Luke 2:15

15 And it happened that when the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began to say to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has revealed to us!"

Luke 2:15 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 2:15

And it came to pass, as the angels
The Persic version reads in the singular number, "the angel: were gone away from them into heaven", from whence they came, and which was the place of their abode and residence; and therefore they are called the angels of heaven, where they always behold the face of God, hearken to the voice of his commandment, and go and come at his orders; and these having finished their embassy, delivered their message to the shepherds, and done all the work they came about,

departed from them:
and, as the Ethiopic version adds, "and ascended up into heaven"; and as soon as they were gone, immediately,

the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even to Bethlehem
the place where the angel said the Saviour was born,

and see this thing which hath come to pass, which the Lord hath
made known to us:
from whence it appears, that it was not from diffidence of the matter, as questioning the truth of what the angel said, that they moved one another to go to Bethlehem; for they firmly believed the thing was come to pass, which the angel had told them of, and that what he said was from the Lord; nor did they act any criminal part, or indulge a vain curiosity, in going to Bethlehem to see what was done; for it seems to be the will of God that they should go, and for which they had a direction from the angel, and a sign given them by which they might know the new born Saviour from any other infant, ( Luke 2:12 ) and which would also be a further confirmation of their faith, and by which they would be qualified not only as ear, but as eyewitnesses of the truth of this fact, to report it with greater certainty.

Luke 2:15 In-Context

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying,

14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people {with whom he is pleased}!"

15 And it happened that when the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began to say to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has revealed to us!"

16 And they went hurrying and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.

17 And [when they] saw [it], they made known the statement that had been told to them about this child.

Footnotes

• [a]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to say")