02_Feník Lapko_498-524_498-524 10/12/15 10:15 Pagina 514 514 JURAJ FENÍK – RÓBERT LAPKO 514 rael-oriented annunciations are now supplemented by a proclamation of universal salvation. The plural noun e;qnh appears here for the first time, precisely in the context of Luke’s highlighting Jesus’ sig- nificance for a group so designated. Whereas the angel in 2,11 iden- tified the newborn Jesus as swth,r, Simeon insinuates a significant variation to the salvation vocabulary in that he sees in Jesus God’s swth,rion with corollaries not only for Israel but for the Gentiles as well 29. In Simeon’s mouth the terminology of salvation receives a peculiar slant — it is for the first time in Luke’s narrative explicitly applied to the Gentiles 30. Subsequently the evangelist records the parents’ reaction (h=n [...] qauma,zontej) to the tidings about the boy (evpi. toi/j laloume,noij peri. auvtou/). Without featuring an explicit verb of hearing, the sen- tence in 2,33 singles out Joseph and Mary as listening to the pro- nouncements, even if the opening remark of the proclamation was plainly directed to God, and the evangelist did not show the parents to be the addressees of Simeon’s words. The speech provokes the reaction of wonder among the parents of the child. The genitival construction peri. auvtou/ standing for the child and the dative evpi. toi/j laloume,noij referring to Simeon’s annunciation identify the sig- nificance of the child — not the man’s sudden appearance or his biographical characteristics — as the primary and the only stimulus for the puzzlement of the parents. The rationale for their reaction must be sought in their hearing the words about the universal salvific import of the child 31. Having heard about the child from the mouth of Gabriel and the shepherds, Jesus’ mother is informed 29 H. SCHÜRMANN, Das Lukasevangelium. Erster Teil: Kommentar zu Kapitel 1,1 ‒ 9,50 (HTKNT III/1; Freiburg 1984) 126, moves in the right di- rection: “Freilich überragt die Aussage, das Kind werde das Heil für alle Völker sein, das bisher Gesagte [...]”. See also BROWN, The Birth of the Messiah, 444; COLERIDGE, The Birth of the Lukan Narrative, 171-172; DILLON, The Hymns of Saint Luke, 132; MARSHALL, The Gospel of Luke, 121; and others. 30 The reference in 2,14 to the peace that results from the savior’s birth and is granted avnqrw,poij euvdoki,aj may be understood as the first, inchoative signal of a larger-than-Israel significance of the savior. See DILLON, The Hymns of Saint Luke, 110-119. 31 D. RUSAM, Das Alte Testament bei Lukas (BZNW 112; Berlin 2003) 81, puts it aptly when writing that the amazement of the parents “ist innerhalb der Erzählebene zurückzuführen auf die im Nunc Dimittis des Simeon aus- gesprochene Einbeziehung der Heiden in die Heilsgeschichte”.