Having identified that Luke shows interest in three major motifs from the servant discourse of Isaiah (in our January column), it is now possible to explore how he crafts them into his own narrative episode, complete with their own ‘songs’ at the centre. The encounter with Simeon at the Temple is structured in four sections. The song (Section B) is the focus of our analysis in this column.
- Introduction (2.25-28)
- Song (2.29-32)
- Audience reaction (2.33)
- Additional comments (2.34-35)
In the song, Luke reworks imagery and phrases from the servant discourse to proclaim two of Luke’s programmatic themes: God’s tangible salvation (2.29-31) and salvation for Jew and Gentile (2.32). In Simeon’s additional comments to Mary (Section D), described by some commentators as an oracle, Luke reworks a third Isaianic motif: reversal of statuses (2.34). However, in his additional comments Simeon also introduces a significant new motif specifically from the servant song of Isaiah 52-53: the rejection and suffering of God’s servant (2.34-35). This significant motif significantly changes the mood of the narrative from one of exultation to one of foreboding.
The song itself is constructed as three couplets[1] and each pairing contains the same or a similar number of syllables. Luke 2.29a and 29b have 12 and 10 syllables. Luke 2.30 and 2.31 have 15 syllables each. 2.32a and 32b have 9 syllables each. This tightly controlled metre helps give the song a musical quality and reveals its careful construction. Its regular structure lends itself to developing parallel ideas within the couplets.
29a Νῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου, δέσποτα,
29b κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου ἐν εἰρήνῃ·
30 ὅτι εἶδον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου τὸ σωτήριόν σου
31 ὃ ἡτοίμασας κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν λαῶν,
32a φῶς εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν ἐθνῶν
32b καὶ δόξαν λαοῦ σου Ἰσραήλ.
“29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; 30 for mine eyes have seen thy salvation 31 which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel.” (Luke 2.29-32, RSV)
Simeon’s song is a patchwork of allusions to Isaiah’s servant discourse, particularly employing a lexical web very similar to the servant songs in the LXX. Luke maintains the lexicon of the servant songs by using servant and master language for the addressor and the addressee, thus linking Simeon to a wealth of passages from the Servant songs in the LXX, including Isa 42.1, 49.3, 5, 6, 7 and 52.13. Occasionally the LXX uses pai/j (as in 42.1, 49.6, and 52.13) but this term is interchangeable in Isaiah 42-53. Simeon addresses God as δέσποτα (master) and refers to himself as δοῦλόν (servant). He requests he be dismissed or released as a servant from his duty. Luke creates the intertextual relationship by establishing Simeon as a servant figure – a point that raises issues to be discussed later.
Luke’s lexical choices also allow for Simeon to be interpreted as a watchman.[2] In the opening passage of the pericope he is described as one ‘waiting for the consolation of Israel’ evoking the image of a watchman waiting for dawn. This wait is completed by Simeon’s declaration that ‘my eyes have seen your salvation’ (Luke 2. 30). This salvation is described as light (2.32). τὸ σωτήριόν σου is reminiscent of Isa 46.13 and 52.10 amongst other passages, whilst ‘light for revelation to the Gentiles’ alludes to Isa 42.6, 49.6 in the LXX. ‘All people’ (v31) is reminiscent of ‘all flesh’ (Isa 40.5 LXX) and alludes to Is 52.10 LXX. Finally, δόξαν λαοῦ σου Ἰσραήλ (v32b) uses the same lexical choices as Isa 46.13 and 60.1 LXX. In fact Luke 2.30-32b is very close in concept to Isa 49.6 where the conceptual order of ‘all people – Gentiles – Israel’ is reversed for ‘Israel – Gentiles – end of the earth’. Luke communicates Isaiah’s servant-watchman motifs by appropriating a similar lexical network. The emphasis on sight, and that Simeon is promised he would ‘not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ’ (Luke 2.26) carries a second implicit allusion, placing Simeon in the shadow of Moses, God’s servant who was allowed to see the promised land but not enter it.[3] The privilege of entering the land is instead reserved for Joshua, a servant of the next generation.
Luke employs noticeable repetition of second person pronouns to focus Simeon’s song on God as the source of salvation. The repetition of σου in τὸν δοῦλόν σου (v29a), ῥῆμά σου (v29b), τὸ σωτήριόν σου (v30) and λαοῦ σου Ἰσραήλ (v32b) contrasts with the single μου in οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου. Even in this particular case, Simeon’s μου is only relevant in being a witness to God’s activity. This repetition emphasises possession, as Simeon’s addressee is acknowledged as the source of identity, power and, most significantly, salvation.
As well as having metrical parallelism, the couplet structure also facilitates conceptual parallelism. The ‘light for revelation for the Gentiles’ in 2.32a strongly parallels the ‘glory of your people Israel’ in v32b. This is supported by the mirrored syntactical structure of two nouns (φῶς – δόξαν, ἐθνῶν – λαου) and a modifier (ἀποκάλυψιν – Ἰσραήλ) per line. ‘Light’ and ‘glory’ function in apposition to one another and expand the idea of God’s salvation in v30, whilst ‘Gentiles’ and ‘people’ are conjoined with ‘all people’ in v31.[4]
The morphological elements of the passage emphasise one of the major Isaianic themes from Luke 3.3-5, the present accessibility of God’s salvation. Luke begins Simeon’s song with Νῦν, thus establishing a tone of immediacy appropriate to his recent revelation. This immediacy, evidencing the temporal accessibility of God’s salvation in the infant Jesus, will later be repeated by Jesus himself in the Nazareth sermon.
Luke’s choice of voice and tense also lends itself to the tone of immediacy. All verbs in the song are in the active voice. None are in the perfect tense thus avoiding the implication of completed action. The tense and voice emphasise uncompleted activity and support the tone of urgency.
The shift in emphasis across the passage supports the reading that the passage is simultaneously a fulfilment of prophecy and is itself prophetic, as the imagery shifts from micro fulfilment to macro fulfilment. The synecdoche of Simeon’s eyes (2.30)[5] is a miniature of the larger image of the face of all people (2.31). Simeon’s sight, communicated by the verb εἶδον, is overshadowed by the ‘revelation’ (2.32). This shift in emphasis from a singular witness of God’s salvation to the larger, future witnessing gives the passage its prophetic element as well as supporting the image of Simeon as a watchman who sees the light of dawn before the city does.
Alliteration, consonance, sibilance and assonance are heavily utilised in Simeon’s song, increasing the passage’s musical quality, as well as linking words through their repeated phonetics. This is immediately evidenced in v29a’s δοῦλόν and δέσποτα which establishes the titles in apposition to one another. Assonance of the ‘υ’ and ‘οῦ’ in Νῦν ἀπολύεις and δοῦλόν σου gives the line its fluid and musical quality by its repeated vowel sounds. These stylistic devices are repeated in v29b with the ‘η’ and ‘ει’ sounds, in v30 with the ‘μ’ and ‘σ’ sounds and in v31 with the repeated ‘ω’ sound. The final couplet contrasts with the previous two by its lack of overt consonance or assonance, distinguishing it by its cacophonous sound and thus shaping it as an emphatic ending to the passage.
The third theme from Luke’s rendering of Isaiah 40 in Luke 3.5-6 is the reversal of statuses. Whilst this theme is not evident in Simeon’s song itself, it is alluded to in the form of Simeon’s additional comments to Mary: Ἰδοὺ οὗτος κεῖται εἰς πτῶσιν καὶ ἀνάστασιν πολλῶν ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ (2.34, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel”). The two nouns in πτῶσιν καὶ ἀνάστασιν, whilst not lexically linked to 3.5-6, are conceptually linked as they communicate the reversal of statuses and create the same undulating image. This pattern is more evident when Simeon’s song is read in light of Mary’s song (particularly 1.52-53), which includes the same undulating shape and is lexically closer to 3.5-6.
It is only through this theme of reversal of statuses that Jesus’ rejection is foretold and suffering mentioned as part of the ‘package’ of salvation, as Simeon continues, καὶ εἰς σημεῖον ἀντιλεγόμενον, καὶ σοῦ δὲ αὐτῆς τὴν ψυχὴν διελεύσεται ῥομφαία (2.34-35). Whilst being programmatic of Jesus’ ministry, Simeon’s song itself does not mention suffering as the means to salvation. Simeon has to make an additional comment to foretell Jesus’ rejection. This additional comment functions as a hint to the audience that Jesus’ ministry will not always be so positively received. It alters the jubilant tone of the narrative and ends the pericope on a sinister note.
Luke’s decision to depict Simeon as God’s servant requires interpreters to consider whether Luke is depicting Simeon as the Isaianic servant or, on the other hand, is simply infusing his narrative with servant language. Consideration of the co-text of Luke 1-2 and the intertext of Isaiah 40 sheds light on the issue.
In the Introduction, Luke describes Simeon as waiting for ‘the consolation of Israel’, a phrase not in the LXX but strongly echoing Isa 40.1-2 which repeats ‘Comfort ye’ in its opening verse. That Simeon asks to be released from service also ties into the motif of an end to a period of waiting, which in Isa 40.2 is describing the consolation due to Jerusalem who has ‘served her term[6]’ (NRSV). Simeon’s duty, to witness to the salvation of God in Jerusalem, strongly mirrors the command to Zion to ‘”Lift up your voice with strength […] say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”’ (Is 40.9). Finally, the image of Simeon taking the infant Jesus in his arms (Luke 2.28) mirrors the description of the YHWH holding lambs in his arms (Isa 40.11). Similar to the Nazareth sermon, the Simeon pericope also echoes something of the liberation language from the Pentateuch. As a liberated Hebrew servant (Deut 15.12) he is not sent away empty-handed (Deut 15.13) but is given a lamb from his master’s flock (Deut 15.14).
By echoing Isaiah 40 in the narrative description, Simeon is closely associated with a herald to Israel, who is also referred to as YHWH’s servant (Isa 41.8). In Isaiah it is the herald figure’s duty to testify to Israel regarding God’s salvation, later seen as being mediated by God’s suffering servant of the servant poems. Simeon’s own words confirm it is Jesus who is being identified as the central Isaianic Servant who will be a light to the Gentiles (Isa 42.6) and marked by rejection and suffering (Isa 52.13-53.12). Whilst Luke is certainly saturating his narrative in the language of the servant songs, the character of Simeon is also strongly associated with a network of images from Isaiah 40, many of which centre around a servant figure who testifies to God’s salvation.
In the context of Luke 1-2, Simeon’s song is paired with the blessing of Anna the prophetess (Luke 2.36-38), forming a male-female partnership that parallels the earlier figures of Mary and Zechariah.[7] These four are grouped together by Luke’s Isaianic allusions and by their association with the Holy Spirit, which is either ‘on’ them or ‘in’ them as they prophesy (1.35, 67, 2.25, 36). Joel Green comments that Simeon’s association with the spirit is part of Luke’s attempt to portray Simeon in prophetic terms.[8] However, whilst prophetic is certainly one aspect of Simeon’s character, it seems that the co-text of Mary, Zechariah and Anna’s spirit-filled utterances identify Simeon primarily in an eschatological framework. The out-pouring of the spirit frames the beginning of Luke’s gospel with Joel 2.28-29, implicitly announcing an eschatological fulfilment that will later be made explicit by Peter at the beginning of Acts.[9] By associating Simeon with the herald figure in Isaiah 40, and positioning him within a co-text of spirit-filled men and women Luke is, effectively, lending Isaiah new servant figures by which he can herald the salvation of God.
[1] C. F. Evans, Saint Luke (London: SCM Press, 1990), 143.
[2] Frederic Godet, A commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke; Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1890), 138.
[3] See Num 20.12, Deut 34.1, 4, Josh 1.2.
[4] Martin Culy, Mikeal Parsons, Joshua Stigall, Luke: A Handbook on the Greek Text (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2010), 85.
[5] Culy, Parsons, Stigall, Luke: A Handbook on the Greek Text, 85.
[6] [Ed AP]: The word ‘term’ is often translated in versions as ‘warfare’ (KJV, NASB, RSV); the Jewish commentator Rosenberg is more literal to the Hebrew ‘for she has become full from her host’ translating the relevant word as ‘host’.
[7] Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke I-XI (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2006), 423.
[8] Joel Green, The Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Cambridge: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1997), 145.
[9] A. Perry, “The Manifestation of the Spirit in Luke 1-2,” Academia.edu, May 7, 2012, www.academia.edu/2152259/The_Manifestation_of_the_Spirit_in_Luke_1-2.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One