Nunc dimittis

[3] The title is formed from the opening words in the Latin Vulgate, "Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine" ("Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord").

Hoti eidon hoi ophthalmoi mou to sōtērion sou, ho hētoimasas kata prosōpon pantōn tōn laōn.

Nýně otpushcháeshi rabá Tvoyegó, Vladýko, po glagólu Tvoyemú s" mírom"; yáko víděsta óchi moí spaséníe Tvoyé, ếzhe êsí ugotóval" pred" litsém" vsěkh" lyudéy, svět" vo otkrovéníe yazýkov", i slávu lyudéy Tvoíkh" Izráilya.

Writing in the early 20th century, Friedrich Justus Knecht concludes from this passage that "belief in Jesus Christ drives away all fear of death."

"Pious Israelites closed their eyes in death, weary of life and submissive to God’s will; not altogether hopeless, but full of horror of the future.

[6] While serving as Prefect at Georgetown College, English Jesuit Roger Baxter reflects on this passage in his 19th-century Meditations, saying: "Oh that you would also bid farewell to all earthly things, and say with the Apostle, 'But I am straitened — having a desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ.'

[8][9] A 1530 rhymed version by Johannes Anglicus [de], "Im Frieden dein, o Herre mein", with a melody by Wolfgang Dachstein, was written in Strasbourg for that purpose.

In Common Worship, this is listed among "Canticles for Use at Funeral and Memorial Services"[11] One of the most well-known settings in England is a plainchant theme by Thomas Tallis.

[14] A setting by British composer Geoffrey Burgon is featured during the end credits of episodes in the 1979 television adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote a setting of the Slavonic Nunc dimittis text, Ны́не отпуща́еши (Nyne otpushchayeshi), as the fifth movement of his All-Night Vigil.

[15] The neoclassical electronic music group Mannheim Steamroller used the text of Nunc Dimittis in the song "Lumen" on their album Fresh Aire V, that was otherwise based on Johannes Kepler's novel Somnium.