12 Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe 13 wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host prais14 ing God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 15 peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the an was to be Master as well as Teach- The Saviour now is born! 12, 13. A sign unto you. Thus indicating, that the circumstances in which the child was placed were unusual, and, agreeably to the common belief, poor and lowly.— A multitude of the heavenly host, &c. An emblem of the interest of heaven in the affairs of earth; an expression of that love which binds the moral universe together, as attraction the material. If "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy," at the creation, how much more should praise be given, that now the moral wreck and chaos were about to be restored to order, and men to become new creatures! Or, if "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth," how much livelier the jubilee when the Saviour was born, to call sinners to epentance, and reconcile the wo to God!-Praising God. The looked to no inferior being, but directed their sole thanksgivings to Him, who is the original and uncreated Source of all good, mercy, and truth, and who so loved the world that he sent his Son to save it. 14. This exclamatory chant bears traces of a celestial origin not to be mistaken. It condenses, in brief and brilliant words, the leading characteristics and objects of the new religion. It is the Lyric of heaven sung to man. — Glory to God in the highest. Or, the highest degree. They VOL. II. sang praises to God for the Messenger he was now sending, to bless the world. Worship is one of the highest acts of man or angel. And an intimation, as it were, is given here, that, under the new dispensation, idolatry was to come to an end, and glory and honor supreme to be given to whom alone they are due. Nor in vain. Earth is slowly preparing to echo back, one day, from all her green shore, and with the deep tone of her millions, the heavenly pean-Glory to God in the highest! And on earth peace. Jesus was to be the Prince of Peace. It is one of his loftiest titles. Peace on earth, which has been heretofore such a Golgotha, might seem Utopian indeed, unless we considered the power of him who came to reign in human hearts and lives, and to bring every thought into captivity to himself. Filled himself with the peace of God, he came to breathe it through all souls, quelling ambition, and anger, and revenge. He produces peace in the inner man, by harmonizing all the passions and appetites under the sway of conscience and reason, the voices of God; peace in the world, by the love of man to man, and universal equity; peace and reconciliation towards God, by the revelation of his mercy to the penitent offender, and his wise purposes in our trials and sorrows. "Joy rises in me like a summer's morn: Peace, Peace on earth! the Prince of Peace is born." - Good will toward men. From God to man, and from man to man. More than peace, there was to be benevolence, positive kindness, sympathy, and relief. Man was to mete out to gels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, 16 and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, 17 they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it, wondered at 18 those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary 19 kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the 20 shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising 21 of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceed in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of 22 Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (as it is written in the law of the Lord, 23 Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the others that love, which God meted out to him. The Saviour went about doing good, and he calls all his followers to engage in the offices of philanthropy. His religion has been eminently a religion of benevolence, even in its past imperfect manifestations. It has founded hospitals, and schools, and missions, and ministries to the poor and lost. It has crossed the bounds of country and color, and scattered the best gifts of time and eternity over dark and oppressed lands. But the angelic triadPiety, Peace, and Benevolence—has but just begun to take effect. What happiness and glory, then, may we not expect from its future and hastening consummation! 15. Bethlehem. Verse 11. It was understood that the Messiah was to be born there. 19. Pondered them in her heart. This verse is true to human nature. The mother is alive to every thing that concerns her offspring, and dwells with the fondest recollections upon their past lives, and with the liveliest hopes upon their future prospects. 20. Praising God. It appears, that neither the angels nor the shepherds worshipped any other than the Supreme God, upon this occasion. They did not, like many modern Christians, admit any other bein to a participation of their homage 21. Eight days. The regular period for circumcision. Gen. xvii. 12. So named of the angel. Chap. i. 31; Mat. i. 21. 22. Her. This should be their, as both Jesus and Mary are included in the pronoun in the original. The law of Moses. Lev. xii. describes this ceremonial purification. — Jerusalem. Distant from Bethlehem only about six miles. 23. Holy to the Lord. The firstborn, of both man and beast, in memory of the deliverance out of Egypt, and especially of the destruction of 24 Lord;) and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle-doves, or two young 25 pigeons. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon 26 him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he 27 should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the 28 law, then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and 29 said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, ac30 cording to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; the first-born of that land, were sacred to God, but they could be redeemed by an offering. Ex. xiii. 12-15; Num. iii. 12, 13, xviii. 15, 16. 24. A pair of turtle-doves, &c. Lev. xii. 8. The nature of the offering indicated the poverty of Joseph and Mary. One of the birds was for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering. The turtle and pigeon are varieties of the dove. The turtle-dove is a small, migratory singing-bird. The sacrifice Mary offered in presenting her Son to the Lord, fitly became him whose baptism was sanctified by the dove-like descent of the Holy Spirit. 25. Simeon. Nothing further is known of this saintly old man, except the facts here related. All conjectures respecting him are abortive. Just and devout. Exemplary in his duties to God and man. · Waiting for the consolation of Israel. This was the posture of mind, if we may credit history, of multitudes. Besides other titles, the name of Manahem, Consoler, was given by the Jews to their expected Messiah; and, according to Lightfoot, there was nothing more common, than for them to swear by the desire they had, of seeing the consolation of Israel. Plunged as the people were into the midst of calamities, the visitation of their sins, it was natural that this term, as applicable to their great Deliverer, should be gladly seized upon and repeated. See Is. xl. 1, 2. 26. The Lord's Christ, i. e. the Lord's Anointed. We shall not see bodily, before we die, what the good old Jew had the privilege of seeing; but with the eye of that faith, which sees realities, as well as the eye of sense, we can, even while in the flesh, see and rejoice that our Redeemer liveth. 29. We have here the commencement of another short hymn, similar to those of Mary and Zacharias, in chap. i.- Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. "Excellent old man! Were we asked the cause of our unwillingness to die, how various would be the reasons assigned! We are not prepared;- we have not, we think, enjoyed the fulness of this world's blessings;- we fear; and a cloud of doubt, which even our Christian belief does not entirely dispel, comes between us and the light of immortality. With Simeon it was not so. He waited but for one blessing more; -to see the consolation of Israel; and his wish was granted. a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people 32 Israel. · And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things 33 which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them, and 34 said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own 35 soul also;) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of 36 Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and she was 37 His cup of joy was full; the Saviour had come; the 'light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel,' had appeared; and now the old man looked to God in perfect, fearless confidence, ready to depart in peace, to pass quietly from the anticipation to the full enjoyment of heaven. How happy is the death of him who is alike the friend of God and man! He looks round on earth, and sees Almighty Goodness employed in promoting those best interests of his race which have ever been dear to him; he looks up to heaven, and there a Father's love is ready to bid him welcome. He closes his eyes, and enters peacefully on the inheritance of the saints in light.""-BULFINCH. 32. A light to lighten the Gentiles. Even those Jews, who had not formed just notions of the Messiah's kingdom, yet believed that he would benefit the Gentile world by sending out his law from Mount Zion, and extending the worship of the one true God. 34. The fall and rising again. The last word is a needless addition. As commentators have observed, under the figure of a stone lying in a path, the Messiah is represented as a stone of stumbling, or an occasion of sin to many who would reject him, but as a rock of support, a cause of their reformation, to many, inasmuch as they would resort to his aid. — A sign, &c. ls. viii. 18. God speaks, says Olshausen, through the Redeemer and his whole appearance, through the man with the cross and the thorny crown, and the eternal Son of God, the Judge of the living and the dead, a powerful language of facts to the world, and places him actually in it as a wonder-sign to mankind. The prediction was literally fulfilled in the calumnies which were heaped on his unsullied character, and the cruel requital which was made for his benevolent life. 35. A sword shall pierce, &c. Referring, perhaps, to the mental anxieties of the mother on account of the persecution and death which would befall her Son. This sentence is, no doubt, properly included in a parenthesis. -The thoughts of many hearts, &c. Clarke places this sentence before the previous one, as the connexion requires. The idea is, that a searching period was coming, that would try men's souls, and reveal their private characters, inasmuch as some would welcome, and some scorn, the revelation of divine truth. Christ judges men even in this world, and brings them to the touchstone of sincerity and conscientiousness. 36. Anna, a prophetess. Ex. xv. 20. It is not necessary to suppose special inspiration in this case, or the power of foretelling future events. -Aser, i. e. Asher. Seven years from her virginity, i. e. only seven a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night 38 and day. And she coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for 39 redemption in Jerusalem. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into 40 Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him. 41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of 42 the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up 43 to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind 44 in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's 38. Spake of him to all them. Thus manifesting her joy.— Redemption. Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus, and others, have recorded the existence of this prevalent expectation of a coming Deliverer. 39. Returned into Galilee. For an account of events between the presentation in the temple and their return to Galilee, see Mat. ii. 40. This verse may be regarded as the text, of which the following narrative is the illustration. The language is similar to that respecting John, chap. i. ver. 80. The grace of God was upon him. Ver. 52. The favor of God attended him. Campbell, however, renders the phrase, "adorned with a divine gracefulness;" as it refers, in his view, to that blended dignity, spirit, and sweetness of manner, more than human, to which the sacred writers have made sev eral allusions. Mat. vii. 28, 29; Mark i. 22; Luke iv. 22, 32; John vii. 46. 41. The feast of the passover. This was one of the three great religious festivals, on which all pious Jews, women as well as men, resorted to the capital. Joseph and Mary appear to have been eminently observant of all religious exercises. The age 42. Twelve years old. when the Jews began to instruct their children in religion, and imposed upon them the duties of the law, from which circumstance they were then called "the sons of the law." 43. Fulfilled the days, i. e. the eight days of the feast. 44. In the company. Or, caravan; for in their journeyings to and from the great feasts, the Jews were accustomed to travel in large companies, composed of friends and |