Luke 2:32
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Study Note
Study Note
Simeon's Nunc Dimittis climaxes in identifying the infant Jesus as 'a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel' — a direct quotation of Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6, the Servant of the LORD passages. The use of Isaiah 49:6 ('I will give you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth') explicitly extends the scope of the salvation prepared before all peoples to include the Gentiles from the very beginning of Jesus's life, not merely as a late development. Paul quotes Isaiah 49:6 in Acts 13:47 as the mandate for the Gentile mission, demonstrating that Simeon's canticle and the apostolic mission share the same Isaianic scriptural logic. The tension between Gentile revelation and Israel's glory anticipates the complex argument of Romans 9-11.
Other Translations
A light for revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of thy people Israel.
a light to the uncovering of nations, and the glory of Thy people Israel.'
A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.
Cross References
Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall …
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow …
I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee …
To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out …
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of …
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: …