Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 2:29

"Now lettest thou thy servant depart, Lord, According to thy word, in peace;" — Luke 2:29 (ASV)

Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.—It is not fitting to alter the translation, but we must remember that the central idea is that of the manumission of a slave.

The word for "Lord" here is not the usual Kyrios, but Despotes. This term is rarely used for God; when it is, it almost always refers to the relationship between a master and a slave who belongs to him by inheritance or purchase. The only other instances of its use in this manner are Acts 4:24; 2 Peter 2:1; Jude 1:4; and Revelation 6:10.

Simeon speaks as a slave who, through the night of long, weary years, has been standing on the watchtower of expectation and is at last set free by the rising of the Sun.

According to thy word.—The reference is to the oracle that had been spoken within his soul and was now being fulfilled.