Luke 2:24

And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
offer	δοῦναι dounai	G1325	to give (used in a very wide application · verb — second aorist active infinitive
sacrifice	θυσίαν thusian	G2378	sacrifice (the act or the victim · noun — accusative singular feminine
to	κατὰ kata	G2596	(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
said	εἰρημένον eirēmenon	G2046	an alternate for G2036 (ἔπω) in certain tenses · verb — perfect passive participle, accusative singular neuter
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
law	νόμῳ nomō	G3551	law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — dative singular masculine
Lord	κυρίου· kuriou	G2962	supreme in authority · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
pair	ζεῦγος zeugos	G2201	a couple · noun — accusative singular neuter
turtledoves	τρυγόνων trugonōn	G5167	akin to G5149 (τρίζω) · noun — genitive plural feminine
or	ἢ ē	G2228	disjunctive · conjunction
two	δύο duo	G1417	"two" · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
young	νοσσοὺς nossous	G3502	a youngling (nestling) · noun — accusative plural masculine
pigeons	περιστερῶν.¶ peristerōn	G4058	a pigeon · noun — genitive plural feminine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Leviticus 12:6-8 And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offerin…
Leviticus 12:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; accor…
2 Corinthians 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty mig…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 2:21-24

Our Lord Jesus, being made of a woman, was made under the law, Gal 4:4. He was not only, as the son of a daughter of Adam, made under the law of nature, but as the son of a daughter of Abraham was made under the law of Moses; he put his neck under that yoke, though it was a heavy yoke, and a shadow of good things to come. Though its institutions were beggarly elements, and rudiments of this world, as the apostle calls them, Christ submitted to it, that he might with the better grace cancel it, and set it aside for us. Now here we have two instances of his being made under that law, and submitting to it. I. He was circumcised on the very day that the law appointed (Luk 2:21): When eight days…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 2:22

PURIFICATION OF THE VIRGIN--PRESENTATION OF THE BABE IN THE TEMPLE-SCENE THERE WITH SIMEON AND ANNA. (Luke 2:22-40) her purification--Though the most and best copies read "their," it was the mother only who needed purifying from the legal uncleanness of childbearing. "The days" of this purification for a male child were forty in all (Lev 12:2, Lev 12:4), on the expiry of which the mother was required to offer a lamb for a burnt offering, and a turtle dove or a young pigeon for a sin offering. If she could not afford a lamb, the mother had to bring another turtle dove or young pigeon; and, if even this was beyond her means, then a portion of fine flour, but without the usual fragrant accompa…

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Adam Clarke on Luke 2:24

And to offer a sacrifice - Neither mother nor child was considered as in the Lord's covenant, or under the Divine protection, till these ceremonies, prescribed by the law, had been performed. A pair of turtle doves, etc. - One was for a burnt-offering, and the other for a sin-offering: see Lev 12:8. The rich were required to bring a lamb, but the poor and middling classes were required to bring either two turtle doves, or two pigeons. This is a proof that the holy family were not in affluence. Jesus sanctified the state of poverty, which is the general state of man, by passing through it. Therefore the poor have the Gospel preached unto them; and the poor are they who principally receive it.…

The Church Fathers

But while each bird, from its habit of wailing, represents the present sorrows of the saints, in this they differ, that the turtle is solitary, but the pigeon flies about in flocks, and hence the one points to the secret tears of confession, the other to the public assembling of the Church.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(ubi sup.) He ordered two things to be offered, because as man consists of both body and soul, the Lord requires a double return from us, chastity and meekness, not only of the body, but also of the soul. Otherwise, man will be a dissembler and hypocrite, wearing the face of innocence to mask his hidden malice.
— Athanasius of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Or the pigeon denotes simplicity, the turtle dove chastity, for the pigeon is a lover of simplicity, and the turtle dove of chastity, so that if by chance she has lost her mate, she heeds not to find another. Rightly then are the pigeon and turtle dove offered as victims to the Lord, because the simple and chaste conversation of the faithful is a sacrifice of righteousness well pleasing to Him.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Crucifixion — A common mode of punishment among heathen nations in early times. It is not certain whether it was known among the ancient Jews; probably it was not. The modes of capital punishment according to the…
Dove — In their wild state doves generally build their nests in the clefts of rocks, but when domesticated “dove-cots” are prepared for them (Cant. 2:14; Jer. 48:28; Isa. 60:8). The dove was placed on the…
Pigeon — Pigeons are mentioned as among the offerings which, by divine appointment, Abram presented unto the Lord (Gen. 15:9). They were afterwards enumerated among the sin-offerings (Lev. 1:14; 12:6), and…
Turtle, Turtle-dove — Its peculiar peaceful and gentle habit its often referred to in Scripture. A pair was offered in sacrifice by Mary at her purification (Luke 2:24). The pigeon and the turtle-dove were the only birds…
Dove, Turtle · .Of women — .Of women
Jesus, The Christ · .Is presented in the temple (in — .Is presented in the temple (in
Pigeon · Used as sacrifice — Used as sacrifice

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Luke 2:24

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 2:21-24

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 2:22

Adam Clarke on Luke 2:24

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Luke 2:24

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 2:21-24

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 2:22

Adam Clarke on Luke 2:24

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Luke 2:24

John Calvin on Luke 2:22-32

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Luke 2:24