Juraj Feník - Róbert Lapko, «Annunciations to Mary in Luke 1–2» biblica, Vol. 96 (2015) 498-524 page 513

Vol 96 (2015)

Juraj Feník - Róbert Lapko, «Annunciations to Mary in Luke 1–2», Vol. 96 (2015) 498-524

In addition to the scene conventionally known as "the Annunciation" (Luke 1,26-38), three other texts in the infancy narrative qualify to be classed as such. This article proposes an understanding of 2,8-20; 2,22- 35; 2,41-52 as annunciation pericopes by highlighting the fact that other characters, namely, the shepherds, Simeon, and Jesus function as messengers communicating to Mary further information about her son. It identifies the messenger, the act of speaking, the message, and the reference to Jesus' mother in each of the four scenes. Luke's infancy narrative, so the argument runs, contains four annunciation scenes in which a progressive revelation about Jesus addressed to his mother takes place.

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02_Feník Lapko_498-524_498-524 10/12/15 10:15 Pagina 513 513 ANNUNCIATIONS TO MARY IN LUKE 1–2 513 Jesus’ mother is explicitly named as the addressee only in the sec- ond part in 2,34-35 (kai. ei=pen pro.j Maria.m th.n mhte,ra auvtou/) 27, her reaction in 2,33 to the utterance in 2,29-32 invites the conclu- sion that she overhears the first part of the message as well. In this sense, the two parts of Simeon’s speech cannot be set in sharp po- larity but create a two-panel annunciation to Mary, with the second segment explicitly addressed to her. The first part of Simeon’s proclamation addresses God, as shown initially by Luke’s formulation euvlo,ghsen to.n qeo,n in 2,28 and subsequently by the vocative de,spota in the direct speech in 2,29. The correlation God-Simeon stands in the foreground in 2,29- 30, with the speaker furnishing the reason (2,30 o[ti) for his dis- missal: his eyes have seen God’s instrument of salvation. The accusative construction to. swth,rio,n sou is first qualified by the relative clause o] h`toi,masaj kata. pro,swpon pa,ntwn tw/n law/n in 2,31. The meaning of to. swth,rio,n sou is then elucidated by the appositional accusative noun fw/j governing eivj avpoka,luyin evqnw/n and do,xan laou/ sou VIsrah,l in 2,32. Differentiating between two groups (nations and Israel) without the implication of replace- ment or opposition, these expressions bespeak the worldwide sig- nificance of the salvation coming in Jesus. Simeon announces universal salvation, one available to all nations — Jews and Gen- tiles alike. As Schaefer representatively phrases it, “er benennt als Glieder, die am Heil Gottes partizipieren, sowohl die Heidenvölker als auch Israel” 28. The first part of the speech essentially repeats the terminology relating to Jesus used by the angel in 2,11 (swth,r [2,11] → swth,rion [2,30]) and elucidates its meaning by employ- ing the term fw/j in reference to Jesus: as the instrument of God’s salvation, this one is the light for the revelation of the Gentiles and for the glory of Israel. The novelty in Simeon’s proclamation in contrast to the preceding annunciations is the inclusion of the sig- nificance of Jesus for the Gentiles. The previous, exclusively Is- 27 RADL, Der Ursprung Jesu, 226, speaks of “die auffällige und nament- liche Adressierung der Rede an sie in V. 34a [...]”. 28 C. SCHAEFER, Die Zukunft Israels bei Lukas. Biblisch-frühjüdische Zukunftvorstellungen im lukanischen Doppelwerk im Vergleich zu Röm 9‒11 (BZNW 190; Berlin 2012) 322. See also G. WASSERBERG, Aus Israels Mitte ‒ Heil für die Welt. Eine narrativ-exegetische Studie zur Theologie des Lukas (BZNW 92; Berlin 1998) 139-141.