Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
This child is set for the fall - This seems an allusion to Isaiah 8:14, Isaiah 8:15 : Jehovah, God of hosts, shall be - for a stone of stumbling and rock of offense to both houses of Israel; and many among them shall stumble and fall, etc. As Christ did not come as a temporal deliverer, in which character alone the Jews expected him, the consequence should be, they would reject him, and so fall by the Romans. See Romans 11:11, Romans 11:12, and Matthew 24. But in the fullness of time there shall be a rising again of many in Israel. See Romans 11:26.
And for a sign - A mark or butt to shoot at - a metaphor taken from archers. Or perhaps Simeon refers to Isaiah 11:10-12. There shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an Ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: - intimating that the Jews would reject it, while the Gentiles should flock to it as their ensign of honor, under which they were to enjoy a glorious rest.
That the thoughts (or reasonings) of many hearts may be revealed - I have transposed this clause to the place to which I believe it belongs. The meaning appears to me to be this: The rejection of the Messiah by the Jewish rulers will sufficiently Proverbs that they sought the honor which comes from the world, and not that honor which comes from God: because they rejected Jesus, merely for the reason that he did not bring them a temporal deliverance. So the very Pharisees, who were loud in their professions of sanctity and devotedness to God, rejected Jesus, and got him crucified, because his kingdom was not of this world. Thus the reasonings of many hearts were revealed.
Other Adam Clarke entries containing Luke 2:34:
1 Peter 2:8
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