Righteous 1st century

Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver

1st century

Also known as Simeon the God-bearer · Simeon who received the Lord

The God-Receiver who, as the Holy Spirit had promised, lived to take the infant Christ into his arms in the Temple, proclaiming "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace"; tradition counts him among the seventy translators of the Septuagint.

Feast Day

February 3

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

Hymn / Apolytikion Icon gallery Video / Media

Commemorated as

The Holy and Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver

Come to them for

A Peaceful Death

Life

Simeon the God-Receiver is the elder of Jerusalem named in the Gospel of Luke (2:25-35), described as a just and devout man awaiting the consolation of Israel. According to the Gospel, the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. When the infant Jesus was brought to the Temple on the fortieth day after his birth, in fulfillment of the Mosaic law, Simeon recognized him as the promised Messiah and took the child into his arms.

Holding the child, Simeon spoke the words preserved in Luke as the canticle Nunc Dimittis: "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel." He then blessed Mary and Joseph and prophesied to the Virgin that the child was set for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign to be spoken against, and that a sword would pierce through her own soul. From the act of receiving Christ in the Temple he is given the title "the God-Receiver."

Orthodox tradition adds that Simeon was one of the seventy scholars who, during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek to produce the Septuagint. He is commemorated in the Eastern Orthodox Church on February 3, the day after the feast of the Meeting of the Lord, together with the Prophetess Anna.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

The Septuagint Tradition

By a tradition widely held in the Orthodox Church, Simeon was numbered among the seventy translators who, during the reign of the Egyptian king Ptolemy Philadelphus, rendered the Hebrew scriptures into Greek at Alexandria, the version known as the Septuagint and used by the Orthodox Church.

The tradition relates that while translating the book of the Prophet Isaiah, Simeon read the words "Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a Son" (Isaiah 7:14) and judged "virgin" to be inaccurate, intending to correct the text to read "woman." According to the account, an angel appeared and stayed his hand, telling him that he would himself live to see the prophecy fulfilled. This is given as the reason for his extended life, and tradition holds that he reached the great age of 360 years before dying shortly after the meeting in the Temple.

Relics & Shrines

The relics of St. Simeon were kept in Constantinople, in the Church of Saint James the Brother of the Lord, raised by the Emperor Justin near Hagia Sophia. Sources place the transfer of remains believed to be his to Constantinople in the sixth century.

In 1273, according to tradition, the relics were being conveyed toward Venice when a storm in the Adriatic Sea diverted the vessel to Zadar in Croatia, where they remained; the Church of St. Simeon in Zadar is a major shrine. A portion of the relics is reported to have been brought to a monastery bearing his name in Jerusalem in October 2010. The feast of October 8 is associated with the celebration at Zadar.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Feb 3