What Does Luke 2:25 Mean in the King James?
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 him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The consolation Simeon awaits is already present upon him as the Set-Apart Breath, so hope and presence occupy the same moment.
THE MEANING
The verse meets you in the space between promise and fulfillment: waiting does not mean presence is absent. Consolation remains something you await while the Set-Apart Breath rests upon you in the waiting. Hope and present presence occupy the same moment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that consolation can come only after the thing you await has arrived.
THE ROOT
παράκλησις
paraklēsis
GROWS FROM
καλέω (kaleō), in the παράκλη- word family
A call, appeal, or invitation that can urge, encourage, or console.
English consolation can sound like soothing after pain, but παράκλησις also belongs to the language of urging and appeal. Here, comfort is a strengthening address that sustains the wait, not proof that the waiting is over.
ALSO GROWS
parakaleō: Comfort, encourage, or urge.
παρακαλέω
The related verb shows that consolation can strengthen someone through an appeal.
paraklētos: Advocate or helper.
παράκλητος
This related word names one who supports or speaks for another.
kaleō: Call or invite.
καλέω
The shared word family keeps a sense of address within the idea of consolation.
πνεῦμα ἅγιον
pneuma hagion
GROWS FROM
πνέω
pneō
To blow or breathe; πνεῦμα names breath and wind as well as spirit.
“Holy Ghost” in this verse is pneuma hagion. The English word Ghost carries one shade, while πνεῦμα also names breath and wind. The same living Breath described as upon Simeon thus holds divine presence and the motion of breath in one word.
ALSO GROWS
pneō: Blow or breathe.
πνέω
This verb reveals the breath and wind contained in πνεῦμα.
pnoē: Breath or blowing.
πνοή
The related noun makes the breath connection explicit.
pneumatikos: Of the spirit or breath; spiritual.
πνευματικός
This related form carries the same breath-root into the language of spiritual life.
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Yerushalayim
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
To be whole, complete, or made whole.
“Jerusalem” in this verse is Yerushalayim. Yerushalayim carries the word-family of shalom, wholeness. Simeon waits for Israel’s consolation in a place whose name already holds wholeness, the movement from constriction toward spaciousness.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being, peace.
שָׁלוֹם
The city name carries the same root family as the wholeness Israel awaits.
shalem: Whole or complete.
שָׁלֵם
This branch makes the root’s sense of completeness audible within the place name.
lehashlim: Complete or bring to completion.
לְהַשְׁלִים
This related form connects wholeness with the movement toward completion.
THE PATTERN
Consolation can sustain hope before the awaited restoration is visible.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;THE THREAD
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.The Greek text of Isaiah uses the parakaleō word family twice for comfort, the same family as παράκλησις, paraklēsis, in Luke. The repeated call widens Simeon’s awaited consolation into a promise of comfort for the whole people.
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