show her contempt of all earthly things, and what she took she spent in a short time, says John of Avila, on S. Matt. ii. Qust. 47; or, if she took much, say S. Bonaventure and Dionysius, she distributed it among the poor. And, lastly, because she was by her condition poor, she would be reckoned among the poor, and offer the gift of the poor.
The purification of the Blessed Virgin is commemorated by the Church on the second day of February, in order, Baronius says, to abolish the Lupercalia, which used to be celebrated at Rome on that day. The order of the rite of purification was as follows First, the woman came into the “court of the unclean”-she being unclean until her purification. Next, she offered a sin-offering of a turtle-dove or a young pigeon. It is probable that she was also sprinkled with water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer, this water being, as it were, an “aqua lustralis” used in all purifications.
Then she offered the infant to God, and redeemed him. And, lastly, she offered to God as a whole burnt-offering of thanksgiving a lamb, or else a turtle-dove, or a pair of young pigeons. These last two acts, were performed by the woman (by this time purified) standing in the “court of the clean;” there she, would offer the infant at the door of the tabernacle, and there watch from afar off her holocaust being offered in the “court of the priests”-for between the court of the priests and that of the people there was a wall or a partition three feet high, so that the people could, from their court, watch the offerings, and all that was being done in the court of the priests.
Tropologically, the turtle-doves and the pigeons which the woman used to offer for her sins, i.e., her defilement or legal uncleanness, signified the groaning or compunction of the penitent by which ins are expiated, especially when they accompany the sacrament of expiation. Moreover, the Blessed Virgin, having no sin, needed no sacrament to expiate it, but she received the Sacrament of Baptism as a profession of the Christian religion, that of Confirmation, the Eucharist, and perhaps also Extreme Unction. She entered into the state of matrimony with Joseph, but this was not a sacrament in the old law. She never confessed her sins or received absolution from a priest in that she had no sins. It may be said, however, that the Blessed Virgin had reason to fear lest she had been guilty of some distraction in prayer, some venia1 negligence in word or thought, and that she might have confessed such as these, since, as S. Gregory says, “It is the characteristic of good souls to acknowledge fault where there is no fault.” And this is true in the case of sinners and those in the state of original sin, but not for those who are innocent and unspotted as the Blessed Virgin was. Wherefore, as the angels see clearly all their own actions, and the defects-even the most trifling-in them, and as Adam, too, saw his own actions when he was in the state of innocence-in accordance with the perfection which belongs to this state-so the Blessed Virgin in like manner saw all her own acts in the past and in the future, and knew that they were most pure and most holy, and altogether without any defect, even venial, and for this reason she could not confess them as sins. She did not, however, lift herself up on that account, but humbled herself the more, knowing this to be the gift of God and not her own merit. Hence the opinion of Sylvester, in the “Golden Rose” (tit. 3, ch. 53), to the effect that the Blessed Virgin received the Sacrament of Penance and was accustomed to confess venial sins conditionally to S. John, must be flatly rejected, especially as absolution cannot be given on uncertain matter, but the penitent, to be capable of it, must confess some particular sin-Vasquez (part iii., disp. 119, ch. 7).
Ver. 25.-And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the holy Ghost was upon him. Calvin would have it that Simeon was of obscure birth and unknown; but that he was venerable by his age and his sanctity appears from what follows here. Many hold that he was a priest, and that it was in this capacity that he blessed Mary and Joseph. So say Lyranus, Dionysius, Cajetan, Francis Lucas, Toletus, S. Athanasius (in “The Common Essence of the Father and the Son”), S. Cyril (De 0ccursu Dom.), S. Epiphanius (“Treatise on the Fathers of the Old Testament”), and Canisius (de Deipara, bk. iv. ch. 10). But Theophylact, Euthymius, Jansenius, and Barradius are of opinion that he was a layman, and gave his blessing not as a priest but as an old man.
And the same was just. From this Galatinus (De Arcanis Fidei, 1. I, cap. 3) gathers that Simeon was the disciple and son of Hille1 who, a little before the birth of Christ, was the founder of the Scribes and Pharisees, as S. Jerome states on Isa 8 The words of Galatinus are: “Simeon, the son of Hillel, whom the Talmudists, by reason of his extraordinary sanctity, call ‘Saddic’ the Just. In whom (as it is related in the ‘Pirke Avoth’ or ‘the chapters of the fathers’) the rule of the great Academy of the Synagogue came to an end. He spoke many things concerning the Messiah, and, at length, being in his extreme old age, and having received an answer from the Holy Ghost that he should not see death without seeing the Messiah, receiving Christ Himself in his arms, he confirmed, in the presence of Christ, the truth of those things which he had taught about Him under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And his noteworthy sayings are to be found scattered about in the books of the Talmudists.”
Genebrardus (Chronology, bk. ii.) is of the same opinion, and adds: “For the belief that with Simeon the spirit of the great Synagogue-a spirit less than the prophetic but greater than the common-died out, the Talmudists are our authority in the treatise ‘Pirke Avoth.’ The Rabbi Moses, the Egyptian, records that he was not only the disciple, but also the son of Hillel, and the teacher, and indeed the father, of Gamaliel, at whose feet Paul learnt the law.” All this, however, while it appears highly probable, is at the same time uncertain. There were many Simeons or Simons (for the two names are identical) who were just, as, for instance, Simeon the high priest, the son of Oniah, called “the Just,” and spoken of with praise at some length in Ecclus. 1. I. Besides, the successors and disciples of Hillel, the Scribes and Pharisees, were in the highest degree hostile to Christ.
Devout. In Greek -religious, God-fearing. Waiting for the consolation of Israel-the coming of the Messiah, who was to console Israel, that is, the faithful people, and set them free from the oppression of Satan, of Herod, the Romans, and the Scribes and Pharisees. For, eager for the common weal, “he sought,” says S. Ambrose, “the good of his people rather than his own.” By the transferring of the sceptre from Judah to Herod, according to the prophecy of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 10), by the completion of the seventy weeks of Dan. ix., and by other prophecies, Simeon knew that the coming of Christ was at hand, to deliver Israel-that is, the faithful-from all evil, as well from their sins as from all miseries, partly in this life, partly in the life to come. Christ, then, is the consolation of the faithful, for except in Him there, is no hope of salvation, but only despair, and desolation. Hence Isa 40:1, promising the coming of Christ, says, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God: speak unto the heart of Jerusalem.” And in Isa 51:3, “The Lord shall comfort Sion;” and again in lxi. I, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me . . . to comfort all them that mourn.” And in 2Co 1:5, S. Paul says, “As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.” In the time of Christ the condition, as well of the State as of the Church of Israel, was one of the deepest affliction. Their body politic, while it lacked its own chiefs, was under the yoke of Herod and the Pagan Romans, and their Church, on the other hand, was under bondage to impious priests, to Scribes and Pharisees; and in S. Mat 23:5, Christ tells us what manner of men these were-how they oppressed the people, and into what errors and vices they led them.
And the Holy Ghost was upon him, both sanctifying him and conferring on him the gift of prophecy. Observe that in Holy Scripture the Holy Ghost is said to come to, or be in, any one not only by the grace which makes that person acceptable, but also by any grace, “gratis data,” i.e., conferred not necessarily in consideration of the merit of the recipient, and not for his own benefit, but for that of others, e.g., the grace of prophecy, as here in the case of Simeon. So in Luk 1:35, the Holy Ghost is spoken of as about to come upon the Blessed Virgin, that she may conceive a Son, and become the Mother of God; this is a grace, “gratis data.” And again in Luk 41:1 of the same chapter ;Elizabeth is spoken of as full of the Holy Spirit when she began to prophecy.
Upon him. In the Greek , the Holy Ghost, coming down upon him, took possession of his soul, so that he seemed not so much a man of this earth as a celestial and divine being, and this on purpose that his testimony as to Christ might be irrefragable and beyond dispute.
Celsus (De Incredulitate Judorum apud Vigilium)-to be found among the works of Cyprian) gives a tradition to the effect that Simeon was blind, and recovered his sight when he touched Christ; but S. Luke would not have been silent about so great a miracle, and which would so clearly have been in place here.
Ver. 26.-And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. “It was revealed” by a divine oracle and promise-the Greek expression is . “The Lords Christ”-the Messiah, anointed with the unction of the Holy Spirit and the plentitude of grace. (Isa 11:2.)
In this Simeon was privileged far beyond Abraham, Isaac, and all the patriarchs and prophets, who, as the apostle says, Heb 11:13, “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and embraced them.” Hence it is plain that Simeon was a man of singular holiness, and full of holy aspirations and zeal.
Ver. 27.-And he came by the Spirit into the Temple. By the impulse of the Holy Spirit, moved and incited by the Holy Spirit, say Euthymius and Theophylact. And the same Spirit who urged him thither gave him the sign by which he should know Christ among so many infants that were then being offered in the Temple, or, rather, showed Him to him, inwardly prompting him and saying, Behold, this is Christ, whom I promised thee that thou shouldst see before thy death.
Timothy, a priest of Jerusalem, in his Oratio de Simeone, thinks that he must have seen the Virgin surrounded with light in the midst of the other women, and by this mark understood her to be the Mother of the Messiah. The Carthusian (Denis), too, says, “Perhaps he saw some divine splendour in the countenance of the child.”
Hence we may learn how God guides the mind and the paths of His saints that they may fall in with the good predestined for them by Him. Wherefore we must pray diligently, especially when about to undertake a journey, for this direction, that we may be preserved from evil, and blessed with good issues; saying with the Psalmist, “0 Lord, show me Thy ways and teach me Thy paths,” Ps. xxv. 4 “Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments,” Psa 119:35.
We read, in the life of S. Ephrem, that, when he was entering a certain city, he prayed to God that he might fall in with something that should edify him. A harlot met him, and stared so hard at him, that he asked with great severity why she acted so immodestly; and he received this answer, “Let woman look upon man, for from him was she made, but let man fix his gaze upon the earth, of which he was formed.” The man of God felt that the rebuke was just, and, being deeply touched by it, gave thanks to God because he had received from a harlot a lesson so salutary.
And when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the law. In the Greek -when they had brought. This sentence is dependent on the next verse.
Ver. 28.-Then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said. Martial says of the dying swan-
Uttereth; his own dirge shaped of his own dying breath.” “Sweet cadences the swan with voice that fails in death
And so the last utterances of the wise are the sweetest, their powers maturing with years. Again Cicero tells us in the first Tusculan Disputation, “Not without reason are swans dedicated to Apollo, since they seem to have from him a gift of prophecy, by virtue of which, foreseeing the good that there is in death, they die with joy and in the act of singing.” And Simeon here foresees, in this way the joy that through Christ is to come to him after his death, which must soon take place.
Ver. 29.–Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word. Lettest thou-in Greek , loosen, as it were, from the prison-chains of this body, that I may go to the liberty, peace, and rest which the fathers in limbo enjoy. In peace, so Tobias, 3:6; and Abraham, Gen 15:15, desired to die in peace. Euthymius here understands by peace-
1. The calming of his feelings, which had fluctuated between hope and fear with reference to his seeing Christ.
2. The peace of an intrepid soul that did not fear death.
3. His joy.
4. Peace may be taken to mean that security from the dangers of the world which death brings. S. Cyprian (Tract. de Moralitate, c. i) says, “joyful at his approaching death, sure that it must soon come, he took the Child in his hands, and, blessing the Lord, lifted up his voice and said, Now Thou dost dismiss, &c., . . . thus proving and bearing witness that then is there peace for the servants of God, then an easy and tranquil mind when, delivered from out the whirlpools of the world, we make for the haven of our eternal habitation and our peace.”
Thy word. Thy promise, says Theophylact, when Thou didst promise to prolong my life until I should see Christ; now have I seen Him, therefore let me depart and die.
Symbolically, S. Augustine (Serm. 20 de Tempore) says, “Now, Lord, let me depart in peace, because I see thy peace-Christ, Who shall make peace between heaven and earth-between God and angels and men-between men and themselves.”
And Simeon obtained his wish from God, for soon after he went to his rest. S. Epiphanius (De Prophetarum vita, c. xxiv.) puts S. Simeon among the prophets. “Simon,” he says, “departed this life full of years and utterly worn out; yet did he not obtain at the hands of the priests the last honours of burial.” He gives no reason, however, why this should have been so, but it is thought that, in openly announcing the advent of Christ, he brought upon himself the envy and hatred of the other priests.
Tropologically, the Church sings this hymn of Simeon every evening in the Office of Compline, for two reasons-First, to admonish the faithful, and especially ecclesiastics, to think upon death, and so live as though they were to die in the evening; and, again, that they may acquire that yearning which Simeon felt to pass away from the vanities and troubles of this life to the true and blessed life in heaven, begging of God to be permitted to depart, and saying with Paul, “I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ.” “Behold how the just man,” says S. Ambrose, “as though shut in within the gross prison-house of the body, wishes to be loosed, that he may begin to be with Christ. But he that will be set free, let him come to the Temple, let him come to Jerusalem, let him wait for the Lord, let him embrace Him with good work as with the arms of faith. Then shall he be set free, that he may not see death, because he has looked upon life.”
Ver. 30.-For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. “Salvation,” in Greek , the word used by the Septuagint as a rendering of the Hebrew , iescua, safety. “Safety” is used by metonomy for “Saviour.” By “salvation,” then, we are to understand the Saviour Christ, whom the ancient fathers desired to see, but Simeon alone saw, touched, and embraced.
Ver. 31.-Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people. That all the nations of the Gentiles may draw salvation from Christ the Saviour. God has not hidden Christ in a corner of Juda, but has set Him forth before all men, and soon will announce Him throughout the world by His Apostles, that all who will embrace His faith and law may be saved by Him.
Ver. 32.-A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel. Thou hast given Christ the Saviour that He may be a light for the enlightenment of the Gentiles, enlightening with His faith and worship the Gentiles who know not the true God, and also to be the glory and honour of the Jewish people. TheArabic has, “the light that hath appeared to the nations.” In the same way we have in Psa 119:18, “Open Thou” (that is, illumine) “mine eyes.” The allusion here is to the prophecy of Isaiah, made seven hundred years before, in Isa 42:6, “I will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house;” and in Isa 44:6, “I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” In the Mass, and particularly on the Feast of the Purification, we bless candles, light them, and carry them about, thereby (1) symbolising our belief in Christ as the light of the nations, and (2) praying that He will grant us in this life the light of His grace, and in the other life the light of His gladness and His glory. And it is for this reason that these lighted candles are put into the hands of the dying. See Amalarius, Durandus, and others, who have written on the Offices of the Church.
And the glory of Thy people Israel. 1. Because Christ, promised to their forefathers by God, took upon Himself the flesh of their race, and was a Jew.
2. Because He lived and died in Juda, His life being made glorious by His teaching, His holiness, and His miracles.
3. Because He first founded His Church in Juda, the first believers having been Jews, who afterwards gathered the Gentiles to themselves.
4. It was in Juda that He rose from the dead and gloriously ascended into heaven, sending down thence the Holy Ghost with the gift of tongues.
The allusion is to Isa 46:13, “I will place salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory;” and lx. I, “The glory of the Lord is risen upon thee;” and ibid. 2, “His glory shall be seen upon thee.”
Ver. 33.-And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of Him. Joseph, who is called the father of Christ, not only because he was His foster-father, and was commonly supposed to be His natural father, but also because Christ had been born to him lawfully in wedlock, and of his wife Mary; and this marriage of Joseph with the Blessed Virgin was made and ordained by God for the sake of this progeny. So say S. Augustine (De Cons. Evang. c. I), Bede, Jansenius, and others.
Marvelled. For, though they knew that Christ was to be the Saviour of Israel, yet they did not know all that the Holy Ghost was here prophesying about Him by Simeon and Anna-that He was to be a light enlightening all nations, that He should be “for the ruin and for the resurrection of many in Israel,” that a sword should pierce the soul of the Virgin, &c. Besides, even had they known these things, they would have wondered at their being proclaimed aloud with such enthusiasm and ardour.
Ver. 34.-And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary His mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against. The form for the sacerdotal blessing is prescribed in Num 6:24, “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee,” &c.
Blessed them. That is, Joseph and Mary, not the Child Christ, say Maldonatus, Francis Lucas, and others; for the Child, as his Saviour and his God, he venerated and adored, desiring to be blessed by Him, and not presuming to bless Him. Jansenius, however, thinks that the word “them” includes Christ.
And said unto Mary His mother, rather than to Joseph, both because she was the true and natural mother of Jesus, while Joseph was only nominally His father, and also because Joseph seems to have died before the thirtieth year of Christ, when the things here foreshadowed were accomplished, so that the Blessed Mary alone experienced them in herself. To her alone, then, did Simeon here foretell both the happiness and the adversity which are to befall Christ and her, that in happiness she might not be lifted up too much, nor be cast down in her adversity.
Set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel. For fall the Greek has , and so the Arabic. The allusion is to Isa 8:14, “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel” (that is), “for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;” and in xxviii. 16, “Behold, I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation;” the latter text is quoted, against the unbelieving Jews by S. Paul, Rom 9:33, by S. Peter, 1Pe 2:6, and Act 4:2, and by Christ Himself, Matt. xxi. 42. Christ was laid and placed in the new, that is the Christian Church as a foundation and a corner-stone, that upon Him He might build all those that believed in Him, and of them build up the spiritual edifice of the Church, as He had promised to Adam, Abraham, Moses, and the other patriarchs and prophets. God did this directly with the intention of drawing all the Israelites to the faith of Christ, that He might so bring them into His Church and save them; but He foresaw that a great part of them would, by reason of their wickedness, speak against Christ when He came, and would strike against Him as on a stone of offence, and that so they would be broken, and fall into ruin both temporal and eternal. Yet He would not change His resolve of sending Christ, but would permit this rebellion and speaking against Him on the part of the Jews in order that it might be the occasion for S. Paul and the Apostles to transfer the preaching of the Gospel from them who resisted it to the Gentiles; and that so, instead of a few Jews, numberless nations might believe in Christ, be built in to Him in the Church, and be saved, as S. Paul shows at length in Rom. xi. Such was the design of God by which He set Christ as the corner-stone of the Church, to be indirectly “for the fall,” but director “for the rising again of many in Israel.” By fall is meant the destruction of the Jews who rebelled against Christ; by rising again, the salvation of those who believe in Him: for they that rebelled against Christ fell from faith into faithlessness, from the hope of salvation into despair and reprobation, from heaven into hell; but they who believe in Him have risen by his grace from the sins in which they lay prostrate to a new life of virtue and grace, looking for the hope of glory. Such is the interpretation of S. Augustine, Bede, Theophylact, Euthymius, Toletus, and many others; indeed, so Christ Himself, S. Peter, and S. Paul interpret in the places quoted above. S. Gregory of Nyssa also interprets “ruin” as the devastation of Juda and Jerusalem by Titus; for this calamity came upon them because they set at nought and crucified Christ.
Symbolically, Theophylact says that Christ was set “for the ruin and the resurrection of Israel,” that is, of the penitent soul that sanctifies itself by the grace of Christ, because this grace brings it to pass that pride, gluttony, and lust fall in the soul, while humility, abstinence, and chastity rise up in it.
And for a sign which shall be spoken against. In Greek , a sign of contradiction or of contention, as the Syriac and Arabic render it. Tertullian (de Carne Christi, c. xxiii.) renders it “for a contradictory sign.”
The question arises, What is this sign?
1. Maldonatus and Francis Lucas say that Christ was set as an archer’s target at which the unbelieving Jews and Scribes hurled not only evil words with the tongue, but also maleficent weapons with the hand. This target was one of contradiction, because the Scribes strove together and contradicted one another about striking and piercing it. So that Simeon alludes to Lam 3:12, “He hath set me as a mark for the arrow, he hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.”
2. S. Basil, Bede, and Theophylact understand the sign of the cross, making it refer to Isa 11:10, “In that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign for the people” The Hebrew word translated “sign” is , nes, a standard, rendered by the Septuagint , which is the word here used by Luke. Christ, when lifted up on the Cross, is to be a standard-bearer, and shall raise the banner of the Cross, to which He will draw all the faithful as His soldiers to fight against Jews, Mohammedans, Pagans, and other impious soldiers of the devil, who contradict the Cross of Christ and fight hard against it. So Toletus interprets.
3. The most obvious interpretation is that Simeon is alluding to Isa 8:18, “Behold I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel.” The wondrous, strange, and hitherto unheard of birth of Christ from a virgin is here called a “sign” or “wonder,” and His Divine teaching, life, death, resurrection, and miracles, by which He clearly showed Himself to be the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. Against this “sign” of Christ not only do Jews and heathens speak with the tongue, but bad Christians also by their wicked lives. So Origen and Jansenius. S. Basil, commenting on “Behold a virgin shall conceive” (Isa 7:14), favours this view. Tertullian also (De Carne Christi) makes the allusion to Isa 7:14, “Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son. We recognise, then, the contradictory sign, the conception and child- bearing of the Virgin Mary, of which these academicians say she bore a child and bore no child, she was a virgin and no virgin.” And these cavillers he answers, “She bore a child in that she did so of her own flesh; and she did not bear, in that she bore not of the seed of man. And she was a virgin for man, not a virgin for childbirth.”
Symbolically, Cajetan says, “Christ was the sign of the reconciliation of the human race with God.” And Dionysius, “The sign of the covenant between God and man, that the flood was no more to be brought upon the earth.” Others take “sign” as that with which God’s sheep are marked. Christians are to be marked with the faith of Christ, His baptism, and His character as a sign, that they may be distinguished from infidels. Baradius thinks that the allusion is to the brazen serpent which Moses set up, for a sign, that those who looked at it might be cured of the serpent’s bite, Num 21:8-9.
Ver. 35.-Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. “Sword,” in the Arabic version, lance; the Greek means both sword and lance or dart.
What is this sword?
1. Some understand doubt in her faith; that the Blessed Virgin, when she saw Christ suffering so fearfully from the violence of the Jews, and dying on the Cross, doubted as to whether He would rise again, as He had foretold. In this sense speak Origen (Hom. xvii.), Titus, Theophylact, and others. This, however, is an error, for such a feeling were unworthy [of] the Deipara, and that she experienced it is counter to the common sense of the Church. For so the Blessed Virgin would have sinned by unbelief. Indeed, the authors cited are sometimes explained as meaning by “doubt,” admiration, mental perturbation, and inward questionings.
2. S. Eucherius of Lyons (Hom. in Dominicam), understands the sword of the Spirit-the word of God, i.e., the spirit of prophecy, as who should say, The sword of the prophetic spirit shall pass through thy soul, 0 Mary, to reveal to thee the secrets of Holy Scripture and the hidden thoughts of men, as in Cana of Galilee when thou shalt say, “Whatsoever He telleth you, do it,” knowing that Christ will command them to draw the water which He is to turn into wine. So it is that the Apostle says in Heb 4:12, “The word of the Lord is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” And S. Ambrose understands it of the prudence of the Virgin, who was not without knowledge of heavenly secrets.
3. It has been supposed by some, as Amphilochius (Hom. De Occurs. Dom.) bears witness, that the Blessed Virgin really received the crown of martyrdom by the sword, but this is contrary to all belief in history.
4. The true interpretation of “sword” here is with reference to the sufferings inflicted on Christ, or rather contradiction spoken of a little before; for the contradiction of the tongue is spoken of in Scripture as a sword, as in Psa 57:4, “The sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword;” and Psa 64:3, “Who whet their tongues like a sword;” and Psa 105:18, “The sword hath passed through His soul” (Vulg.) This sword, then, is twofold. (1.) The sword of the tongue. For the Blessed Virgin, hearing the insults, calumnies, and blasphemies with which Christ was assailed by the Jews, even when He was crucified, suffered intense tortures, just as though a sword had been struck through her soul. (2.) The sword of iron – the nails and other torments which not only pierced the body and soul of Christ, but also pierced the soul of the Virgin. Just as when a man stabs with a sword at two persons who are next each other so as to kill the one and pierce and wound the other. Such is the interpretation of S. Augustine (Ep. 59, ad Paulinum), Sophronius (Hom. de Assumptione), Francis Lucas, Jansenius, Toletus, Barradius, and others.
How great was the torture inflicted by this sword we may gather, with Toletus, from the fact that it was her Son Who suffered, whom the Mother of God loved more than herself, so that she would far rather have suffered and been crucified herself. Love is the measure of sorrow. Secondly, from the severity of Christ’s torments and the wideness of their extent; for He suffered the most fearful agonies in all His senses and all His members, and all this the Blessed Virgin endured also by her sympathy with Him. Thirdly, the dignity of the Personage who suffered; for the Blessed Virgin pondered deeply the fact that this was the True God, the Messiah, and Saviour of the World. Fourthly, the long duration of His sufferings; for Christ suffered all His life long, until He breathed forth His Soul on the Cross. Fifthly, His loneliness; for He suffered alone, deserted by His Apostles and all His friends, by the angels, and by God Himself, so that He cried aloud, “My God! why hast Thou forsaken Me?” For, though the Blessed Virgin stood by Him and suffered with Him, yet did the Mother’s anguish but add a new pang to the Son’s torments, and this grief again had its echo in the Mother’s soul.
So it is that S. John of Damascus (de Fide, lib. iv. cap. xv.) remarks, “The pains she had escaped in childbirth she bore at the time of His Passion, so that she felt her bosom torn asunder by reason of the depth of her maternal love.” It is for this reason that the doctors teach that the Blessed Virgin was a martyr, and more than a martyr. As Christ, in His Passion, was tormented more than all the martyrs, so too was the Blessed Virgin by her sympathy with Him; and by this torment she would have been overcome and would have died had not God preserved her life by His special support. As, therefore, S. John the evangelist, who was put into the vessel of boiling oil, is a martyr, because this suffering would, in the natural course, have resulted in his death, if God had not preserved his life by a miracle, so also is the Blessed Virgin.
It may be objected to this that the Jews did not wish to torture or kill the Blessed Virgin, but only Christ. But, in torturing Christ, they tortured His Virgin Mother, just as he who tortures the body tortures, the soul, for she was more closely joined to Christ in feeling than the body to the soul. Besides, the Jews persecuted all the relatives of Christ, as they did His apostles and disciples, out of hatred of Him. S. Bridget (Serm. Angelic. cc. xvii., xviii.) gives a pathetic account of the strength of this sword of the Virgin’s sorrow.
Symbolically, S. Bernard (Serm. xxix.) interprets this sword or dart as love: for where there is sorrow there too is love; in love there is no living without sorrow, nor in sorrow without love. “The chosen arrow,” he says, “is the love of Christ, which not only pierced, but pierced through and through, the soul of Mary, so that it left in her virginal breast not the smallest part void of love, but with all her heart, and all her soul, and all her strength, she loved. And truly, again, it penetrated through her to come to us, that of that fulness we might all receive, and she might be the Mother of that love whose father is the love of God. . . . And in her whole self did she receive the vast sweet wound of love. Happy shall I think myself if sometimes I may feel pricked with but the very tip of that sword’s point, that my soul too may say, I am wounded with love.”
That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. An obscure sentence, and difficult of interpretation.
1. S. Hilary, who by “sword” understands the Day of Judgment, easily settles the difficulty. The sword, he interprets, shall dissect and lay open the hearts of men-even of the Blessed Virgin. This is the force of the words of the Apocalypse about Christ, “And from His mouth there went forth a sharp two-edged sword” (c. i. v. 16).
2. Eucherius, taking “sword” as the spirit of prophecy, interprets that this sword was given to the Blessed Virgin that she might know the secret thoughts of men.
3. Euthymius-Many, seeing the miracles and the wisdom of Jesus, thought within themselves that He had descended from Heaven, and was not the son of Mary; but, when they saw her at the cross of Christ, mourning and in such tribulation, they abandoned this idea, believing that she who felt His sorrows so deeply must be His mother indeed.
4. S. Augustine (Ep. 59, near the end)-“By the Lord’s Passion both the plots of the Jews and the infirmity of the disciples were made manifest,” for they forsook Christ and fled. This is apposite with respect to the Jews, but not so applicable as to the disciples, for the latter did not meditate flight beforehand.
5. Toletus interprets concisely-The sword that shall pierce thy soul, 0 Virgin, shall be the occasion of revealing the thoughts of many hearts that before lay hidden. For, long before Christ was slain, the leaders of the Jews had the intention of slaying Him, but dared make no attempt against Him, for fear of the people. But then the Jews had already before the Passion made manifest their thoughts about Christ, by cavilling at His words and works, although they concealed their desire to slay Him.
6. The fullest and most obvious explanation is that which makes the “that” expressive both of the purpose and its attainment, and refers it both to the sword and the words of the preceding verse, “This child is set for the fall,” &c. That is to say, that the Scribes and Pharisees, who, like the heretics of to-day, appeared to be the upholders of justice and truth, may show the world how antagonistic they are to the true Messiah and to justice, and what evil designs they cherish against Him. For, before the advent of Christ, they were in hopes that He would come with pomp and with wealth, even as Solomon, so that they might be raised by Him in honour and riches; but when they saw Him in His humility and poverty opposing Himself to their ambition and avarice, and publicly rebuking them for it, they set Him at nought and opposed Him, secretly scheming to bring upon Him the destruction which they at length actually compassed. Then was it revealed who in Israel were just, for these loved Christ sincerely and with constancy; and who unjust, for these persecuted and slew Him. So S. Augustine (Ep. 59), Bede, Jansenius, Maldonatus, Francis Lucas, and others. The explanation of Toletus also tallies with this to some extent.
Ver. 36.-And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity. She was an old woman, so that she was prompted by no youthful fervour, but bore testimony to Christ in a mature and grave manner. “Anna” in Hebrew signifies grace-of which Anna was full. The name “Grace” is still often borne by women, and was the name of her who at Firando, in Japan, generously met a glorious death, together with her four children and her whole household, for the faith of Christ.
A Prophetess-that is, a teacher, says Francis Lucas-one who instructed the young women in the law of God and in piety; for at this time the Jews had no prophets who foretold future events. But that Anna foretold the hidden things of the future is clear from v. 38, where she prophesied about Christ. For, though the Jews had no prophets until the time of Christ, yet God raised up prophets at that time, such as John, Zachary, Elizabeth, and Simeon. Hence S. Ambrose says, “The birth of the Lord received testimony not only from the angels, from the shepherds, and from His parents, but also from the aged and good; every age, and both sexes, and the wondrous nature of events, build up our faith. A virgin conceives-the barren brings forth-the dumb speaks-Elizabeth prophesies,-the wise man adores-he that is shut up in the womb exults-the widow confesses-the just man is waiting for His coming.”
The daughter of Phanuel. Phanuel was a well-known man at that time. “Phanuel” in Hebrew signifies “the face of God”-his daughter is “Anna”-grace; for grace proceeds from the face and from the mouth of God, and is breathed into the faithful. The place where Jacob saw God face to face, was called by him Peniel or “Phanuel,” Gen 32:30.
She was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity-that is, from the time when she became of marriageable age; for infants, who have not yet reached this age, are not properly virgins. Again, from the time of her marriage which she contracted as a virgin. They were wont to marry soon after attaining puberty-in their fifteenth year, the age at which the Blessed Virgin was married to Joseph. Hence we gather (1) that Anna was married once, and that in the first years of her puberty; (2) that, before her marriage, she lived chastely; (3) that, when, after seven years of her married life, her husband died, becoming a widow at the early age of twenty-two, she, with remarkable continency in the flower of her life remained a widow until the age of eighty-four, or, as S. Ambrose interprets, until the eighty-fourth year of her widowhood. If this last interpretation be correct, she must, when she met Christ, have been one hundred and six years old. It seems that God prolonged the life of Anna to this great age with the special design, that she might see and bear testimony to Christ, even as He prolonged that of Simeon.
Ver. 37.-And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years (of age, or, according to S. Ambrose, of her widowhood), which departed not from the Temple. Not that she lived in the Temple, but she frequented it, and spent much time in it. So think Toletus, Jansenius, and Maldonatus. Others, however, think that she actually dwelt in the Temple; for hard by the Temple there were houses of religious women who served God “night and day”-as there afterwards were of deaconesses in the Christian Church, and still are of nuns. This appears from Exo 38:8; 2Maccabees 3:20; and 1Sa 2:22. These religious women were some virgins, and some widows, of which latter it seems, that Anna was one, as Canisius (Marialis, lib. i. xii) argues.
But served God with fastings and prayers night and day-that is, serving God, as the Arabic renders it. The Greek , worshipping with “latria”-latria being due to God only. Hence is plain the falsehood of the teaching of the heretics, that fasting is only a mortification of the body, and no worship of God, except in so far as it is understood to mean prayer; for S. Luke here says that Anna served God both with fastings and prayers. By means of her fastings and prayers she served God “night and day.” S. Chrysostom (Hom. 42, ad pop.) eloquently commands prayer made by night: “Behold,” he says, “the company of the stars, the deep silence, the great calm, and admire the dispensation of thy Lord. For then is the mind purer, lighter, and more subtle, more sublime and agile. The darkness itself and the great silence have the power of inducing compunction. And if thou lookest upon the sky, dotted with numberless stars as with eyes . . . bend thy knees, groan, pray thy Lord to be propitious to thee. He is the more appeased by prayers made in the night, when thou makest the time of rest the time of thy struggles. Remember the King, what words he said: “I am weary of my groaning, every night wash I my bed, and water my couch with my tears.” So Christ used to give the day to preaching, the night to prayer, Luk 6:12. So too S. Paul, Act 16:25, and 2Ti 1:3. So S. Anthony, S. Hilarion, and the other anchorites; nay, the Church also, as is plain from the “Nocturns” which monks still chant by night.
Ver. 38.-And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord. In Greek , confessed to God in her turn, as though singing in answer to Simeon from the choir set apart for the other sex, praised the Lord, and gave Him thanks for the gift of Christ and His birth.
And spake of Him-of the Lord Christ, whom she had there present. Not only did Anna praise God, but she began to discourse to others of Jesus, asserting Him to be the Christ, and exhorting all to believe in Him.
To all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. The Redeemer Christ, who redeems from sin, death, Satan, and Hell, Israel, that is, the people of the faithful who believe in Him.
Allegorically, Christ, when born, appeared to three groups of persons in three ways-(1) to the shepherds, at the indication of an angel; (2) to the magi, under the guidance of a star; (3) to Simeon and Anna, guided by the Holy Ghost. Again, the shepherds saw Christ, the Magi adored Him, but Simeon and Anna embraced Him. So we first recognise Christ, then adore Him, and then, when we are no longer children in virtue, but old men, embrace Him with arms of love. So Jansenius teaches.
Ver. 40.-And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. And from thence, fearing the Infanticide Herod, they fled, with the Child Jesus, into Egypt. The massacre of the innocents took place, says Euthymius, Toletus, and others, a little after the purification of the Virgin, and about the time of the Passover. S. Augustine, however (de Consens. Evang., lib. ii. cap. v.), Jansenius, and Francis Lucas, think that they fled immediately from Jerusalem, and returning thence nine years after, went back to Nazareth, as S. Luke here says. See Commentary on S. Mat 2:13. Moreover, they returned to Nazareth, before their flight, in order to arrange their affairs there, and to prepare what was necessary for the long journey to Egypt. And there was abundance of time for their flight, since the interval between the 2d of February-the date of the Purification and the Passover, when the massacre is said to have taken place-is about two mouths.
Ver. 40.-And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit. The Greek, Syriac, and Arabic add “in spirit,” and Euthymius explains it that Christ did not receive greater spiritual strength inwardly day by day, since He was full of grace and the Holy Ghost from the first moment of His conception, but that He exhibited this strength more and more outwardly by word and work. The Latin version, the Latin fathers, and the interpreter reject “in spirit,” as also Origen and Titus among the Greeks.
Filled with wisdom. The Greek means both to be being filled and to be full, so as to be equivalent to . The Arabic renders “was being filled again with wisdom,” the Syriac “was being filled with wisdom.” So also Origen, Theophylact, Euthymius, and Titus on this passage, and S. Ambrose (de Incarn. Dom. Sact. cap. vii.). Theophylact explains-Not acquiring wisdom (for what could be more perfect than He who was perfect from the beginning?) but discovering it little by little. For had He manifested all His wisdom whilst he was small in stature, He would have appeared, as it were, monstrous, and as though not really a child, but a phantasm of a child.
And the Grace of God was upon Him. In the Greek . All the favour, goodwill, care, and love of God the Father towards the Child Jesus, as His Son, brooded, as it were, over Him from out of the heavens, to adorn Him with gifts and graces, to guide and dispose Him in all His actions, that all might see that He was ruled, and in all things directed by God, and that His actions were not so much human as Divine. So says Euthymius. In a similar manner it is said of John the Baptist, “And the hand of the Lord was with him,” Luk 1:66.
Ver. 41.-Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. God had commanded that every man should go to the Tabernacle or Temple three times a year, there to adore God publicly and offer Him sacrifices, Exo 23:14 and Deu 16:16. The Blessed Virgin, although not bound by the law, still, out of devotion, after her return from Egypt, joined her husband, and brought her son with her to the Temple, that she might teach mothers to bring their children, from their tender years, to the Temple, and to worship God. So say Bede, Maldonatus, Jansenius, Francis Lucas, and others. Nor did she fear Archelus the son of the Infanticide Herod, both because she thought with good reason that, in so large a concourse of Jews, they would be able to escape observation for a few days, and also because she knew that God for whose honour she underwent this risk, had her in His mind and in His keeping. So says S. Augustine (de Consens. Evang., lib. ii cap. x), and S. Luke implies as much in the next two verses. Some however, think, with some probability, that Jesus only went up to Jerusalem in the twelfth year of His age, for in that year Archelus was exiled by Augustus.
Ver. 42.-And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. The Syriac has “as they had been accustomed on the feast”-namely, of the Passover.
Ver. 43.-And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem. In the Greek, after they had finished, or gone through, the days-namely, of the Passover; for this feast was kept for seven days, and S. Luke here implies that Mary and Joseph kept all these days at Jerusalem, though they were not bound by the law to remain so long-tarried behind in Jerusalem, there to shed some little ray of His wisdom and Divinity, as though longing to begin the ministry for which His Father had sent Him. For at the age of twelve childhood ends, and youth and perfect judgment begin. So says Bede.
And Joseph and his mother knew not of it, because Jesus asked leave of His parents, who were lingering a little in Jerusalem from motives of devotion or business, to visit His relations, as if he were about to go on with them, and, having obtained permission, went to them, but soon withdrew quietly to the Temple-God so directing-in order that His parents, though at other times always solicitous about Him, should be unaware of this, and think that He was in the company of His kinsfolk.
Ver. 44.-But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance, who had gone on, and with whom Mary and Joseph who were about to follow a little later, would that evening lodge and, as they thought, there find Jesus.
Ver. 45.-And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Jesus having been seen by none of His kinsfolk on the way, His parents understood that He must have remained in Jerusalem; and so they sought Him there with great anxiety. Origen gives the reason, and Theophylact and Titus follow him. “But did they seek Him so anxiously? Did they imagine that the Child had been lost, or had wandered from the way?” Far otherwise, “For this would not have been characteristic of Mary’s wisdom (she knew that Jesus was full of wisdom, yea, that He was God), and they could never have thought that the Child was lost, when they knew that He was Divine, but they sought Him lest by any means He might have gone away from them; lest perchance He had left them;” lest He should wish to remain not with them at Nazareth, but with others in Jerusalem, that He might there make haste to begin the ministry of teaching for which He had been sent by God. Origen adds, “They sought Him, lest perchance He might have gone away from them, lest He might have left them and betaken Himself elsewhere-or as seems most probable-lest He might have returned to heaven, to descend from thence when it should please Him . . . but she mourned because she was a mother, and the mother of a Son worthy of her immeasurable love-because He had departed without her knowledge, and quite contrary to her expectation.”
S. Antoninus adds that the mother of Jesus feared lest He might have fallen into the hands of Archelus, the son of Herod the Infanticide, who would slay Him. Euthymius and Francis Lucas think she feared lest Christ might have wandered from the road, since He did not thoroughly know all the way.
Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary
2:22 {4} And when the days of {h} her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present [him] to the Lord;
(4) Christ, upon whom all our sins were laid, being offered to God according to the law purifies both Mary and us all in himself.
(h) This is meant for the fulfilling of the law: for otherwise the virgin was not defiled, nor unclean, by the birth of this child.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. Jesus’ presentation in the temple 2:22-38
The emphasis in this section is Simeon’s prediction of Jesus’ ministry (cf. Luk 1:67-79). He pointed out the universal extent of the salvation that Jesus would bring and the rejection that He would experience.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Under Mosaic Law, a woman became ritually unclean when she gave birth to a child (Lev 12:2). The parents of a male child were to circumcise him on the eighth day after his birth (Lev 12:3; cf. Gen 17:12). The mother of a male offspring was unclean for 33 days following her son’s circumcision (Lev 12:4; cf. Lev 12:5). On the fortieth day after her son’s birth, the mother was to present a sin offering to the priest at the sanctuary to atone for her uncleanness (Lev 12:6-7). Normally this offering was to be a lamb, but if the woman was poor she could bring two doves or two pigeons (Lev 12:8). In the case of a first-born son, the parents were to present him to the Lord (Exo 13:2; Exo 13:12; Num 18:16; cf. 1Sa 1:24-28). The parents would normally "redeem" the son, buy him back, by paying five shekels for him (Num 18:16).
"It could be paid to a priest anywhere (M. Exo 13:2 (22b)). The facts that the scene of the present incident is the temple, no ransom price is mentioned, and the child is present, show that Jesus is not here being redeemed but consecrated to the Lord." [Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 117. See also Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, s.v. "paristemi, paristano," by Bo Reicke, 5:840-41.]
"In the Court of the Women there were thirteen trumpet-shaped chests for pecuniary contributions, called ’trumpets.’ Into the third of these they who brought the poor’s offering, like the Virgin-Mother, were to drop the price of the sacrifices which were needed for their purification." [Note: Edersheim, 1:196.]
Mary and Joseph complied with these regulations as observant Israelites. Mary apparently offered two birds suggesting that Mary and Joseph could not afford the more expensive lamb sacrifice. [Note: Ibid., 1:149, 195.] Luke may have mentioned this to help his readers understand the Jewish regulations. He did not stress the economic condition of Mary and Joseph.
Ritual uncleanness was not the same as sinfulness. All sin resulted in uncleanness in Israel, but uncleanness was not always the result of sin. Mary’s uncleanness was not due to sin but to bearing a child. The fact that she became unclean when she bore Jesus testifies to the reality of the Incarnation. [Note: F. W. Danker, Jesus and the New Age, p. 30.] Jesus was a real human being.