Luke 2:34

Verse 34. This child is set for the fall] This seems an allusion to Isaiah 8:14: Jehovah, God of hosts, shall be-for a stone of stumbling and rock of offence to both houses of Israel; and many among them shall stumble and fall, c. 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, and Matthew 24. But in the fulness 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. 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 honour, 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 prove that they sought the honour which comes from the world, and not that honour 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.