NT Text: Luke 2:34
OT Source(s):
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Promise-Fulfillment + Typology (Direct Type, Forward-Looking)
Anchor Text: Isa 8:14 — A Stone of Stumbling
Significance: Simeon declares that Jesus is "appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against" (Luke 2:34), directly evoking Isaiah 8:14-15 where Yahweh himself will become "a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall" (eben negep uĕ-ṣûr mikšôl). Isaiah 8 depicts the LORD as simultaneously sanctuary and stumbling stone, and the New Testament repeatedly applies this dual function to Jesus (Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:8). Simeon's prophecy is striking in its early placement: before Jesus has spoken a word or performed a miracle, the aged prophet announces his divisive destiny. The verb translated "appointed" (keimai, "is set") echoes the deliberate divine purpose behind the Isaianic stone — not accidental offense but covenantal confrontation. Those who trust in him rise; those who reject him fall.