And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.The past perfect tense indicates action that had been completed in the past. His waiting for the fulfillment of so glorious a promise was referred to as "waiting for the consolation of Israel" in the preceding verse. read more
Luke 2:25. The consolation of Israel— This is a phrase frequently used both by the ancient and modern Jews for a description of the Messiah. The day of consolation is a common phrase among them to signify the days of the Messiah; nor is there any thing more usual with them than to swear by their desire of seeing this consolation. The Messiah was very fitly called the consolation of Israel, because in all ages the prophets had been sent with express promises of his coming, to comfort the people... read more
25. just—upright in his moral character. devout—of a religious frame of spirit. waiting for the consolation of Israel—a beautiful title of the coming Messiah, here intended. the Holy Ghost was—supernaturally. upon him—Thus was the Spirit, after a dreary absence of nearly four hundred years, returning to the Church, to quicken expectation, and prepare for coming events. read more
26. revealed by the Holy Ghost—implying, beyond all doubt, the personality of the Spirit. should see not death till he had seen—"sweet antithesis!" [BENGEL]. How would the one sight gild the gloom of the other! He was, probably, by this time, advanced in years. read more
D. The birth and early life of Jesus ch. 2Luke followed the same pattern of events with Jesus’ birth and early life as he did for those of John. His purpose was to compare and contrast these two important individuals. read more
II. THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF JESUS 1:5-2:52This section contains material unique in Luke. The only repeated statement occurs in Luke 2:39 and Matthew 2:23. Other unique features are the way Luke alternated the reader’s attention between John and Jesus, and the joy that several individuals expressed (Luke 1:46-55; Luke 1:68-79; Luke 2:14; Luke 2:29-32). [Note: For studies of the structure of this passage, see Robert C. Tannehill, The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts , 1:15-20; R. E. Brown, The... read more
4. Jesus’ presentation in the temple 2:22-38The emphasis in this section is Simeon’s prediction of Jesus’ ministry (cf. Luke 1:67-79). He pointed out the universal extent of the salvation that Jesus would bring and the rejection that He would experience. read more
Simeon was a godly individual who testified to Jesus’ significance under divine inspiration. This was part of Luke’s purpose of assuring his readers that Jesus was indeed the Lord. He used the testimony of credible people to do this. Simeon possessed the three essential characteristics of Old Testament piety: he was righteous and devout, one of the believing remnant in Israel who was looking for Messiah’s appearing. [Note: Edersheim, 1:198.] The Spirit who is the Consoler was upon one who was... read more
2:26 Lord's (a-23) 'Jehovah.' by (f-8) Hupo . see Matthew 2:5 . read more
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Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Luke 2:25
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.Simeon ... This man has been identified as the son of the famous Hillel, father of Gamaliel, and president of the Sanhedrin.[24] Spence noted that the Mishna (part of the Talmud), which preserved the record of sayings of great rabbis, has no word from Simeon, "perhaps owing to the hatred incurred because of his belief in... read more