The Nunc dimittis (), also known as the Song of Simeon or the Canticle of Simeon, is a

canticle In the context of Christian liturgy, a canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a psalm-like song with biblical lyrics taken from elsewhere than the Book of Psalms, but included in psalters and books su ...

taken from the second chapter of the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

, verses 29 to 32. Its

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name comes from its

incipit The incipit ( ) of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of Musical note, notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin an ...

, the opening words, of the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

translation of the passage, meaning "Now you let depart". Since the 4th century it has been used in Christian services of evening worship such as

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer liturgy (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wor ...

Vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

, and

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...

Biblical account

The title is formed from the opening words in the Latin Vulgate, "" ("Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord"). Although brief, the

abounds in

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

allusions. For example, "Because my eyes have seen thy salvation" alludes to Isaiah 52:10. According to the narrative in Luke 2:25–32,

Simeon Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew, Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated in English as Shimon. In Greek, it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Sy ...

was a devout Jew who had been promised by the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

that he would not die until he had seen the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

. When

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

and

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

presented the baby

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

to the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

for the ceremony of redemption of the firstborn son (after the time of Mary's purification: at least 40 days after the birth, and thus distinct from the

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

), Simeon was there. He took Jesus into his arms and uttered words rendered variously as follows:

Versions

Folio 63r - The Presentation in the Temple

The "Nunc dimittis" passage in the original

Koiné Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-regional form of Greek spoken and written during the Hellenistic ...

: Transliterated: Latin (

): English (Translation of the

): English (''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

'', 1662): English (

Roman Breviary The Roman Breviary (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Breviarium Romanum'') is a breviary of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. A liturgical book, it contains public or canonical Catholic prayer, prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notat ...

): The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (1662) was derived from the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

(1611) of the Bible. Its text for this canticle is the same as in the prayer book, except for the last line. The Bible () reads: "A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." Church Slavonic (in Cyrillic)

Commentary

Writing in the early 20th century,

Friedrich Justus Knecht Friedrich Justus Heinrich Knecht (7 October 1839 – 31 January 1921) was a Catholic Church in Germany, German Catholic theologian and writer who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Freiburg, Auxiliary Bishop of Freiburg from 1894 until his ...

concludes from this passage that "belief in Jesus Christ drives away all fear of death." He writes:

Simeon now rejoiced at the prospect of death. Such a sensation was hitherto unknown in Israel. "Pious Israelites closed their eyes in death, weary of life and submissive to God’s will; not altogether hopeless, but full of horror of the future. Death was a thing to be feared, and each new day of life which was granted was looked on as a gain" (Grimm). But all at once every thing was changed. Holy Simeon had seen the Saviour, and was now ready to die joyfully. In fact, he did die very soon after; a pious tradition even goes so far as to say that he died before he left the Temple. He was thus the first to take the joyful news to
Limbo The unofficial term Limbo (, or , referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition in medieval Catholic theology, of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. However, it has become the gene ...
that the Saviour was born and the day of salvation at hand.

While serving as Prefect at Georgetown College, English Jesuit

Roger Baxter Roger Baxter (1784–1827) was an English Jesuit who traveled to the United States in 1817 to serve as a Catholic missionary in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. From 1819 to 1824, he served as Prefect of Studies at the newly founded Georgeto ...

reflects on this passage in his 19th-century ''Meditations'', saying: "Oh that you would also bid farewell to all earthly things, and say with the Apostle, 'But I am straitened — having a desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ.' (Phil. 1:23.)"

Liturgical and musical settings

The ''Nunc Dimittis'' is the traditional "Gospel Canticle" of Night Prayer (

), just as ''

Benedictus Benedictus, Latin for "blessed" or "a blessed person", may refer to: Music * "Benedictus" (canticle), also called the "Canticle of Zachary", a canticle in the Gospel of Lukas * Part of the "Sanctus", a hymn and part of the eucharistic prayer in W ...

'' and ''

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

'' are the traditional Gospel Canticles of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, respectively. The Nunc Dimittis is found in the liturgical night office of many western denominations, including

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

in the 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'', Compline (A Late Evening Service) in the 1928 ''Book of Common Prayer'', and the Night Prayer service in the

Common Worship ''Common Worship'' is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical M ...

. Both the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

services of Compline include this canticle. In eastern tradition the canticle is included in

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

. In many Lutheran orders of service, the ''Nunc Dimittis'' may be sung following the reception of the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

. A 1530 rhymed version by , " Im Frieden dein, o Herre mein", with a melody by Wolfgang Dachstein, was written in Strasbourg for that purpose.

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...

wrote at least two settings, one in

Musikalische Exequien , Opus number, Op. 7, Schütz-Werke-Verzeichnis, SWV 279–281, is a sacred funeral music that Heinrich Schütz wrote in 1635 or 1636 for the funeral services of Count Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera, who had died on 3 December 1635. It is Schüt ...

(1636), the other in Symphoniae sacrae II (1647). The feast day ''Mariae Reinigung'' was observed in the Lutheran Church in J. S. Bach's time. He composed several cantatas for the occasion, including ''Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin'', BWV 125, a chorale cantata on Martin Luther's paraphrase of the canticle, and ''Ich habe genug'', BWV 82. Many composers have set the text to music, usually coupled in the Anglican church with the

, as both the Magnificat and the Nunc dimittis are sung (or said) during the Anglican service of Evening Prayer according to the Book of Common Prayer, 1662. This prayer book merged the older offices of Vespers (Evening Prayer) and Compline (Night Prayer) into one service, which contained both Gospel canticles. In Common Worship, this is listed among "Canticles for Use at Funeral and Memorial Services" One of the most well-known settings in England is a

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ; ) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive for ...

theme by

Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (; also Tallys or Talles; 23 November 1585) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one ...

. Herbert Howells composed 20 settings of this pair of canticles, including the Gloucester Service (1947) and the St Paul's Service (1951). A setting of the Nunc dimittis by

Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...

was sung as the recessional at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher. Stanford wrote many settings of both the ''Magnificat'' and ''Nunc dimittis''. The Genevan Psalter used by

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

churches also included the metrical versification for ''Nunc Dimittis''. The music was composed by Louis Bourgeois and the lyrics were versified from the biblical text by

Clément Marot Clément Marot (23 November 1496 – 12 September 1544) was a French Renaissance poet. He was influenced by the writers of the late 15th century and paved the way for the Pléiade, and is undoubtedly the most important poet at the court of Fr ...

. A setting by British composer Geoffrey Burgon is featured during the end credits of episodes in the 1979 television adaptation of ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''.

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

wrote a setting of the Slavonic ''Nunc dimittis'' text, Ны́не отпуща́еши (''Nyne otpushchayeshi''), as the fifth movement of his ''

All-Night Vigil The All-night vigil is a service of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches consisting of an aggregation of the canonical hours of Compline (in Greek usage only), Vespers (or, on a few occasions, Great Compline), Matins, and the ...

.'' It is known for its final measures, in which the basses sing a descending scale ending on the B♭ below the bass clef. The neoclassical electronic music group

Mannheim Steamroller Mannheim Steamroller is an American neoclassical new-age music ensemble founded and directed by percussionist/composer Chip Davis in 1974. The group is known primarily for its '' Fresh Aire'' series of albums, which blend classical music with e ...

used the text of ''Nunc Dimittis'' in the song "Lumen" on their album Fresh Aire V, that was otherwise based on

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best know ...

's novel Somnium.

Literary settings

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

, Letter to

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

(17 May 1816), Joseph Cabell (31 January 1821), and General Andrew Jackson (18 December 1823) * T. H. White novel ''

The Once and Future King ''The Once and Future King'' is a collection of fantasy novels by T. H. White about the legend of King Arthur. It is loosely based upon the 1485 work ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' by Sir Thomas Malory. It was first published in 1958 as a collection o ...

'' – recitation by Merlyn *

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

poem ''

A Song for Simeon "A Song for Simeon" is a 37-line poem written in 1928 by the American-English poet T. S. Eliot (1888–1965). It is one of five poems that Eliot contributed to the ''Ariel Poems'' series of 38 pamphlets by several authors published by ...

'' (1928) *

Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union, Brodsky ran afoul of Soviet authorities and was expelled ("strongly ...

poem "Nunc Dimittis" (1972) *

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

poem "Cantico del Sole" (1918) *

Karel Čapek Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum' ...

play '' R.U.R.'' (1920) *

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

short story "

Nunc Dimittis The Nunc dimittis (), also known as the Song of Simeon or the Canticle of Simeon, is a canticle taken from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 29 to 32. Its Latin name comes from its incipit, the opening words, of the Vulgate transl ...

" (1953–1979) *

Tanith Lee Tanith Lee (19 September 1947 – 24 May 2015) was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime ...

story "

" (1984–1986) * Walter Miller, '' A Canticle for Leibowitz'' (1959) *

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophist ...

novel '' A Murder of Quality'' (1962) *

novel ''

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by the author and former spy John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of the taciturn, ageing spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. Th ...

'' (1974) – closing theme of TV adaptation *

novel '' The Constant Gardener'' (2001) – sung at the funeral of Tessa Quayle *

H. W. Brands Henry William Brands Jr. (born August 7, 1953) is an American historian. He holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his PhD in history in 1985. He has authored more than thirty books o ...

novel '' The Strange Death of American Liberalism'' * David Mitchell novel ''

Cloud Atlas A cloud atlas is a pictorial key (or an atlas) to the nomenclature of clouds. Early cloud atlases were an important element in the training of meteorologists and in weather forecasting, and the author of a 1923 atlas stated that "increasing use ...

'' – "Pacific journal of Adam Ewing, part 1" *

Edith Pargeter Edith Mary Pargeter (28 September 1913 – 14 October 1995), also known by her pen name Ellis Peters, was an English author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translations of ...

novel, writing as Ellis Peters in the 6th and 15th volumes of " The Cadfael Chronicles", '' The Virgin in the Ice'' and '' The Confession of Brother Haluin''

References

External links

List of available settings
at

Choral Public Domain Library The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL), also known as the ChoralWiki, is an online database for choral and vocal music. Its contents primarily include sheet music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing ...

. {{Authority control Vulgate Latin words and phrases Canticles Christian hymns in Latin Christian prayer Gospel of Luke Nativity of Jesus in the New Testament New Testament Latin words and phrases