The passage
      v22-24. In Jewish custom, a woman was unclean for seven days after the birth of a son. Then for 40 days she cannot visit or take part in any religious activities (80 days for a girl child). After this period she is expected to offer a sacrifice to wash away her uncleanness (a pair of doves for a poor family). The firstborn child belongs to God. The Levites were set aside for this role and so members of other tribes can "ransom" their child with a payment to the priest. Being close to Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary performed their duty at the temple.
      v25-27. At the temple there was a godly man named Simeon. He was waiting for the dawning of the kingdom of God ("consolation of Israel"). He was touched by the Spirit in three ways. First, the Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he saw the messiah. Second, he knew that Jesus was the fulfillment of this promise. Third, in the power of the Spirit he uttered a prophecy concerning Jesus.
      v28-32. The words of Simeon's prayer are filled with joy. He thanks God that in his old age he has seen the fulfillment of God's promise to him; he has seen the messiah and so now his watching for the Lord is at an end. The Messiah will save his people, but not only will this salvation be for Israel, it will be for the Gentiles as well, Isa.49:6, Ac.1:8, Rom.15:8ff.
      v33. Joseph and Mary are naturally perplexed by all the attention. Some manuscripts replace "father" with "Joseph". The original is probably "father" since Jesus takes his Davidic heritage from Joseph's line. The gospel writers, following Semitic thought, did not find this inconsistent with a virgin birth. Even an adopted son takes on the full privileges of a natural son.
      v34-35. The prophecy of Simeon is in stark contrast to his prayer. Although messiah will bring "glory" to Israel, he will not be welcomed by all of Israel. He will bring division such that some will fall and some will rise - not all will stand with him. Those against him will attack him such that he will be a suffering messiah. This conflict will produce two results. First, it will drive people to a decision. The real self, the hidden self, the heart, will be exposed in Jesus' presence. Second, the conflict will bring anguish to Mary.
      v36-38. Anna, a prophetess, devout in her service to the Lord, in prayer and fasting, "gave thanks" to God on meeting Jesus. To those waiting for the coming of the kingdom ("looking forward to the redemption of Israel"), she spoke about Jesus, obviously in the context of the kingdom's coming in Jesus.
      v39-40. Joseph and Mary complete "all their duties under the law" and return to Nazareth. The implication is that they have called into Jerusalem while travelling from Bethlehem to Nazareth. Luke seems ignorant of the flight to Egypt. For Jesus, life went on under God's favour ("grace") and he became "strong and wise."

Know thyself
      "The thoughts of many hearts will be revealed."
      The human condition complicates our psyche. We are made the way we are through our genetic inheritance. We inherit our parents inclinations, both mental and emotional, as well as physical. "Like mother like daughter; like father like son". The circumstances of life also shape us. We learn behavior-patterns from our parents and friends. We learn to gain favour by kindness, or violence. And we learn that there are different kinds of violence. The weak and powerless can violate others through psychological guilt-manipulation. Very soon our ways are set; our hearts defined. The older we get the more defined are our ways.
      The scary part of all this is that we rarely see ourselves the way others see us. We assume our own balance, while easily observing the imbalance of others. We may dislike someone, but the problem is their's not ours. They are responsible for making us feel the way we do, and as for others who don't see things the way we do, then obviously they have a perception problem.
      How can we know ourselves and to ourselves be true? When Simeon spoke of the coming messiah, he defined his role in the terms of the "suffering servant". Jesus' presence will cause action and reaction. Some will come to him and others will reject him. The messiah possesses a divine quality that forces us to open up the hidden self. In his presence the buried psyche is exposed for good, or evil.
      In knowing Jesus we can know ourselves. A constant confrontation with Jesus through his Word, particularly in the gospels, enables us to "think Christianly." In this constant confrontation with Jesus, the hidden thoughts of our hearts are revealed, and it is then we can apply God's grace for the healing of our inner self.

v24
      tou dounai (didwmi) aor. inf. "to offer" - give. Articular infinitive usually forming a purpose clause. This offering is most likely for the postnatal purification service, Lev.12:8. The use of pigeons, rather than animals, is a concession to the poor. "To make the sacrifice prescribed in the Lord's law", Barclay.

v25
      dikaioV adj. "righteous" - just. Luke uses this word of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Joseph of Arimathea and Cornelius. Probably he intends a general sense such as "good", "honorable", "just", rather than "right before God / justified".
      eulabhV adj. "devout" - reverent, conscientious. Here used in a positive sense of religious uprightness.
      prosdecomenoV (prosdecomai) pres. part. "waiting for" - expecting. The participle is adjectival limiting "the man". Here, the present tense caries the sense, "expectant waiting". The impression is that there is a group around Anna waiting for the "consolation" ("redemption", v38) of Israel, probably along the lines of Isaiah 40:1, 49:13, etc. "On the outlook for the consolation of Israel", Moffatt.
      pneuma hJn aJgion ep auton "the Holy Spirit was upon him" - spirit was holy upon him. Unlike Elizabeth and Zechariah who are "filled", most likely in the Old Testament sense of the Spirit coming upon a person to achieve a specific end, here the Spirit is "upon" Simeon. Nor is there a sense that Simeon is given, or baptized with the Spirit, as Christ will baptize those who believe in him. So, maybe it is holiness (even "his spirit was holy" given that "spirit" does not necessarily mean the Holy Spirit) that Simeon possess, rather than the Spirit, and this is therefore, a further description of this "good" man.

v26
      kecrhmatismenon (crhmatizw) perf. pas. part. "had been revealed" - been revealed, warned, instructed. This perfect participle, with the imperfect of the verb "to be", forms a periphrastic pluperfect. It is often thought that a periphrastic construction is used to emphasize a durative, here possible repeated sense, but that seems unlikely here. Often used of divine revelations.

v27
      en tw/ pneumati "moved by the Spirit" - [he came] in the S/spirit." Again, "spirit" is not necessarily the Holy Spirit. His spiritual sensitivity might have led him to enter the outer temple courts (appropriate for women) at just the time when Jesus' family entered, or the Holy Spirit may have led him. "By an inspiration of the Spirit he came into the temple", Moffatt.
      poihsai ...... peri autou aor. inf. "to do"- to act/do [concerning him, in accord to the thing having been made customary of the law]. The infinitive is verbal expressing purpose, "in order to do". "To carry out the customary ceremonies of the law", Barclay.

v28
      edexato (decomai) aor. mid. "took him" - received. Simeon, as the priest, receives the child from the parents and blesses him.
      euloghsen ton qeon (eulogew) aor. "praised God" - speak well of, praise, extol. Also "bless", in the sense of call down God's grace upon. Here we would assume Simeon was blessing Jesus in God's name, although the construction seems to oppose this, and anyhow, the Nunc Dimittis is not a blessing, but is rather a psalm of praise to God. Is the "blessing" missing? cf. 1:64.

v29
      apolueiV (apoluw) pres. "dismiss" - release, send away, dismiss. Here not in the sense that Simeon can now go off and die, but rather he is dismissed from his role of watchman, watching for the coming messiah. "You are letting your servant go in peace", NJB.

v31
      oJ hJtoimasaV (eJtoimazw) "which you have prepared" - which you prepared. Here better "set up", "established", possibly "exhibited". The salvation of v30 is not so much prepared by God (which it is), but is set up by God for all to see in the messiah who is the child Jesus. "With my own eyes I have seen what you have done to save your people and foreign nations will also see this", CEV.
      twn lawn (oV) plural, "all people" - the people. Normally the word would mean the people of Israel, especially if in the singular, but here the Gentiles are obviously included, cf. v32.

v32
      fwV "a light" - The "salvation" of v30 is the light, and the light is exegeted as "revelation." As Jesus is by extension the embodiment of this salvation, he is also the light and thus, the revelation of God.
      doxan (a) "glory" - Parallel to "light". The salvation found in Christ is to Israel's glory.

v34
      keitai (kaimai) "is destined" - place, appoint...... destined. The imagery of the stumbling block is behind this verse and therefore the word is best understood as "placed" and is used in the sense of a stone placed during the building of a wall. Many will stumble over this stone, but some will rise up. Inevitably Israel will be divided. "This child will cause many people in Israel to fall", CEV.
      antilegomenon (antilegw) pas. part. "that will be spoken against" - being against, contra, opposed. The participle is adjectival, limiting "sign". The child is the sign of salvation, but will be "a sign opposed", and those who oppose will forfeit their salvation. "A message from God which men will reject", Barclay.

v35
      kai sou de authV ...."your own [soul] to" - and of you also yourself. "and of you yourself also a sword will go through your soul, that the thoughts of many souls will be revealed", Nolland. The NIV reverses the order of this verse, but the above is true to the text. Simeon is now addressing Mary and telling her how the "sign apposed" will affect her, along with her son. A sword will pass through the child's soul (ie. he will be killed) and "you yourself also" will face the same death, although vicariously as a mother.
      dieleusetai (diercomai) fut. mid. "will pierce" - will pass through. "And you Mary, will suffer as if you had been stabbed", CEV.
      dialogismoi (oV) "thoughts" - The word tends to have a negative sense. The "sign opposed" will expose the hidden intent of those aligned against God.

v36
      probebhkuia (probainw) perf. part. "very old" - having become advanced [in many days]. The participle is adjectival, describing "she" / "Anna". Her advanced years is given significance - a sign of God's blessing and wisdom. Note how Luke balances the male and female roles in this passage, as elsewhere in his gospel.
      profhtiV (iV idoV) "prophet" - A person specially endowed to tell forth the word of God. Note that the record of female prophets in the scriptures indicates that a simplistic approach to male authority, when it comes to a word ministry in the church, is fraught with danger. A more conservative brother of mine has argued that the only way through this problem is by holding that prophecy ended with the New Testament period and that therefore the issue of female prophets no longer applies today. So, a woman can be a prophet, but not a teacher? So, she can do the more important jobs, but not the lesser ones????

v37
      latreuousa (latreuw) pres. part. "worshiped" - serving, ministering. Attendant circumstance participle. Often of service to God. This word is regularly confused with the word for "adoration", or as we would commonly say, "worship." Yet, it is a ministry word, and in Anna's case, ministry to God in the temple, a ministry which she often expressed in prayer and fasting. She was regularly in the temple, or constantly in the temple, although probably not sleeping in it. "Night and day she served God in the temple", CEV.

v38
      anqwmologeito (anqomologeomai) imperf. mid. "she gave thanks" - she was praising, giving thanks, confessing.
      toiV prosdecomenoiV (prosdecomai) pres. mid. part. "who were looking forward" - [all] the ones anticipating, expecting, waiting for. The participle functioning as a substantive. Anna speaks with a select group, those waiting for the redemption of Israel, Isa.59:9.