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LUKE 2:29 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Luke 2:28Luke 2:30
“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:”
Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace — dismiss (apolysis, release, discharge) your servant in peace: Simeon has completed his post — the watchman who has been keeping watch through the long night is released at the dawn's appearance. The sovereign Lord (despota) is the absolute authority over the servant's life and death. As you have promised: the release is grounded in the fulfilled promise — the waiting is over because the waiting's object has arrived.

Church Fathers on Luke 2:29

If we marvel to hear that a woman was healed by touching the hem of a garment, what must we think of Simeon, who received an Infant in his arms, and rejoiced seeing that the little one he carried was He who had come to let loose the captive! Knowing that no one could release him from the chains of the body with the hope of future life, but He whom he held in his arms. Therefore it is said, And he blessed God, saying, Lord, now let you your servant depart.

Origen · 3rd century

When he says Lord, he confesses that He is the very Lord of both life and death, and so acknowledges the Child whom he held in his arms to be God.

Theophylact · 11th century

If you examine the words of the righteous, you will find that they all sorrow over this world and its mournful delay. Alas me! says David, that my habitation is prolonged.

Basil the Great · 4th century
Read all 19 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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