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Luke introduces Simeon as a man promised by the Holy Spirit that he would live to see the Messiah. The Protoevangelium of James explains how Simeon came to be in the temple, making him Zechariah’s replacement after Herod had him killed.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Luke 2:26
New Testament
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout, looking for the restoration of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 So Simeon, directed by the Spirit, came into the temple courts, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and blessed God, saying,
Protoevangelium of James 24
Gospel of James
Pseudepigrapha
24 At the time of the salutation, the priests went on their way, but Zacharias didn’t come out to bless them as he usually did. The priests waited for him to offer his greeting during the prayer and to glorify the Most High. When he took too long, they grew nervous. One of them bravely entered the temple and found clotted blood by the altar. He heard a voice say, “Zacharias has been killed, and his blood won’t be cleaned up until his avenger comes.” Frightened, he ran out and told the others. They went in and saw what had happened. The temple’s decorations made a wailing sound, and the priests tore their clothes from top to bottom. Though they didn’t find his body, they saw his blood had turned to stone. Terrified, they went out and told the people that Zacharias had been murdered. All the tribes heard and mourned, grieving for him for three days and nights. After that, the priests met to decide who would replace him, and the lot fell to Simeon, the man who had been told by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn’t die before seeing Christ in the flesh. I, James, who wrote this account in Jerusalem, went into the wilderness when there was unrest after Herod’s death, staying there until things settled down in the city. I glorified the Lord God, who gave me the wisdom and ability to write this story. Grace be with those who fear our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
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Notes and References
“... The Zachariah story ends in Protoevangelium of James 24:10 where the priests replace Zachariah with Symeon, who appears only here in the Protoevangelium of James. This unique reference to Symeon no doubt represents an interpolation by the Redactor that he derived, characteristically, from a canonical Gospel, Luke 2:25-35, which features the aged Symeon who identified Jesus as the “Messiah of the Lord” ...”
Zervos, George
The Protevangelium of James: Greek Text and English Translation with a Critical Introduction (Volume 1)
(p. 125) T&T Clark, 2019
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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