Luke 2:14
“The Shepherds and the Angels”Luke 2:8–20
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain
Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain
Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain
Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain
Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain
- δόξαdoxaGloryG1391N-NSFNoun Nominative Singular Feminine
- ἐνeninG1722PREPPreposition
- ὑψίστοιςhupsistois[the] highestG5310A-DPNAdjective Dative Plural Neuter
- θεῷtheōto GodG2316N-DSM-TNoun Dative Singular Masculine Title
- καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
- ἐπὶepionG1909PREPPreposition
- γῆςgēsearthG1093N-GSFNoun Genitive Singular Feminine
- εἰρήνηeirēnēpeaceG1515N-NSFNoun Nominative Singular Feminine
- ἐνenamongG1722PREPPreposition
- ἀνθρώποιςanthrōpoismenG444N-DPMNoun Dative Plural Masculine
- εὐδοκίαςeudokiasof good-willG2107N-GSFNoun Genitive Singular Feminine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?
This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.
Words in [ ] are added by the English.
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Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Luke 2:8–20. He set out his notes in a two-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.
The meanest circumstances of Christ's humiliation were all along attended with some discoveries of his glory, to balance them, and take off the offence of them; for even when he humbled himself God did in some measure exalt him and give him earnests of his future exaltation. When we saw him wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, we were tempted to say, "Surely this cannot be the Son of God." But see his birth attended, as it is here, with a choir of angels, and we shall say, "Surely this cannot be the Son of God." But see his birth attended, as it is here, with a choir of angels, and we shall say, "Surely it can be no other than the Son of God, concerning whom it was said, when he was brought into the world, Let all the angels of God worship him," Hebrews 1:6.
We had in Matthew an account of the notice given of the arrival of this ambassador, this prince from heaven, to the wise men, who were Gentiles, by a star; here we are told of the notice given of it to the shepherds, who were Jews, by an angel: to each God chose to speak in the language they were most conversant with.
I.See here how the shepherds were employed; they were abiding in the fields adjoining to Bethlehem, and keeping watch over their flocks by night, Luke 2:8. The angel was not sent to the chief priests or the elders (they were not prepared to receive these tidings), but to a company of poor shepherds, who were like Jacob, plain men dwelling in tents, not like Esau, cunning hunters. The patriarchs were shepherds. Moses and David particularly were called from keeping sheep to rule God's people; and by this instance God would show that he had still a favour for those of that innocent employment. Tidings were brought to Moses of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, when he was keeping sheep, and to these shepherds, who, it is probable, were devout pious men, the tidings were brought of a greater salvation. Observe,
1.They were not sleeping in their beds, when this news was brought them (though many had very acceptable intelligence from heaven in slumbering upon the bed), but abiding in the fields, and watching. Those that would hear from God must stir up themselves. They were broad awake, and therefore could not be deceived in what they saw and heard, so as those may be who are half asleep.
2.They were employed now, not in acts of devotion, but in the business of their calling; they were keeping watch over their flock, to secure them from thieves and beasts of prey, it being probably in the summer time, when they kept their cattle out all night, as we do now, and did not house them. Note, We are not out of the way of divine visits when we are sensibly employed in an honest calling, and abide with God in it.
II.How they were surprised with the appearance of the angel (Luke 2:9):
Behold, an angel of the Lord came upon them, of a sudden, epestē - stood over them; most probably, in the air over their heads, as coming immediately from heaven. We read it, the angel, as if it were the same that appeared once and again in the chapter before, the angel Gabriel, that was caused to fly swiftly; but that is not certain. The angel's coming upon them intimates that they little thought of such a thing, or expected it; for it is in a preventing way that gracious visits are made us from heaven, or ever we are aware. That they might be sure it was an angel from heaven, they saw and heard the glory of the Lord round about them; such as made the night as bright as day, such a glory as used to attend God's appearance, a heavenly glory, or an exceedingly great glory, such as they could not bear the dazzling lustre of. This made them sore afraid, put them into great consternation, as fearing some evil tidings. While we are conscious to ourselves of so much guilt, we have reason to fear lest every express from heaven should be a messenger of wrath.
III.What the message was which the angel had to deliver to the shepherds, Luke 2:10-12.
1. He gives a supersedeas to their fears: "Fear not, for we have nothing to say to you that needs be a terror to you; you need not fear your enemies, and should not fear your friends." 2. He furnishes them with abundant matter for joy: "Behold, I evangelize to you great joy; I solemnly declare it, and you have reason to bid it welcome, for it shall bring joy to all people, and not to the people of the Jews only; that unto you is born this day, at this time, a Saviour, the Saviour that has been so long expected, which is Christ the Lord, in the city of David," Luke 2:11. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed; he is the Lord, Lord of all; he is a sovereign prince; nay, he is God, for the Lord, in the Old Testament, answers to Jehovah. He is a Saviour, and he will be a Saviour to those only that accept him for their Lord. "The Saviour is born, he is born this day; and, since it is matter of great joy to all people, it is not to be kept secret, you may proclaim it, may tell it to whom you please. He is born in the place where it was foretold he should be born, in the city of David; and he is born to you; to you Jews he is sent in the first place, to bless you, to you shepherds, though poor and mean in the world." This refers to Isaiah 9:6, Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. To you men, not to us angels; he took not on him the nature of angels. This is matter of joy indeed to all people, great joy. Long-looked for is come at last. Let heaven and earth rejoice before this Lord, for he cometh. 3. He gives them a sign for the confirming of their faith in this matter. "How shall we find out this child in Bethlehem, which is now full of the descendants from David?" "You will find him by this token: he is lying in a manger, where surely never any new-born infant was laid before." They expected to be told, "You shall find him, though a babe, dressed up in robes, and lying in the best house in the town, lying in state, with a numerous train of attendants in rich liveries." "No, you will find him wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger." When Christ was here upon earth, he distinguished himself, and made himself remarkable, by nothing so much as the instances of his humiliation.
IV.The angels' doxology to God, and congratulations of men, upon this solemn occasion, Luke 2:13, Luke 2:14.
The message was no sooner delivered by one angel (that was sufficient to go express) than suddenly there was with that angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts; sufficient, we may be sure, to make a chorus, that were heard by the shepherds, praising God; and certainly their song was not like that (Revelation 14:3) which no man could learn, for it was designed that we should all learn it.
1.Let God have the honour of this work: Glory to God in the highest. God's good-will to men, manifested in sending the Messiah, redounds very much to his praise; and angels in the highest heavens, though not immediately interested in it themselves, will celebrate it to his honour, Revelation 5:11, Revelation 5:12. Glory to God, whose kindness and love designed this favour, and whose wisdom contrived it in such a way as that one divine attribute should not be glorified at the expense of another, but the honour of all effectually secured and advanced. Other works of God are for his glory, but the redemption of the world is for his glory in the highest.
2.Let men have the joy of it: On earth peace, good-will toward men. God's good-will in sending the Messiah introduced peace in this lower world, slew the enmity that sin had raised between God and man, and resettled a peaceable correspondence. If God be at peace with us, all peace results from it: peace of conscience, peace with angels, peace between Jew and Gentile. Peace is here put for all good, all that good which flows to us from the incarnation of Christ. All the good we have, or hope, is owing to God's good-will; and, if we have the comfort of it, he must have the glory of it. Nor must any peace, and good, be expected in a way inconsistent with the glory of God; therefore not in any way of sin, nor in any way but by a Mediator. Here was the peace proclaimed with great solemnity; whoever will, let them come and take the benefit of it. It is on earth peace, to men of good-will (so some copies read it), en anthrōpois eudokias; to men who have a good-will to God, and are willing to be reconciled; or to men whom God has a good-will to, though vessels of his mercy. See how well affected the angels are to man, and to his welfare and happiness; how well pleased they were in the incarnation of the Son of God, though he passed by their nature; and ought not we much more to be affected with it? This is a faithful saying, attested by an innumerable company of angels, and well worthy of all acceptation, That the good-will of God toward men is glory to God in the highest, and peace on the earth.
V.The visit which the shepherds made to the new-born Saviour.
1.They consulted about it, Luke 2:15. While the angels were singing their hymn, they could attend to that only; but, when they were gone away from them into heaven (for angels, when they appeared, never made any long stay, but returned as soon as they had despatched their business), the shepherds said one to another, Let us go to Bethlehem. Note, When extraordinary messages from the upper world are no more to be expected, we must set ourselves to improve the advantages we have for the confirming of our faith, and the keeping up of our communion with God in this lower world. And it is no reflection upon the testimony of angels, no nor upon a divine testimony itself, to get it corroborated by observation and experience. But observe, These shepherds do not speak doubtfully, "Let us go see whether it be so or no;" but with assurance, Let us go see this thing which is come to pass; for what room was left to doubt of it, when the Lord had thus made it known to them? The word spoken by angels was stedfast and unquestionably true.
2.They immediately made the visit, Luke 2:16. They lost no time, but came with haste to the place, which, probably, the angel directed them to more particularly than is recorded ("Go to the stable of such an inn"); and there they found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. The poverty and meanness in which they found Christ the Lord were no shock to their faith, who themselves knew what it was to live a life of comfortable communion with God in very poor and mean circumstances. We have reason to think that the shepherds told Joseph and Mary of the vision of the angels they had seen, and the song of the angels they had heard, which was a great encouragement to them, more than if a visit had been made them by the best ladies in the town. And it is probable that Joseph and Mary told the shepherds what visions they had had concerning the child; and so, by communicating their experiences to each other, they greatly strengthened one another's faith.
VI.The care which the shepherds took to spread the report of this (Luke 2:17):
When they had seen it, though they saw nothing in the child that should induce them to believe that he was Christ the Lord, yet the circumstances, how mean soever they were, agreeing with the sign that the angel had given them, they were abundantly satisfied; and as the lepers argued (2 Kings 12:9, This being a day of good tidings, we dare not hold our peace), so they made known abroad the whole story of what was told them, both by the angels, and by Joseph and Mary, concerning this child, that he was the Saviour, even Christ the Lord, that in him there is peace on earth, and that he was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, and born of a virgin. This they told every body, and agreed in their testimony concerning it. And now if, when he is in the world, the world knows him not, it is their own fault, for they have sufficient notice given them. What impression did it make upon people? Why truly, All they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds, Luke 2:18. The shepherds were plain, downright, honest men, and they could not suspect them guilty of any design to impose upon them; what they had said therefore was likely to be true, and, if true, they could not but wonder at it, that the Messiah should be born in a stable and not in a palace, that angels should bring news of it to poor shepherds and not to the chief priests. They wondered, but never enquired any further about the Saviour, their duty to him, or advantages by him, but let the thing drop as a nine days' wonder. O the amazing stupidity of the men of that generation! Justly were the things which belonged to their peace hid from their eyes, when they thus wilfully shut their eyes against them.
VII.The use which those made of these things, who did believe them.
1.The virgin Mary made them the matter of her private meditation. She said little, but kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart, Luke 2:19. She laid the evidences together, and kept them in reserve, to be compared with the discoveries that should afterwards be made her. As she had silently left it to God to clear up her virtue, when that was suspected, so she silently leaves it to him to publish her honour, now when it was veiled; and it is satisfaction enough to find that, if no one else takes notice of the birth of her child, angels do. Note, The truths of Christ are worth keeping; and the way to keep them safe is to ponder them. Meditation is the best help to memory.
2.The shepherds made them the matter of their more public praises. If others were not affected with those things, yet they themselves were (Luke 2:20): They returned, glorifying and praising God, in concurrence with the holy angels. If others would not regard the report they made to them, God would accept the thanksgivings they offered to him. They praised God for what they had heard from the angel, and for what they had seen, the babe in the manger, and just then in the swaddling, when they came in, as it had been spoken to them. They thanked God that they had seen Christ, though in the depth of his humiliation. As afterwards the cross of Christ, so now his manger, was to some foolishness and a stumbling-block, but others saw in it, and admired, and praised, the wisdom of God and the power of God.
Historical interpretation
Eleven Centuries of Reception
22 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
And the angel of the Lord, he says, appeared to the shepherds, proclaiming joy to them: "For [Luke 2:11, etc.] there is born in the house of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Then [appeared] a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory in the highest to God, and on earth peace, to men of good will." The falsely-called Gnostics say that these angels came from the Ogdoad, and made manifest the descent of the superior Christ. But they are again in error, when saying that the Christ and Saviour from above was not born, but that also, after the baptism of the dispensational Jesus, he, [the Christ of the Pleroma,] descended upon him as a dove. Therefore, according to these men, the angels of the Ogdoad lied, when they said, "For unto you is born this day a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David." For neither was Christ nor the Saviour born at that time, by their account; but it was he, the dispensational Jesus, who is of the framer of the world, the [Demiurge], and upon whom, after his baptism, that is, after [the lapse of] thirty years, they maintain the Saviour from above descended. But why did [the angels] add, "in the city of David," if they did not proclaim the glad tidings of the fulfilment of God's promise made to David, that from the fruit of his body there should be an eternal King? For the Framer [Demiurge] of the entire universe made promise to David, as David himself declares: "My help is from God, who made heaven and earth;" and again: "In His hand are the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are His. For the sea is His, and He did Himself make it; and His hands founded the dry land. Come, let us worship and fall down before Him, and weep in the presence of the Lord who made us; for He is the Lord our God." The Holy Spirit evidently thus declares by David to those hearing him, that there shall be those who despise Him who formed us, and who is God alone. Wherefore he also uttered the foregoing words, meaning to say: See that you do not err; besides or above Him there is no other God, to whom you should rather stretch out [your hands], thus rendering us pious and grateful towards Him who made, established, and [still] nourishes us. What, then, shall happen to those who have been the authors of so much blasphemy against their Creator? This identical truth was also what the angels [proclaimed]. For when they exclaim, "Glory to God in the highest, and in earth peace," they have glorified with these words Him who is the Creator of the highest, that is, of super-celestial things, and the Founder of everything on earth: who has sent to His own handiwork, that is, to men, the blessing of His salvation from heaven. Wherefore he adds: "The shepherds returned, glorifying God for all which they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them." [Luke 2:20] For the Israelitish shepherds did not glorify another god, but Him who had been announced by the law and the prophets, the Maker of all things, whom also the angels glorified. But if the angels who were from the Ogdoad were accustomed to glorify any other, different from Him whom the shepherds [adored], these angels from the Ogdoad brought to them error and not truth.
After the Lord came to the earth, "He established peace through the blood of his cross, both for those upon the earth and those who are in heaven." And the angels wanted people to remember their Creator. They had done everything in their power to cure them, but they were unwilling to be cured. Then the angels behold him who could effect a cure. They give glory and say, "Glory to God on high, and peace on earth."
But the attentive reader will ask, How then does the Saviour say, I came not to send peace on the earth, whereas now the Angels' song of His birth is, On earth peace to men? It is answered, that peace is said to be to men of goodwill. For the peace which the Lord does not give on the earth is not the peace of good will.
And it is a proof of this, and an irrefragable argument, that at the novelty of thy supernatural child-bearing, the angels sang on earth, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men"
As peace began to be established, the angels proclaimed: “Glory in the highest and peace on earth.” When lower beings received peace from superior beings, “they cried, Glory on earth and peace in the heavens.” At that time when the divinity came down and was clothed in humanity, the angels cried, “Peace on earth.” And at the time when that humanity ascended in order to be absorbed into the divinity and sit on the right, “Peace in heaven,” the infants were crying forth before him, “Hosanna in the highest.” Hence the apostle also learned that one should say, “He made peace by the blood of his cross for that which is in heaven and on earth.” A further interpretation is that the angels cried forth: “Glory in the highest and peace on earth,” and that the children cried out, “Peace in heaven and glory on earth.” This is to show that just as the grace of his mercy gave joy to sinners on earth, so too their repentance gave joy to the angels in heaven. “Glory to God!” came from free will. Peace and reconciliation were for those against whom he was angry, and hope and remission were for the guilty.
"Glory be to God in the highest, and upon earth peace, good-will among men.".
Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord "being the Lord God who appeared to us, "Hosanna in the highest."
He was wrapped in swaddling bands, but at the resurrection he released the swaddling bands of the grave. He was laid in a manger but was praised by angels, disclosed by a star and adored by magi.
See how divine providence strengthens faith: the angel instructs Mary, the angel instructs Joseph, the angel instructs the shepherds. It is not enough to send once; for every word stands on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Of old, indeed, Angels were sent to punish, as, for instance to the Israelites, to David, to the men of Sodom, to the valley of weeping. (Bochim. Judges 2:1.) Now on the other hand they sing the song of thanksgiving to God: because He hath revealed to them His coming down to men.
Behold the wonderful working of God. He first brings Angels down to men, and then brings men up to heaven. The heaven became earth, when it was about to receive earthly things.
In heaven, where there is no discord, glory rules. On earth, where every day is warfare, peace prevails. Peace among whom? Among men. Why are the Gentiles without peace? Why, too, the Jews? That is exactly the reason for the qualification: Peace among men of good will, among those who acknowledge the birth of Christ.
(13. de Trin. cap. 13) For righteousness belongs to good will.
Man is unable to rule over the lower things unless he in turn submits to the rule of a higher being. And this is the peace that is promised "on earth to men of good will." This is the life of a man of consummate and perfect wisdom. The prince of this world, who rules over the perverse and disorderly, has been cast out of a thoroughly pacified and orderly kingdom of this kind. When this peace has been established and strengthened within a man, then he who has been cast out—no matter what persecutions he may stir up from without increases the glory that is according to God.
This peace has been made through Christ, for He has reconciled us by Himself to God and our Father, (2 Cor. 5:18, 19, Eph. 2:16, Col. 1:20.) having taken away our guilt, which was the ground of offence also. He has united two nations in one man, and has joined the heavenly and the earthly in one flock.
Look not upon him who was laid in the manger as a babe merely, but in our poverty see him who as God is rich, and in the measure of our humanity him who prospers those in heaven, and who therefore is glorified even by the angels. And how noble was the hymn, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and among men good will!" The angels and archangels, thrones and lordships, and the seraphim are at peace with God. Never in any way do they oppose his good pleasure but are firmly established in righteousness and holiness. But we wretched beings, by having set up our own lusts in opposition to the will of our Lord, had put ourselves into the position of his enemies. Christ has abolished this. "For he is our peace" and has united us by himself to God the Father. He has taken away from the middle the cause of the enmity and so justifies us by faith, makes us holy and without blame, and calls near to him those who were far off. Besides this, he has created the two people into one new man, so making peace and reconciling both in one body to the Father. For it pleased God the Father to form into one new whole all things in him, and to bind together things below and things above, and to make those in heaven and those on earth into one flock. Christ therefore has been made for us both peace and goodwill.
An angel announces the King's birth, and choirs of angels join their voices with his, and rejoicing together they cry out: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will. Indeed, before our Redeemer was born in the flesh, we were at discord with the angels, from whose brightness and purity we stood far distant through the guilt of the first sin and through our daily transgressions. For since by sinning we were estranged from God, the angels, citizens of God, regarded us as strangers from their fellowship. But because we have come to know our King, the angels have recognized us as their fellow citizens. For since the King of heaven assumed the earth of our flesh, that angelic majesty no longer despises our weakness. The angels return to peace with us, they set aside the intent of their former discord; and those whom they had previously despised as weak and cast off, they now honor as companions. This is why Lot and Joshua worshipped angels and were not forbidden to worship; but John in his Apocalypse wished to worship an angel, yet that same angel restrained him from worshipping him, saying: See that you do not do this, for I am your fellow servant and of your brethren. Why is it that before the Redeemer's coming angels are worshipped by men and remain silent, but afterward they refuse to be worshipped, unless it is that our nature, which they had previously despised, they now fear to see prostrate before them after they behold it assumed above themselves? Nor do they now dare to scorn as weak what is beneath them, since they venerate it above themselves in the King of heaven. Nor do they disdain to have man as a companion, since they adore man as God above themselves.
Consider therefore, brothers, what is cheaper when purchased, what is more precious when possessed. But perhaps not even a cup of cold water is available to be offered to one in need; even then the divine word promises us security. For when the Redeemer was born, the citizens of heaven were revealed, who cried out: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will. For before the eyes of God the hand is never empty of a gift, if the treasury of the heart has been filled with good will. Hence the Psalmist says: In me, O God, are your vows which I shall pay, praises to you. As if he were saying openly: Even if outwardly I do not have gifts to offer, yet within myself I find what I may place upon the altar of your praise, because you who are not fed by our giving are better pleased by the offering of the heart. For nothing richer than good will is offered to God. But good will is to fear the adversities of another as our own, to rejoice in the prosperity of our neighbor as in our own advancement, to consider the losses of others as our own, to reckon the gains of others as our own, to love a friend not for the sake of the world but for the sake of God, to tolerate even an enemy by loving him, to do to no one what you do not wish to suffer, to deny to no one what you justly desire to be rendered to yourself, not only to assist the needs of your neighbor according to your abilities, but to wish to help even beyond your abilities. What then is richer than this holocaust, when through what the soul sacrifices to God on the altar of the heart, it slays itself?
Before the Redeemer was born in the flesh, there was discord between us and the angels, from whose brightness and holy perfection we were separated, in punishment first of original sin and then because of our daily offences. Because through sin we had become strangers to God, the angels as God’s subjects cut us off from their fellowship. But since we have now acknowledged our King, the angels receive us as fellow citizens. Because the King of heaven has taken unto himself the flesh of our earth, the angels from their heavenly heights no longer look down upon our infirmity. Now they are at peace with us, putting away the remembrance of the ancient discord. Now they honor us as friends, whom before they considered to be weak and despised.
(28. Moral. sup. Job 38:7.) At the same time they also give praises because their voices of gladness accord well with our redemption, and while they behold our acceptance, they rejoice also that their number is completed.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will. When one messenger announced that God was born in the flesh, immediately a multitude of the heavenly host flew down, breaking forth with one mouth in praise of the Creator, so that they may offer their service and devotion to Christ as usual, and at the same time instruct us by their example, whenever any of the brothers resound the words of sacred teaching, or when we ourselves recall to mind things read or heard that are of piety, we should diligently render praises to God with mouth, heart, and deed. And appropriately the arriving chorus of angels receives the title of the heavenly host, who humbly obey that mighty leader in battle, who appeared to overthrow the powers of the air, and themselves vigorously drive away those opposing powers with heavenly weapons, so that they may not be able to tempt mortals as much as they wish. For just as all places are fortified against hostile invasion by the provision of the finest emperor's hand, so too God, since unclean spirits everywhere aim to overturn peace, has established the armies of angels for our protection, whose presence both breaks the audacity of demons and bestows upon us the grace of peace. And because God and man is born, rightly is peace sung to men and glory to God. The angels glorify God incarnate for our redemption, because while they see us being received, they rejoice that their own number may be replenished. They wish peace to men, because those whom they previously despised as weak and outcast, with the Lord being born in the flesh, they now venerate as companions. They proclaim peace to men, especially to men of good will, that is, to those who receive the born Christ, and not to Herod, the priests, and Pharisees, and other antichrists, who were troubled upon hearing of His birth and pursued Him with swords as much as they could. For there is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. But great peace is given to those who love Your name, O Lord, and nothing prevents them (Isaiah 48). To whom fittingly applies what follows: I hoped for Your salvation, O Lord (Psalm 118), that is, I longed for the coming Advent of Christ with the prolonged expectation of my desires.
Lest the authority of a single Angel should appear small, as soon as one had revealed the sacrament of the new birth, straightway there was present a multitude of the heavenly host. Rightly has the attending Chorus of Angels received the name of heavenly host, seeing they both humbly bring their aid to that Leader mighty in battle, Who has appeared to put down the powers of the air, and also themselves by their celestial arms bravely vanquish those opposing powers lest they should prevail as they wish in tempting men. But because He is both God and man, rightly do they sing Peace to men and Glory to God. As it follows, Praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest. As soon as one Angel, one messenger, had brought the good tidings that God was born in the flesh, the multitude of the heavenly host broke forth in the praise of the Creator, in order both to fix. their devotion on Christ, and to instruct us by their example, that as often as any of the brethren shall sound forth the word of sacred learning, or we ourselves shall have brought these holy things home to our minds, we should with our whole heart, our mouths and hands, return praise to God.
They wish also peace to men, as they add, On earth peace to men, because those whom they had before despised as weak and abject, now that our Lord has come in the flesh they esteem as friends.
For whom they ask peace is explained in the words, Of good will. For them, namely, who receive the new born Christ. For there, is no peace to the ungodly, (Isa. 57:20.) but much peace to them that love the name of God. (Ps. 119:165)
It is good that the angel said “has been born today” and did not say “this night.” He appeared with heavenly light to those who were conducting the watch by night and brought the good news that day was born.… He who appeared temporally in the city of David as a human being from a virgin mother was, in truth, himself born before all time and without spatial limitation, light from light, true God from true God. Because, therefore, the light of life rose for those of us dwelling in the region of the shadow of death, the herald of this rising says, “A savior has been born to you today.” So that being always advised by this word we may remember that the night of ancient blindness is past and the day of eternal salvation has arrived. Let us cast off the works of darkness. And let us walk as children of light, “for the fruit of the light is in all justice and holiness.”
Heaven and earth are united today, for Christ is born! Today God has come upon earth, and humankind gone up to heaven. Today, for the sake of humankind, the invisible one is seen in the flesh. Therefore let us glorify him and cry aloud: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace bestowed by your coming, Savior: glory to you!Today in Bethlehem, I hear the angels: glory to God in the highest! Glory to him whose good pleasure it was that there be peace on earth! The Virgin is now more spacious than the heavens. Light has shone on those in darkness, exalting the lowly who sing like the angels: Glory to God in the highest!
Beholding him [Adam] who was in God’s image and likeness fallen through transgression, Jesus bowed the heavens and came down, without change taking up his dwelling in a virgin womb, that he might refashion Adam fallen in corruption, and crying out: glory to your epiphany, my Savior and my God!
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This verse
The angels sing that the birth of Christ brings glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace and God’s good will to people on earth.
“Glory to God in the highest,”
en hypsistois, the highest heavens. God’s glory comes first in the song, as it is first in the purpose of Christ’s coming.
“and on earth peace,”
gē and eirḗnē, peace with God for the world of people, the shalom the Prince of Peace brings.
“good will toward men.”
eudokía, God’s good pleasure toward people. Other manuscripts read “men of good will” (see above).
Passage studyLuke 2:8–20
Good Tidings of Great Joy
Summary
On the night Jesus is born in Bethlehem, shepherds are keeping watch over their flock in the fields nearby. An angel of the Lord comes to them, the glory of the Lord shines around them, and they are terrified. The angel tells them to fear not, because he brings good tidings of great joy for all people: a Saviour, Christ the Lord, has been born that day in the city of David, and they will know him by a sign, a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. A multitude of the heavenly host then praises God, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” The shepherds go with haste, find everything as they were told, and spread the news, so that all who hear it wonder. Mary keeps these things and ponders them in her heart, and the shepherds return glorifying and praising God. In these thirteen verses we learn who this child is, why God told the lowly first, and how hearing God’s word leads on to seeing, telling and praise.
Why God told the shepherds first
Luke has just told how Mary “brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). From that quiet birth the story moves out into “the same country”, the countryside around Bethlehem, where shepherds were “abiding in the field”. The verb agrauléō means to camp out or live in the open, so these men were staying out with their animals. They were “keeping watch over their flock by night”, and the verb phylássō means to watch, to guard and to keep safe. At night a flock was most exposed to wolves and thieves, and lambing season called for this kind of watch above all. Bethlehem was known for its sheep, and some of its flocks are said to have been raised for the sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem.
The word poimḗn means a shepherd, and in a figurative sense a pastor. The work was essential, but the men who did it stood low in the eyes of their neighbours. Living outdoors among animals made it hard for them to keep the ceremonial law strictly, and shepherds were often counted as ritually unclean and looked on with suspicion. God passed over the leaders of Jerusalem and sent the greatest news ever told to these men in a field at night. They were simply doing their ordinary work faithfully when he met them, and the darkness of their watch was about to be filled with his glory.
That choice runs all through Luke’s Gospel. Mary has already praised God because “He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree” (Luke 1:52–53). Jesus would come preaching the gospel to the poor (Luke 4:18), call the poor blessed (Luke 6:20), and welcome outcasts and sinners, as Luke 15 shows with its parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:3–7), because “the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Paul tells the church that God “hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27), so that all the glory is his (1 Corinthians 1:26–29), and Jesus thanked his Father for revealing his truth “unto babes” (Matthew 11:25). The psalmist’s wonder suits the shepherds well: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4). God’s favour rests on his own free choice and grace, and from its first telling the good news of Jesus is for people of every standing, the overlooked among them.
Shepherds and the Good Shepherd
It is fitting that shepherds should be the first to hear of this child. David, whose city this was, came from a Bethlehem family (1 Samuel 17:12) and was himself a shepherd. God had promised through Ezekiel, “I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David” (Ezekiel 34:23–24), and through Isaiah, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd” (Isaiah 40:11). The men watching sheep that night were led to the one who would say, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
The glory of the Lord shines in the night
“And, lo” (idoú, “behold”) marks how sudden the change is. The word ángelos comes from a root meaning to bring tidings and means a messenger, here a messenger sent from the presence of God. The angel “came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them”.
The word for glory, dóxa, comes from a verb meaning to seem or think and is related to appearance. Here it is the visible shining of God’s own presence, his majesty and holiness made seen, the glory often called the Shekinah. This is the glory that filled the tabernacle so that even Moses was unable to enter (Exodus 40:34–35), and the presence that went before Israel as a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21–22). It shone “round about them”, so the shepherds stood inside the light, and the dark field where they had been watching was filled with it.
“They were sore afraid.” The Greek says literally “they feared a great fear”, joining the verb phobéō with mégas, “great”. phobéō means to be alarmed or frightened, and also to stand in awe and to revere.
Why were the shepherds afraid?
Their fear came before the angel had said a word, and it was the fear of sinful people standing suddenly in the light of God’s holiness. Scripture shows it again and again. Isaiah, seeing the Lord’s glory, cried, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5, 6:1–5). Daniel’s strength left him at his vision (Daniel 10:7–9). When the voice spoke from the cloud at the transfiguration (Matthew 17:5), the disciples “fell on their face, and were sore afraid” (Matthew 17:6). Such fear recognises the distance between the creature and the holy Creator. God answers it here as he does at the transfiguration, with comfort, and the first words the angel speaks are “Fear not”.
The glory that shone for a short while around the shepherds came to stay among us in the child they were about to find. John writes, “we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Hebrews calls the Son “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3), and Jesus called himself “the light of the world” (John 8:12). In him the glory that once made people tremble comes near full of grace, and by his death and resurrection he takes away the cause of our dread and gives us peace with God.
Fear not: good tidings of great joy
The angel’s “Fear not” is the word the angel spoke to Zacharias in the temple (Luke 1:13), and here the reason follows at once with “for”. “Behold” (idoú) again draws the eye to what comes next. “I bring you good tidings” is a single Greek verb, euangelízō, built from eu, “well”, and the root of ángelos, “messenger”. It means to announce good news, and it is the word behind “evangelize” and behind the gospel itself. The angel is literally preaching the gospel to the shepherds, and the gospel he preaches is the birth of the Saviour.
The good tidings are “of great joy”, mégas chará. chará means gladness, cheerfulness and calm delight. This joy rests on what God has done to save us, so it holds firm through sorrow and trial. Jesus spoke of the same joy when he told his disciples, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11), and “your joy no man taketh from you” (John 16:22). Paul prays, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13).
The joy “shall be to all people”. The word laós means a people or nation, and it is used especially of God’s chosen people. Greek has a narrower word, dēmos, for the populace of one town or community. The good tidings come first to Israel, the people to whom the Christ was promised, and from Israel they reach every nation. Isaiah heard God say of his servant, “I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). “God so loved the world” (John 3:16) that the risen Jesus sent his disciples to “teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19–20) and to be his witnesses “unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). At the end John saw “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Revelation 7:9–10). The joy announced to a few shepherds is meant for the whole world, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile.
Who is born: a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord
Verse 11 is the heart of the angel’s message. “Unto you” is plural, so the gift is for these shepherds and, through them, for all who hear. “This day” sets the birth on a real day in history, and the words echo Isaiah’s promise, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6–7).
The city of David
“The city of David” is Bethlehem, the home of David’s father Jesse (1 Samuel 17:12). God had promised David a son whose kingdom he would establish for ever (2 Samuel 7:12–16), and Micah had named the very town: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel” (Micah 5:2). A census decreed by Caesar Augustus brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem in time for the birth (Luke 2:1–5), so the emperor’s decree served the plan of the God who keeps his word to David. By naming the city, the angel tells the shepherds that this child is David’s heir and the one the prophets foretold.
Saviour, Christ and Lord
The angel gives the child three titles, and they rise from what he does, to the office he fills, to who he is.
sōtḗr, “Saviour”, means a deliverer or preserver. Greeks used the word for gods, rulers and heroes who rescued people from danger, illness or oppression. Jesus saves from the deepest danger of all, sin and its eternal consequences, as the angel told Joseph: “he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Our need of such a Saviour runs through Scripture from the fall in Genesis 3 to the new Jerusalem in Revelation 22. He saved us by his death and resurrection. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8), and he “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25). He is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Christós, “Christ”, is the Greek form of the Hebrew Messiah, the “Anointed One”. In Israel kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil as a sign that God had appointed them. The angel declares this baby to be the long-promised Messiah of Israel, the one who brings in God’s kingdom. He was anointed with the Spirit for his work, as he said in Nazareth: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18–19). By his death he became “the mediator of the new testament” (Hebrews 9:15).
kýrios, “Lord”, means one with supreme authority, a master. It can be a polite form of address, like “Sir”. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, kýrios stands again and again for the divine name, Yᵉhôvâh, which the KJV prints as “the LORD”. So when an angel of the Lord, standing in the glory of the Lord, calls this newborn “the Lord”, he gives him the name of God himself. The baby in the manger is fully human, and he is God come to save his people. Peter preached at Pentecost that “God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36), and told the household of Cornelius, “he is Lord of all” (Acts 10:36). The risen Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).
The sign: a babe in a manger
The angel gives the shepherds a way to know the child: “this shall be a sign unto you”. The word sēmeîon means a sign, a token or indication, and elsewhere a miracle. Here it is a mark God gives so that the shepherds can find the right child and confirm the message with their own eyes. The sign itself is a humble one.
“Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.” bréphos means an infant, properly one still unborn, and here a newborn child. Swaddling clothes were strips of cloth wound tightly around a newborn for warmth and security and, as people then held, to help the limbs grow straight. Babies everywhere in Bethlehem were wrapped this way, and the detail shows how fully human and helpless the Christ the Lord of verse 11 had become.
“Lying in a manger” is the part that marks him out. keîmai means to lie outstretched, and phátnē, from a word meaning to eat, is a crib for fodder, a feeding trough for animals. Many babies were born in Bethlehem, and only one would be found lying in a manger. Mary laid him there because “there was no room for them in the inn”, and the newborn King lay in a trough where animals ate, far from any palace or royal cradle.
Why a manger?
The manger shows the humility of the Son of God from his first day. Paul asks us to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5–8), who, “being in the form of God” (Philippians 2:6), “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). Isaiah said of the Servant, “he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2–3). Paul writes that “though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9), and Jesus said that he “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The lowliness of the manger leads on to the cross. He shared our flesh and blood, Hebrews says, so that he could be “a merciful and faithful high priest” who is able to help us in our weakness (Hebrews 2:14–18).
The manger also makes him easy to reach. A baby in a feeding trough can be approached by anyone, freely and without ceremony, and the first to come were shepherds. And a manger is a place of food. The child laid in it later said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), and “the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). The swaddled baby in the trough is the first sign anyone was given of the Word made flesh.
A multitude of the heavenly host
“And suddenly” (exaíphnēs, unexpectedly, all at once) the one angel was joined by “a multitude of the heavenly host”. plēthos means a fulness, a great number or throng, and it stands against the single messenger who first appeared. “Host” is stratiá, from the word for an army, a word used both of the angels and of the lights of heaven. With ouránios, “heavenly”, it pictures the ordered army of heaven, gathered to serve God’s will. On earth Caesar Augustus ruled and issued his decrees (Luke 2:1), and here heaven’s army appears to announce the birth of the true King, showing where all power lies.
What this army does is praise. ainéō means to praise, and its object here is God, theós. Heaven answers the coming of the Son with worship. A psalm calls on them to do it: “Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure” (Psalm 103:20–21). Hebrews says that when God “bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him” (Hebrews 1:6), and the host over Bethlehem does exactly that. Angels appear again in Revelation, “ten thousand times ten thousand”, crying, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” (Revelation 5:11–12), and God has given Jesus the name at which “every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Philippians 2:9–11). Heaven itself takes part as the kingdom of God, which Jesus would go on to preach (Luke 4:43), begins to break in on earth.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace
The song of the host has two halves that balance each other, glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth. “In the highest” (en hypsistois) means the highest heavens, where God dwells with his angels. Glory, dóxa, here means the honour, praise and worship due to God, because the birth of his Son shows his power, his character and his saving plan. The first purpose of the incarnation is the glory of God, and the blessing of the earth flows from it.
“On earth” is gē, the soil, a land, and the whole globe with all who live on it. To that world the angels announce “peace”, eirḗnē. The word probably comes from a verb meaning to join, and it covers peace, quietness, rest, and being “set at one again”. It carries the full sense of the Hebrew shalom: wholeness, well-being and right relationship, above all with God. Jesus was born under the Pax Romana, a peace Rome kept by military might. The peace of this song reconciles sinners to God, and from there it reaches into the heart and into our dealings with one another.
Christ himself is this peace. Isaiah named him “The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Paul writes, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us” (Ephesians 2:14), and he goes on to say that Christ reconciled us to God by the cross (Ephesians 2:14–16). Jesus told his disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you” (John 14:27).
“Good will toward men” is eudokía, from eû, “well”, and the root of dokéō, “to seem”. It means satisfaction, delight, kindness, good pleasure and purpose. The good will is God’s: his gracious pleasure and purpose to bless and save people through his Son, the love with which “God so loved the world” (John 3:16).
“Good will toward men” or “men of good will”?
This line reads two ways, because the ancient manuscripts differ by a small ending. The KJV follows the Textus Receptus, which has eudokía, so the angels announce peace on earth and good will from God toward men. Other ancient manuscripts, among them Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, have eudokías, which gives “peace among men of good will” or “peace to men on whom his favour rests”. Believers differ on which reading Luke wrote. On either reading the peace comes from God’s gracious favour. The KJV reading names that favour itself, and the other names the people who receive it, and the same God “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
Let us now go and see
When the angels “were gone away from them into heaven”, the vision ended and the shepherds were alone with what they had heard. They “said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem”: together, at once (“now”), and all the way to the place the angel had named (“even unto”). They left their flocks because they wanted to “see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.”
Three words carry the verse. gínomai, to come into being or to happen, appears twice, in “it came to pass” and “is come to pass”. What the angels announced has really happened in history, and the shepherds go to see a fact. “Thing” is rhēma, which means an utterance, a word or saying, and also the matter a word speaks of. The shepherds are going to see the word God spoke, now made a visible event. gnōrízō, “hath made known”, means to make known or reveal. The shepherds give the credit to the Lord, because this knowledge came to them as his gift and the angel was his messenger. The verb “see”, eídō, means to see, to perceive and to know.
Their faith acted. They did what James urges, “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22), and they found Jesus’ promise true, “seek, and ye shall find” (Matthew 7:7). What they went to see was the Word himself, who “was God” (John 1:1) and “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), for “all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
They came with haste
“They came with haste.” speúdō means more than speed. It carries eagerness, diligence and zeal, the urgency of men who believed what they had heard. They “found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger”, in the very words of the sign the angel gave in verse 12. Every detail held true, and God’s word proved reliable. These shepherds were the first people to come and see the Lord made flesh.
The shepherds make the news known
“When they had seen it”, with the verb eídō again, the shepherds had seen with their own eyes what they had heard, and they “made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child”. diagnōrízō is gnōrízō with dia, “through”, added: to make known thoroughly, widely and openly. The Lord had made the news known to them (verse 15), and now they make it known all around. What they told was the angel’s message, that this child was a Saviour, Christ the Lord, and they passed it on faithfully. The word for child, paidíon, is a diminutive, “little child”, so they were declaring the greatness of a helpless infant.
These humble, unlearned men became the first human heralds of Christ’s birth, and God has used ordinary people to spread his news ever since. Their telling is the psalmist’s: “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul” (Psalm 66:16). It is the apostles’ too: “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Paul asks, “how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14). The shepherds told of a child, and the church after them tells of the same Jesus crucified and risen, the one we confess as Lord (Romans 10:9), “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), of whom all the Scriptures testify (John 5:39).
All who heard wondered
“All they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” akoúō, “heard”, can mean to give attention and to understand as well as to hear. thaumázō, “wondered”, comes from thaûma, a marvel, and means to be astonished and amazed at something beyond all expectation. laléō, “told”, means to talk or utter words, and it stresses the speaking itself: the shepherds told it aloud to anyone who would listen. Their hearers were the people of Bethlehem and the countryside, and the census had probably filled the town (Luke 2:1–3). Shepherds’ testimony carried little weight in that society, and still it stirred wonder.
Luke records the same wonder at the birth of John, when “they marvelled all” (Luke 1:63), and at Pentecost, when the crowd “were all amazed and marvelled” (Acts 2:7) and later “were pricked in their heart” (Acts 2:37). Wonder is where faith can begin, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
Mary kept all these things
“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” The little word “But” (dé) sets Mary apart from the wondering crowd. syntēréō, “kept”, means to keep closely together, to preserve and treasure. “These things” is rhēma again, the words and the events they spoke of. symbállō, “pondered”, literally means to throw together. Mary laid the pieces side by side and compared them: Gabriel’s announcement (Luke 1:26–38), her own answer, “be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38), the shepherds’ report of angels, and the child in the manger. kardía, the heart, is in Scripture the centre of the whole person, the seat of mind, will, feeling and moral choice, so Mary was taking these things in at the deepest level of her being.
This is the meditation Scripture commends to all God’s people. The blessed man delights in the law of the LORD, “and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:2), and the psalmist says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart” (Psalm 119:11). Luke tells of the same habit twelve years later, when Mary “kept all these sayings in her heart” after finding Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:51), and her understanding of her Son kept growing through his whole life. Luke gives the faith of women a prominent place in his Gospel, and Mary is its clearest example. The shepherds spoke and Mary kept, and both are faithful responses to God’s word. Her pondering points to what Paul prays for every believer, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:17).
The shepherds return praising God
“And the shepherds returned”, back to their fields and flocks and their ordinary work, “glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.” doxázō, “glorifying”, is the verb that goes with dóxa, and it means to honour, magnify and esteem as glorious. ainéō, “praising”, is the same verb used of the angels in verse 13. The angels sang “Glory to God”, and now men on earth give him glory with the same praise, so earth answers heaven.
They praised God for what they had “heard and seen”, akoúō and eídō. They heard the angel’s word first, and then they saw it with their own eyes, and their worship rested on both. “As it was told unto them” closes the account: everything matched the word. God had kept the promises spoken long before through Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14) and Micah (Micah 5:2), and the shepherds found him faithful down to the manger. So they did what the psalmist calls for, “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name” (Psalm 103:1). Paul describes people who “knew God” and “glorified him not as God, neither were thankful” (Romans 1:21), and these shepherds are the opposite. They also told others what they had heard and seen, the pattern of witness Jesus would give his followers (Matthew 28:19–20).
Their praise is a small foretaste of the worship the whole creation will give to the Lamb, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” (Revelation 5:12), when every creature in heaven and on earth says, “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (Revelation 5:13). The child they praised God for is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), by whom “were all things created” (Colossians 1:16), and he is the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep until he finds it (Luke 15:3–7).
Good tidings still unto you
The angel’s words were “unto you”, and they still are. The same Saviour, Christ the Lord, is announced to us in the gospel, and the God who met shepherds at their night’s work meets people in the middle of ordinary days. Whatever your standing, this news was meant for you from its first telling, because God chose to give it first to people the world overlooked.
The shepherds show how the news takes hold. They heard, they went to see, they found it true, they told others, and they praised God. Some of us are more like Mary, keeping these things and turning them over for years as our understanding grows, and her way is just as faithful. Both begin with God’s word and end in worship. You can join the angels’ song and the shepherds’ praise on any day of the year, because everything happened “as it was told unto them”, and God’s promises to you in Christ are just as sure.
Luke 2:8
“And there were in the same country shepherds”
The countryside around Bethlehem, where Jesus had just been born. The scene moves from the family at the manger out to the fields, and the poimḗn is a working man of low standing.
“abiding in the field,”
agrauléō, living out in the open with the flock, which is why they were there to receive the angel.
“keeping watch over their flock by night.”
phylássō, an active guard against wolves and thieves. The darkness of their watch is about to be lit by the glory of the Lord.
Luke 2:9
“And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,”
“Lo” (idoú) marks how unexpected it was. The ángelos is God’s messenger, sent from his presence with news.
“and the glory of the Lord shone round about them:”
God’s dóxa surrounded them on every side, the glory that once filled the tabernacle.
“and they were sore afraid.”
Literally “they feared a great fear”, phobéō with mégas, the awe of sinners before God’s holiness, which the angel answers at once.
Luke 2:10
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not:”
Comfort comes before the news, and the presence that frightened them has come for their good.
“for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,”
“For” gives the reason they can stop fearing. euangelízō means the angel is preaching the gospel, and the joy is chará, gladness that lasts.
“which shall be to all people.”
laós, a people and especially God’s people, and through Israel the joy reaches every nation.
Luke 2:11
“For unto you is born this day”
“You” is plural, and “this day” is a real day in history. The words echo “unto us a child is born” in Isaiah 9:6.
“in the city of David”
Bethlehem, which ties the child to David’s line and to Micah’s prophecy.
“a Saviour,”
sōtḗr, the deliverer, here from sin and its consequences.
“which is Christ the Lord.”
“Which is” explains who the Saviour is: Christós, the Anointed One, and kýrios, the word the Greek Old Testament used for the name of God.
Luke 2:12
“And this shall be a sign unto you;”
sēmeîon, a token the shepherds could check with their own eyes.
“Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,”
bréphos, a newborn. Swaddling was what every mother did, so this part of the sign shows a real and ordinary human baby.
“lying in a manger.”
keîmai and phátnē, lying in a feeding trough, the detail that marks this child out from every other newborn in Bethlehem.
Luke 2:13
“And suddenly there was with the angel”
exaíphnēs, all at once. The single messenger is joined by many, who confirm what he said.
“a multitude of the heavenly host”
plēthos with ouránios and stratiá, a great throng of heaven’s army.
“praising God, and saying,”
ainéō with theós. “And saying” leads into the song of verse 14.
Luke 2:14 This verse
“Glory to God in the highest,”
en hypsistois, the highest heavens. God’s glory comes first in the song, as it is first in the purpose of Christ’s coming.
“and on earth peace,”
gē and eirḗnē, peace with God for the world of people, the shalom the Prince of Peace brings.
“good will toward men.”
eudokía, God’s good pleasure toward people. Other manuscripts read “men of good will” (see above).
Luke 2:15
“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven,”
The angels return where they came from, and the shepherds are left to act on what they heard. The verb is gínomai.
“the shepherds said one to another,”
They decide together, with one purpose.
“Let us now go even unto Bethlehem,”
“Now” shows their urgency and “even unto” their resolve to go the whole way, leaving their flock to do it.
“and see this thing which is come to pass,”
rhēma, the word that has become an event, and gínomai a second time.
“which the Lord hath made known unto us.”
gnōrízō. They know the angels spoke for the Lord.
Luke 2:16
“And they came with haste,”
speúdō, eager and zealous haste.
“and found Mary, and Joseph,”
They found the very family the sign pointed to.
“and the babe lying in a manger.”
The words of the sign in verse 12, bréphos and phátnē, now seen fulfilled.
Luke 2:17
“And when they had seen it,”
eídō. What they had heard, they had now seen.
“they made known abroad”
diagnōrízō, spreading widely what the Lord had made known (gnōrízō) to them.
“the saying which was told them concerning this child.”
The angel’s message, passed on faithfully, about a paidíon, a little child.
Luke 2:18
“And all they that heard it”
akoúō. The people of Bethlehem and round about who heard the shepherds’ report, “all” of them.
“wondered at those things”
thaumázō, astonishment at something far beyond expectation.
“which were told them by the shepherds.”
laléō. Humble messengers, and they were heard all the same.
Luke 2:19
“But Mary kept all these things,”
dé sets her apart from the crowd. She treasured (syntēréō) every rhēma, word and event alike.
“and pondered them in her heart.”
symbállō, putting the pieces together. “In her heart” is en with kardía and autós, the centre of her whole being.
Luke 2:20
“And the shepherds returned,”
Back to the fields and flocks, carrying what they had met there.
“glorifying and praising God”
doxázō and ainéō, the angels’ worship now on human lips.
“for all the things that they had heard and seen,”
akoúō and eídō, the word first and then the sight.
“as it was told unto them.”
Everything matched what the angel had said.
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