Luke 2:31

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(31) Before the face of all people.—Literally, of all peoples. The word expresses the universality of the salvation which the next verse contemplates in its application to the two great divisions of the human family.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:25-35 The same Spirit that provided for the support of Simeon's hope, provided for his joy. Those who would see Christ must go to his temple. Here is a confession of his faith, that this Child in his arms was the Saviour, the salvation itself, the salvation of God's appointing. He bids farewell to this world. How poor does this world look to one that has Christ in his arms, and salvation in his view! See here, how comfortable is the death of a good man; he departs in peace with God, peace with his own conscience, in peace with death. Those that have welcomed Christ, may welcome death. Joseph and Mary marvelled at the things which were spoken of this Child. Simeon shows them likewise, what reason they had to rejoice with trembling. And Jesus, his doctrine, and people, are still spoken against; his truth and holiness are still denied and blasphemed; his preached word is still the touchstone of men's characters. The secret good affections in the minds of some, will be revealed by their embracing Christ; the secret corruptions of others will be revealed by their enmity to Christ. Men will be judged by the thoughts of their hearts concerning Christ. He shall be a suffering Jesus; his mother shall suffer with him, because of the nearness of her relation and affection.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Before the face of all people - Whom thou hast provided for all people, or whom thou dost design to "reveal" to all people.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

31, 32. all people—all the peoples, mankind at large.

a light to the Gentiles—then in thick darkness.

glory of thy people Israel—already Thine, and now, in the believing portion of it, to be so more gloriously than ever. It will be observed that this "swan-like song, bidding an eternal farewell to this terrestrial life" [Olshausen], takes a more comprehensive view of the kingdom of Christ than that of Zacharias, though the kingdom they sing of is one.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Luke 2:29"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Which thou hast prepared,.... In his eternal purposes and decrees, having chosen and foreordained Christ, and appointed him to be his salvation, to the ends of the earth; in his counsel and covenant of grace wherein it was agreed, determined, and concluded on, that he should be the Saviour of his people; and in the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament, and in all the types, shadows, and sacrifices, of that dispensation; in which he was exhibited, and held forth as the Saviour to the saints and believers of those times; and now had sent him in human nature, to work out that salvation he had chosen and called him to, and he had undertook:

before the face of all people; meaning not the congregation of Israel, that looked for redemption in Jerusalem, and who were now together with Simeon and Anna, when the child Jesus was presented in the temple; nor the body of the Jewish nation only, to whom he was made manifest, had they not wilfully shut their eyes, by John's ministry and baptism; and more so, by the miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did by Christ, in the midst of them; but both Jews and Gentiles: for, as he was provided and sent as a Saviour, and a great one, he was to be lifted up on the cross, as the serpent was lifted up by Moses, in the wilderness, to draw all his elect to him, of every nation; and to be set up as an ensign to the people, in the public ministry of the word; to be the object of faith and hope, to look unto, for life and salvation.

Geneva Study Bible

Which thou hast prepared {p} before the face of all people;

(p) As a sign set up in a high place for all men to look upon.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 2:31. πάντων τῶν λαῶν: all peoples concerned in the salvation, at least as spectators.

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 2:31. Κατὰ πρόσωπον, before the face) The most conspicuous place for showing the light to all was the temple itself.—πάντων, of all) not merely of the Jews.—λαῶν, of all peoples) It is hereby intimated, that hereafter there would not be merely one peculiar people. Comp. Luke 2:32.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 31, 32. - Before the face of all people; a Light to lighten the Gentiles; more accurately rendered, all peoples. Men like Isaiah, who lived several centuries before the nativity, with their glorious farreaching prophecies, such as Isaiah 52:10, were far in advance of the narrow, selfish Jewish schools of the age of Jesus Christ. It was, perhaps, the hardest lesson the apostles and first teachers of the faith had to master - this full, free admission of the vast Gentile world into the kingdom of their God. Simeon, in his song, however, distinctly repeats the broad, generous sayings of the older prophets. Luke 2:31

Vincent's Word Studies

Of all people (πάντων τῶν λαῶν)

The noun is plural, the peoples, and refers equally to the Gentiles. See Introduction, on the universality of Luke's Gospel. Wyc., all peoples; and so Rev.