The Fallible Study Bible

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Luke2:41–52

The Boy Jesus at the Temple

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Luke 2:41–52 — The Boy Jesus at the Temple. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

41

Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai kat’ etos autou hoi goneis eporeuonto eis Ierousalēm tē heortē tou pascha

Word by word13 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
κατ’kat’EveryG2596
√ κατά — (prepositionally) down (in place or time), in varied relations (according to the case (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined)Preposition
ἔτοςetosyearG2094
√ ἔτος — a yearNounAccusative Neuter Singular
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
οἱhoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
γονεῖςgoneisparentsG1118
√ γονεύς — a parentNounNominative Masculine Plural
goneus: a parent The word returns in v. 43 as the subject of "did not know" and in John 9:23 of parents who are afraid. Luke uses it plainly: these are his parents, and Luke will let Mary say "thy father" in v. 48 before Jesus corrects the term.
ἐπορεύοντοeporeuontowentG4198
√ πορεύομαι — to traverse, iVerbImperfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Plural
poreuomai: to traverse, to journey (Imperfect) The imperfect of habit. Luke's first word about the boyhood of Jesus is a verb of repeated, unremarkable obedience: this household went up, and went up, and went up. Poole draws the ecclesial lesson that the worship of a corrupted Jerusalem was still God's institution and still attended; Pulpit calls the yearly presence "another indication of the rigid obedience of the holy family of Nazareth."
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
ἸερουσαλὴμIerousalēmJerusalemG2419
√ Ἱερουσαλήμ — Hierusalem (iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
τῇtēfor theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
ἑορτῇheortēFeastG1859
√ ἑορτή — a festivalNounDative Feminine Singular
heortē: a festival Dative of time: at the Feast. The word governs the whole unit (it recurs at v. 42), and the festival named in the next word fixes which one.
τοῦtouof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
πάσχαpaschaPassoverG3957
√ πάσχα — the Passover (the meal, the day, the festival or the special sacrifices connected with it)NounGenitive Neuter Singular
pascha: the Passover G3957, a Greek transliteration of the Aramaic/Hebrew name rather than a translation, so the word itself carries the Exodus into Luke's Greek. The child who is brought up to the memorial of the lamb is, in Luke's own later narrative, the one who says "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you" (Luke 22:15). The brief's voices do not draw that line here; the observation is ⚙, and the verbal link cannot be proved from shared Strong's numbers, since the Exodus text is Hebrew.
42

And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the Feast.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai hote egeneto dōdeka etōn autōn anabainontōn kata to ethos tēs heortēs

Word by word12 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὅτεhotewhenG3753
√ ὅτε — at which (thing) too, iAdverb
ἐγένετοegenetoHe wasG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to come to be (Aorist Middle) "When He became twelve years": Luke marks an age, and every commentator in the brief reads it as the hinge of Jewish boyhood. Ellicott lays out the stages (weaned at three, the Law at five, direct responsibility at twelve, phylacteries at thirteen); Gill, arguing from Yoma and Massechet Sopherim, resists the common claim that twelve made him "a son of the commandment" and says the age of obligation was thirteen years and one day.
δώδεκαdōdekatwelveG1427
√ δώδεκα — two and ten, iAdjectiveGenitive Neuter Plural
dōdeka: twelve The number carries the weight the narrative needs and nothing more. Cambridge collects the rabbinic parallels (twelve as the age at which Moses left Pharaoh's daughter, Samuel was called, Solomon judged, Josiah reformed); these are traditions Cambridge reports, not claims Luke makes.
ἐτῶνetōnyears [old]G2094
√ ἔτος — a yearNounGenitive Neuter Plural
αὐτῶνautōntheyG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ἀναβαινόντωνanabainontōnwent upG305
√ ἀναβαίνω — to go up (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Participle ActiveGenitive Masculine Plural
anabainō: to go up The pilgrim ascent. Genitive absolute, present tense: the going up is still in progress when the sentence turns. Luke frames the whole episode between this ἀνα- (up, v. 42) and the κατέβη (down, v. 51), so that the boy's one recorded act of staying is bracketed by two ordinary journeys.
κατὰkataaccording toG2596
√ κατά — (prepositionally) down (in place or time), in varied relations (according to the case (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined)Preposition
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
ἔθοςethoscustomG1485
√ ἔθος — a usage (prescribed by habit or law)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
ethos: a usage prescribed by habit or law The one word in the verse where custom and commandment overlap, which is why the commentators fight over it rather than over the statute. Luke does not write νόμος: he writes the word Strong's glosses as usage prescribed by habit or law, and leaves it undecided whether this ascent was owed or chosen. Gill seizes the ambiguity ("this was not law, but custom"), and the accusative τὸ ἔθος governs the participle, so the going up is measured by the usage rather than commanded by it.
τῆςtēsof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
ἑορτῆςheortēsFeastG1859
√ ἑορτή — a festivalNounGenitive Feminine Singular
43

When those days were over and they were returning home, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware He had stayed.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai tas hēmeras teleiōsantōn en autous tō hypostrephein ho pais Iēsous hypemeinen en Ierousalēm kai autou hoi goneis ouk egnōsan

Word by word20 · parsed
καὶkai[When]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τὰςtasthoseG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Plural
ἡμέραςhēmerasdaysG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounAccusative Feminine Plural
τελειωσάντωνteleiōsantōnwere overG5048
√ τελειόω — to complete, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveGenitive Masculine Plural
teleioō: to complete, to bring to an end A weightier verb than "were over." The days are finished, brought to their term. The same root will later name what Jesus does with his own course; here it names only the eight days of the feast, and Luke asks nothing more of it.
ἐνen[and]G1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτοὺςautoustheyG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
ὑποστρέφεινhypostrepheinwere returning [home]G5290
√ ὑποστρέφω — to turn under (behind), iVerbPresent Infinitive Active
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
παῖςpaisboyG3816
√ παῖς — a boy (as often beaten with impunity), or (by analogy), a girl, and (genitive case) a childNounNominative Masculine Singular
pais: a boy, a child Cambridge's ladder of words (babe, little child, boy, man) is the strongest internal evidence that Luke is deliberately narrating a life at every stage, and the reason this verse, not v. 40, is where the boyhood begins.
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ὑπέμεινενhypemeinenremained behindG5278
√ ὑπομένω — to stay under (behind), iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
hypomenō: to stay under, to remain behind (Aorist) The pivot of the unit. Everything in the narrative, the searching, the anguish, the first recorded words, hangs on this one aorist. Gill draws the parental caution: "this action of Christ is not to be drawn into an example, or precedent for children." JFB draws the opposite caution and aims it at adults: worship must in its turn give place to the duties of life.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ἸερουσαλήμIerousalēmJerusalemG2419
√ Ἱερουσαλήμ — Hierusalem (iNounDative Feminine Singular
καὶkaibutG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
οἱhoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
γονεῖςgoneisparentsG1118
√ γονεύς — a parentNounNominative Masculine Plural
οὐκoukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἔγνωσανegnōsanwere unaware [He had stayed]G1097
√ γινώσκω — to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applications and with many implications (as follow, with others not thus clearly expressed)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ginōskō: to know Aorist: at no point did they come to know it. Set beside συνῆκαν in v. 50, Luke gives two distinct failures of the parents, one of fact and one of meaning, and neither is presented as blame.
44

Assuming He was in their company, they traveled on for a day before they began to look for Him among their relatives and friends.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de nomisantes auton einai en tē synodia ēlthon hodon hēmeras kai anezētoun auton en tois syngeneusin kai tois gnōstois

Word by word19 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
νομίσαντεςnomisantesAssumingG3543
√ νομίζω — properly, to do by law (usage), iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
nomizō: to suppose, to reckon by usage The whole loss turns on an assumption made from habit. Ellicott's guess is that the boys of such a caravan travelled together; Barnes lists three sober possibilities and refuses to choose. The text itself says only that they supposed.
αὐτὸνautonHeG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
εἶναιeinaiwasG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Infinitive Active
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtētheirG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
συνοδίᾳsynodiacompanyG4923
√ συνοδία — companionship on a journey, iNounDative Feminine Singular
synodia: a company of travellers on a journey A single Greek noun for the pilgrim caravan. Benson's long ethnographic note (travel by night in hot weather, tents, regathering by family at evening) answers the obvious objection about a whole day's negligence, and does so without adding anything to Luke.
ἦλθονēlthonvvvG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ὁδὸνhodonthey traveled onG3598
√ ὁδός — a roadNounAccusative Feminine Singular
ἡμέραςhēmerasfor a dayG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
καὶkai[before]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀνεζήτουνanezētounthey began to lookG327
√ ἀναζητέω — to search outVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
anazēteō: to search out (Imperfect) One of only three verses in the NT where this compound appears, and Luke wrote all three (here, v. 45, and Acts 11:25 where Barnabas goes to Tarsus to seek out Saul). The Verifier's candidate list confirms the rarity. It is a Lukan word for a search that has to hunt, and its first canonical object is Jesus.
αὐτὸνautonfor HimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἐνenamongG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τοῖςtois[their]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
συγγενεῦσινsyngeneusinrelativesG4773
√ συγγενής — a relative (by blood)AdjectiveDative Masculine Plural
syngenēs: a relative by blood The circle Mary and Joseph search first, and the circle that will not hold him: Luke 21:16 puts γονεῖς and συγγενεῖς together as those who will hand disciples over.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
γνωστοῖςgnōstoisfriendsG1110
√ γνωστός — well-knownAdjectiveDative Masculine Plural
45

When they could not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai mē heurontes hypestrepsan eis Ierousalēm anazētountes auton

Word by word8 · parsed
καὶkaiWhenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
εὑρόντεςheurontesthey could not find [Him]G2147
√ εὑρίσκω — to find (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
ὑπέστρεψανhypestrepsanthey returnedG5290
√ ὑποστρέφω — to turn under (behind), iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
hypostrephō: to turn back The road is walked twice. Luke says nothing of the second day's feelings; the verb alone carries the reversal, and the commentators supply the rest.
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
ἸερουσαλὴμIerousalēmJerusalemG2419
√ Ἱερουσαλήμ — Hierusalem (iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
ἀναζητοῦντεςanazētountesto search forG327
√ ἀναζητέω — to search outVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
anazēteō: to search out (Present Participle) The second of the three NT occurrences, all Lukan. Present tense: they came back already searching. Henry turns this into the rule of recovery, that those who have lost their sight of Christ must go back to the place where he has put his name; that is application, and Henry says so.
αὐτόνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
46

Finally, after three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai egeneto meta treis hēmeras heuron auton en tō hierō kathezomenon en mesō tōn didaskalōn kai akouonta autōn kai eperōtōnta autous

Word by word21 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiFinallyG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐγένετοegeneto. . .G1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to come to pass Luke's Septuagint cadence. Its presence here quietly places the scene in the register of Old Testament narrative, which is a fact about Luke's style rather than a claim about the event.
μετὰmetaafterG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
τρεῖςtreisthreeG5140
√ τρεῖς — "three"AdjectiveAccusative Feminine Plural
ἡμέραςhēmerasdaysG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounAccusative Feminine Plural
εὗρονheuronthey foundG2147
√ εὑρίσκω — to find (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
αὐτὸνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῷtōtheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
ἱερῷhierōtemple [courts]G2411
√ ἱερόν — a sacred place, iNounDative Neuter Singular
hieron: a sacred place, the temple precinct The word matters for v. 49: if Jesus answers "in the things of my Father," the place where he says it is the precinct, not the holy place, and the claim is therefore about belonging rather than about priestly access.
καθεζόμενονkathezomenonsittingG2516
√ καθέζομαι — to sit downVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Masculine Singular
kathezomai: to sit down A learner's posture in the middle of the teachers. The Greek gives the position (ἐν μέσῳ) without ranking it, and the honest reading is Cambridge's and Barnes': he is in the school, not over it.
ἐνenamongG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
μέσῳmesō. . .G3319
√ μέσος — middle (as an adjective or (neuter) noun)AdjectiveDative Neuter Singular
τῶνtōntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
διδασκάλωνdidaskalōnteachersG1320
√ διδάσκαλος — an instructor (genitive case or specially)NounGenitive Masculine Plural
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀκούονταakouontalistening toG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbPresent Participle ActiveAccusative Masculine Singular
αὐτῶνautōnthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐπερωτῶνταeperōtōntaasking them questionsG1905
√ ἐπερωτάω — to ask for, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveAccusative Masculine Singular
eperōtaō: to question, to interrogate JFB's note is the most useful in the brief: question and answer was the ordinary rabbinic method, "teacher and learner becoming by turns questioner and answerer," so the scene is not precocity breaking decorum but a boy doing exactly what the school existed for. JFB then speculates that these questions were the germ of the later ones ("What think ye of Christ?"); that is JFB's guess, offered as a guess.
αὐτούςautous. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
47

And all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de pantes hoi akouontes autou existanto epi autou tē synesei kai tais apokrisesin

Word by word13 · parsed
δὲdeAndG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
πάντεςpantesallG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
οἱhoiwhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἀκούοντεςakouontesheardG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
αὐτοῦautouHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἐξίσταντοexistantowere astoundedG1839
√ ἐξίστημι — to put (stand) out of wits, iVerbImperfect Indicative Middle3rd Person Plural
existēmi: to stand out of one's wits (Imperfect Middle) The strongest verb in the unit for the hearers, and Luke will use a different and even stronger one for the parents one verse later (ἐξεπλάγησαν). Cambridge notes that Jewish tradition told similar stories of Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah and of Rabbi Ashi, and that Josephus told one about himself; Ellicott notes Josephus' egotism in doing so. The parallels are real and they cut both ways: such astonishment was a recognised genre, which is a reason for caution and not for dismissal.
ἐπὶepiatG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
συνέσειsyneseiunderstandingG4907
√ σύνεσις — a mental putting together, iNounDative Feminine Singular
synesis: a putting-together, understanding The unit's key cognitive noun. It is what the teachers see in him (v. 47) and, in its verbal form, precisely what his parents lack (v. 50, συνῆκαν). Luke has put the two in the same paragraph on purpose: strangers put his words together; the two who know him best cannot.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ταῖςtais[His]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
ἀποκρίσεσινapokrisesinanswersG612
√ ἀπόκρισις — a responseNounDative Feminine Plural
apokrisis: a response, an answer Rare (four NT verses). Of those four, one is this boy's answers and one is the answer at Luke 20:26 that silences the same class of men; the other two are John the Baptist asked who he is (John 1:22) and Jesus giving Pilate no answer at all (John 19:9). The noun marks moments when an answer settles a question of identity.
48

When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. “Child, why have You done this to us?” His mother asked. “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai idontes auton exeplagēsan Teknon ti epoiēsas houtōs hēmin autou hē mētēr kai eipen pros auton idou sou ho patēr kagō ezētoumen odynōmenoi se

Word by word24 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiWhenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἰδόντεςidontes[His parents] sawG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
αὐτὸνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἐξεπλάγησανexeplagēsanthey were astonishedG1605
√ ἐκπλήσσω — to strike with astonishmentVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
ekplēssō: to strike with astonishment (Aorist Passive) A blow, not a mood. Cambridge explains it socially: the Galilean "people of the land" held the great teachers in awe, and nothing in twelve quiet years had prepared them for this. Whether the subject is the parents or the bystanders is genuinely contested in the brief (Benson reports Campbell's case for the bystanders); the tier of certainty here should stay low.
ΤέκνονTeknonChildG5043
√ τέκνον — a child (as produced)NounVocative Neuter Singular
teknon: a child as produced, offspring Mary's word of relation, and the word Jesus does not take up. He answers her "child" and her "thy father" with "my Father," and Cambridge is right that he "does not accept the phrase 'Thy father' which Mary had employed."
τίtiwhyG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
ἐποίησαςepoiēsashave You doneG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active2nd Person Singular
οὕτωςhoutōsthisG3779
√ οὕτω — in this way (referring to what precedes or follows)Adverb
ἡμῖνhēminto usG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounDative 1st Person Plural
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
μήτηρmētērmotherG3384
√ μήτηρ — a "mother" (literally or figuratively, immediate or remote)NounNominative Feminine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εἶπενeipenaskedG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
πρὸςpros. . .G4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
αὐτὸνauton. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἰδοὺidouG2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
σουsouYourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
πατήρpatērfatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounNominative Masculine Singular
patēr: a father Mary's usage. Barnes explains it legally: "Joseph was not the 'real' father of Jesus, but he was 'legally' so." Gill adds the rabbinic maxim "not he that begets, but he that brings up, is the father." Pulpit notices that Joseph "stands evidently apart" through the whole scene and says nothing, here or anywhere in the Gospels.
κἀγὼkagōand IG2504
√ κἀγώ — so also the dative case , and accusative case and (or also, even, etcPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 1st Person Singular
ἐζητοῦμένezētoumenhave been anxiously searchingG2212
√ ζητέω — to seek (literally or figuratively)VerbImperfect Indicative Active1st Person Plural
zēteō: to seek Imperfect, and deliberately echoed by Jesus in v. 49 with the same verb in the same tense. Luke has written the mother's complaint and the son's reply as one sentence split between two speakers.
ὀδυνώμενοιodynōmenoi. . .G3600
√ ὀδυνάω — to grieveVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
odynaō: to grieve, to be in anguish A rare Lukan word (four verses: here, Luke 16:24, Luke 16:25, Acts 20:38). Mary's pain is named with the vocabulary Luke will later give to torment and to the Ephesian elders' grief at never seeing Paul again. BSB reduces it to an adverb.
σεsefor YouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Singular
49

“Why were you looking for Me?” He asked. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Ti hoti ezēteite me Kai eipen pros autous ouk ēdeite hoti me dei einai en mou tou Patros tois

Word by word19 · parsed
ΤίTiWhyG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ἐζητεῖτέezēteitewere you looking forG2212
√ ζητέω — to seek (literally or figuratively)VerbImperfect Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
zēteō: to seek (Imperfect) The same verb and tense Mary used. The reply is not evasion but a question aimed at the premise of hers: the search itself was the mistake, because the place was never in doubt. Ellicott reads it as "the holy Child's defence against the implied reproach."
μεmeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εἶπενeipenHe askedG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
πρὸςpros. . .G4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
αὐτούςautous. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
οὐκoukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ᾔδειτεēdeiteDid you not knowG1492
√ εἴδω — used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι) and G3708 (ὁράω)VerbPluperfect Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
eidō: to know, to have seen (Pluperfect) A knowledge they had and had let lapse. Pulpit's reconstruction is that twelve quiet years of carpentry had covered the memories of the infancy "with a veil"; that is a sympathetic guess, not a datum.
ὅτιhotithatG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
μεmeIG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
δεῖdeihadG1163
√ δεῖ — also deon deh-on'VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
dei: it is necessary Luke's word for the necessity that runs under the whole Gospel, and here it is a twelve-year-old's first recorded word about himself. The present tense makes it a standing law rather than a one-off excuse. Cambridge ties it to the Cross; that is a reading forward, and Cambridge marks it as such.
εἶναίeinaito beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Infinitive Active
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
μουmouMyG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΠατρόςPatrosFather’sG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounGenitive Masculine Singular
patēr: a father The hinge of the unit. Mary said "thy father and I"; he answers with "my Father" and names no other. Cambridge observes that Jesus always says ὁ πατήρ μου with the article, while teaching his disciples to say πατὴρ ἡμῶν without it, and concludes that "God is His Father in a different way from that in which He is ours." That is a grammatical observation carrying a large doctrinal load, and readers should weigh the load separately from the observation.
τοῖςtois[ house ]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Plural
ho: the (Dative Neuter Plural) The article with no noun. Everything the translators dispute hangs on this empty slot.
50

But they did not understand the statement He was making to them.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai autoi ou synēkan to rhēma ho elalēsen autois

Word by word9 · parsed
καὶkaiButG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτοὶautoitheyG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
οὐouvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
συνῆκανsynēkandid not understandG4920
√ συνίημι — to put together, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
syniēmi: to put together, to understand (Aorist) Luke's quiet cruelty of arrangement. In v. 47 strangers are undone by his σύνεσις; in v. 50 his own parents cannot συνιέναι one sentence. Cambridge is careful about what the failure was: not the grammar, "but only as to their bearing and appropriateness to the circumstances of so young a child," and he lists the later places where the same words recur of the disciples (Luke 9:45, Luke 18:34, Mark 9:32).
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
ῥῆμαrhēmastatementG4487
√ ῥῆμα — an utterance (individually, collectively or specially),NounAccusative Neuter Singular
rhēma: an utterance, a matter Singular here, plural in v. 51. Luke uses the word for things said and for things that happen, and Mary's keeping in the next verse covers both.
ὃhoG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
ἐλάλησενelalēsenHe was makingG2980
√ λαλέω — to talk, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
51

Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai katebē eis Nazareth met’ autōn kai ēlthen kai ēn hypotassomenos autois kai autou hē mētēr dietērei panta ta tauta rhēmata en autēs tē kardia

Word by word25 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
κατέβηkatebēHe went downG2597
√ καταβαίνω — to descend (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
katabainō: to go down The descent that closes the arc opened at v. 42. JFB fixes the theological weight precisely: "The marvel of this condescension lies in its coming after such a scene, and such an assertion of His higher Sonship."
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
ΝαζαρὲθNazarethNazarethG3478
√ Ναζαρέθ — Nazareth or Nazaret, a place in PalestineNounAccusative Feminine Singular
μετ’met’withG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
αὐτῶνautōnthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἦλθενēlthenG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἦνēnwasG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ὑποτασσόμενοςhypotassomenosobedientG5293
√ ὑποτάσσω — to subordinateVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
hypotassō: to subordinate (Present Participle, periphrastic) A military and administrative word for being ranked under. Ellicott draws the domestic consequence, that in a carpenter's house this subjection "must, in the nature of things, have involved much manual and menial work." Cambridge puts Philippians 2:7 and Isaiah 53:2 beside it; that is Cambridge's cross-reference, and it is a reading of the text rather than a citation by Luke.
αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
καὶkaiButG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
μήτηρmētērmotherG3384
√ μήτηρ — a "mother" (literally or figuratively, immediate or remote)NounNominative Feminine Singular
διετήρειdietēreitreasured upG1301
√ διατηρέω — to watch thoroughly, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
diatēreō: to keep thoroughly, to guard (Imperfect) Rare: two NT verses only, this one and Acts 15:29, where the Jerusalem letter tells the Gentiles they will do well if they keep themselves from what is forbidden. Luke uses his most careful word for keeping twice, once of a church guarding a decree and once of a mother guarding what she does not yet understand. Benson: "She was deeply impressed with them, and thought much upon them, though she did not perfectly understand them."
πάνταpantaallG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
τὰtaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
ταῦταtautatheseG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Neuter Plural
ῥήματαrhēmatathingsG4487
√ ῥῆμα — an utterance (individually, collectively or specially),NounAccusative Neuter Plural
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτῆςautēsherG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
καρδίᾳkardiaheartG2588
√ καρδία — the heart, iNounDative Feminine Singular
kardia: the heart The place of the keeping, and the second time Luke has said it of Mary (compare Luke 2:19). Ellicott notes that the repetition is significant: twelve years had not changed her.
52

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai Iēsous proekopten en tē sophia kai hēlikia kai chariti para Theō kai anthrōpois

Word by word14 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
προέκοπτενproekoptengrewG4298
√ προκόπτω — to drive forward (as if by beating), iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
prokoptō: to drive forward, to cut a way ahead (Imperfect) Rare (six NT verses). The other Lukan-era uses are Pauline and mostly negative or neutral: Paul advancing in Judaism beyond his contemporaries (Galatians 1:14), evil men advancing from bad to worse (2 Timothy 3:13). The verb itself is morally empty; it means only that ground is being taken. What it takes ground in is named by the three datives that follow.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
σοφίᾳsophiawisdomG4678
√ σοφία — wisdom (higher or lower, worldly or spiritual)NounDative Feminine Singular
sophia: wisdom The dative of sphere. This is the verse on which the commentators in the brief divide most sharply and most carefully. Poole states the rule they all use: "he increased in wisdom, as he did in age, or stature, with respect to his human, not to his Divine nature." Benson describes a gradual illumination "ad modum recipientis"; Barnes insists it is no more inconsistent with deity to say his soul expanded than to say his body grew. The Greek says only that he advanced, and the doctrine is the commentators' work of holding that sentence together with their creed.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἡλικίᾳhēlikiastatureG2244
√ ἡλικία — maturity (in years or size)NounDative Feminine Singular
hēlikia: maturity in years or size Genuinely ambiguous, and the ambiguity is in the lexicon, not in the translators.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
χάριτιcharitiin favorG5485
√ χάρις — graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concreteNounDative Feminine Singular
charis: graciousness, favour Paired here with God and with people, which is the pairing of 1 Samuel 2:26 and of Proverbs 3:4. Cambridge notes both. The wording is closest to Samuel's, and the link is discussed in the threads below.
παρὰparawithG3844
√ παρά — properly, nearPreposition
ΘεῷTheōGodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounDative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀνθρώποιςanthrōpoismanG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounDative Masculine Plural
anthrōpos: a human being Plural. Ellicott, quoting the same observation Pulpit credits to Plumptre, adds the sober coda: men admired that holiness "till it became aggressive, and then it roused them to an antagonism bitter in proportion to their previous admiration."

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The habit that frames the story — Luke 2:41-42

Luke opens with an imperfect of habit, ἐπορεύοντο, and a distributive phrase, κατ’ ἔτος: this household went up, year after year. Ellicott grounds the practice in the Law ("The law of Moses required the attendance of all males at the three feasts", citing Exodus 23:17 and Deuteronomy 16:16) and notes that the school of Hillel extended the Passover obligation to women; Pulpit reads the yearly presence of Joseph and Mary as "another indication of the rigid obedience of the holy family of Nazareth to the ritual of the Law of Moses"; Poole observes, with his own seventeenth-century controversy in view, that the corruption of the Jerusalem worship did not keep the family away. Gill dissents from the majority on the boy's status: where JFB says that at twelve "every Jewish boy was styled 'a son of the law,'" Gill argues from Yoma and Massechet Sopherim that legal obligation began at thirteen years and one day and that what happened at twelve was training, not law. The Greek does not adjudicate. It gives a genitive absolute, ἀναβαινόντων, and lets the whole episode be something that happened in the middle of an ordinary ascent.

ii. One aorist, and three days of searching — Luke 2:43-46

Everything turns on ὑπέμεινεν, a single aorist: he stayed behind. Ellicott is careful that "The words do not imply that He intentionally stayed behind," while Gill, from the opposite direction, concedes what the narrative says by warning that "this action of Christ is not to be drawn into an example, or precedent for children." Benson supplies the social mechanics that make the loss credible, the συνοδία or pilgrim caravan in which travellers mingled by day and regathered by families at night. The searching verb, ἀναζητέω, is rare, and Luke is the only NT writer who uses it; Cambridge says flatly, "The word implies anxious and careful search." ⚙ The shape of these four verses is worth noticing on its own: a completed feast, a homeward road, a reversal, and a finding in the one place nobody looked, which is also the one place Pulpit says they should have looked first ("was it not, after all, his earthly home, that holy house of his Father in Jerusalem?"). When they find him he is καθεζόμενον, sitting, and ἀκούοντα before he is ἐπερωτῶντα: hearing first. JFB explains that question and answer was simply the rabbinic method, "teacher and learner becoming by turns questioner and answerer"; Cambridge and Barnes both push back hard against the apocryphal picture of a prodigy lecturing his elders.

iii. Understanding, and the failure to understand — Luke 2:47-50

Luke builds one root into a trap. The teachers are struck out of their wits (ἐξίσταντο) at his σύνεσις, his putting-together; two speeches later his parents do not συνῆκαν, do not put together, the one sentence he says to them. Cambridge defines the failure exactly: not that the grammar was obscure, "but only as to their bearing and appropriateness to the circumstances of so young a child." In between stands the exchange the unit exists for. Mary speaks in the imperfect, ἐζητοῦμέν, we were seeking, with ὀδυνώμενοι attached, a rare verb Benson says "is expressive of the most racking anguish." Jesus answers in the same verb and the same tense, and then in the present impersonal δεῖ: it is necessary. Ellicott calls these "the first recorded utterance of the Son of Man"; Cambridge notes that he declines Mary's phrase "thy father" and that "the 'I must' lays down the law of devotion to His Father by which He was to walk even to the Cross." The one thing the Greek refuses to settle is what noun belongs in ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Πατρός μου: the interlinear itself brackets "[ house ]" as a supply. Cambridge and the old Syriac read "house"; Ellicott, Gill, Henry and Pulpit prefer "business"; JFB argues the courts-sense contains both. Maclaren, on the deeper question of what the boy consciously claimed, gives the sentence this synthesis takes as its rule: "We are not warranted in affirming that the Child meant all which the Man afterwards meant ... nor are we any more warranted in denying that He did."

iv. Down again, and eighteen silent years — Luke 2:51-52

Κατέβη answers ἀναβαινόντων: he went down. JFB puts the weight where it belongs, that "The marvel of this condescension lies in its coming after such a scene, and such an assertion of His higher Sonship." The obedience is periphrastic and continuous, ἦν ὑποτασσόμενος, a word of rank rather than of sentiment; Ellicott draws out what it meant in a carpenter's house, "much manual and menial work." Mary's response is the rare compound διετήρει, to guard thoroughly, in the imperfect: not a moment of treasuring but a practice of keeping. Benson: "She was deeply impressed with them, and thought much upon them, though she did not perfectly understand them." The closing verb is προέκοπτεν, which Cambridge and Pulpit both trace to pioneers cutting a road through timber before an advancing army. On what it means for the eternal Word to advance, the brief's voices agree on a rule and differ in emphasis: Poole states it most plainly ("with respect to his human, not to his Divine nature"), Benson describes a gradual illumination granted as the humanity could receive it, Barnes says it is no more strange to speak of his soul expanding than of his body growing, and Geneva compresses the whole of it into one line: Christ, very man, is made like us in every way except sin.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested against the text. Luke has built the episode out of two ordinary verbs and one impossible sentence. The ordinary verbs are ἀναβαινόντων and κατέβη, going up and going down, the motion of every pilgrim who ever kept the feast; the impossible sentence sits between them. What the boy says is not "I am the Son of God." It is a question about where a person is expected to be found, and it assumes an answer his parents ought already to have had. That is the strangeness of the scene: the claim is enormous and the form of it is domestic.

Notice what Luke does not record. No miracle. No teaching. He sits, he hears, he asks, and the questions are what astonish. Then he goes home and is subordinated for eighteen years, and Luke says nothing else about them. Two of the sober commentators in this brief, Cambridge and Barnes, spend their space fending off the apocryphal gospels, which could not leave the silence alone and filled it with sparrows made of clay. The canonical restraint is itself a kind of argument: the one recorded episode of the hidden years is about a boy who wanted to stay where the Scriptures were being discussed, and who then went back to the workshop.

⚙ If there is a centre here, it is that the word δεῖ arrives before anything has been accomplished. Nothing has been fulfilled yet. No sermon, no sign, no cross. And already there is a necessity, stated in the present tense by someone who is still legally a child and who, one verse later, will submit to the parents he has just gently corrected. The obedience in v. 51 is not the opposite of the claim in v. 49; on this reading it is the first instance of it. And Luke, having said that his mother kept all these matters, has quietly told us where he thinks the story came from, which Maclaren and Pulpit both notice: a woman who did not understand and did not discard.

The line that follows is the tool's own sentence, not Scripture, and not any commentator's.

The first recorded words of the Son of God are not a claim but a question about where He is expected to be found.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

ἀναζητέω: the rare verb for hunting a person down verbal / quotation: confirmed

Luke uses ἀναζητέω twice in this unit (v. 44 imperfect, v. 45 present participle) and once more in Acts, where Barnabas goes to Tarsus to seek out Saul. Those are the only three verses in the New Testament that carry the compound, and all three are Luke's. Cambridge's note on v. 44 is the right gloss: "The word implies anxious and careful search." ⚙ The observation worth adding is that Luke reserves his most strenuous search-word for the hunt after a particular person, never for a thing or an idea.

Acts 11:25

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G327 ἀναζητέω, rare at 3 verses in the NT (Luke 2:44, Luke 2:45, Acts 11:25). Greek to Greek, same author, so the verbal link is a real shared lexeme and not a quotation claim.

διατηρέω: keeping what you cannot yet explain verbal / quotation: confirmed

Mary's διετήρει in v. 51 is a rare intensive compound, to watch thoroughly, and it appears in only one other New Testament verse, the Jerusalem council's letter telling the Gentile churches they will do well to keep themselves from the things named. ⚙ The pairing is entirely lexical and Luke wrote both, but it is suggestive: Luke's one other use of his strongest verb of keeping is a church guarding a decision it had just been given. Benson's note on Mary is the one that holds: she kept them "though she did not perfectly understand them."

Acts 15:29

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G1301 διατηρέω, rare at 2 verses in the NT (Luke 2:51, Acts 15:29). Greek to Greek, both Lukan. A shared lexeme, not a citation.

ὀδυνάω: Luke's word for the pain that cannot be put down verbal / quotation: confirmed

BSB folds ὀδυνώμενοι (v. 48) into the adverb "anxiously," but the verb occurs in only four New Testament verses and Luke wrote every one. Twice it is the rich man's torment in the flame (Luke 16:24, 16:25); once it is the Ephesian elders grieving most of all at the words that they would see Paul's face no more (Acts 20:38); and once it is Mary. ⚙ No commentator in this brief draws the set together; Benson's independent judgment that the word "is expressive of the most racking anguish" is confirmed by the company it keeps.

Luke 16:24 · Luke 16:25 · Acts 20:38

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G3600 ὀδυνάω, rare at 4 verses in the NT (Luke 2:48, Luke 16:24, Luke 16:25, Acts 20:38), all Lukan. Greek to Greek; a shared vocabulary item, with no quotation claimed.

ἀπόκρισις: four answers that settle who someone is verbal / quotation: confirmed

The noun the teachers are undone by in v. 47 occurs in only four New Testament verses. At Luke 20:26 the same class of men marvel at his answer and fall silent; at John 1:22 the messengers demand an answer to take back about who John is; at John 19:9 Jesus gives Pilate none at all. ⚙ The pattern this synthesis sees is that ἀπόκρισις marks the moments where an answer, or its refusal, decides a question of identity rather than a question of law. That pattern is the tool's reading; the shared lexeme is the Verifier's fact.

Luke 20:26 · John 1:22 · John 19:9

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G612 ἀπόκρισις, rare at 4 verses in the NT (Luke 2:47, Luke 20:26, John 1:22, John 19:9). Greek to Greek, no quotation. The thematic pattern drawn from the set is ⚙ and is not part of the recorded basis.

προκόπτω: ground can be taken in either direction structural / thematic: confirmed

The closing verb of the unit, "cutting forward," appears in six New Testament verses. Paul uses it of his own advance in Judaism beyond his contemporaries (Galatians 1:14) and of men who advance from bad to worse (2 Timothy 3:13). ⚙ The verb is morally neutral: it names only that ground is being taken, which is why Luke has to say in what. Cambridge and Pulpit both derive it from pioneers clearing timber ahead of an army, and neither invents that etymology for the occasion.

Galatians 1:14 · 2 Timothy 3:13

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G4298 προκόπτω, 6 verses in the NT (Luke 2:52, Galatians 1:14, 2 Timothy 2:16, 2 Timothy 3:9, 2 Timothy 3:13). Greek to Greek and a genuine shared lexeme, but deliberately downgraded from verbal: at 6 verses the word is only moderately rare, the authors differ, and neither side quotes or alludes to the other. Recorded as a shared vocabulary item inside a shared motif of advance.

Three times in the year: the law behind the habit structural / thematic: confirmed

Four of the brief's voices reach for the same Torah texts on v. 41. Ellicott cites Exodus 23:17 and Deuteronomy 16:16; Barnes cites Exodus 23:14-17 and Deuteronomy 16:16; Cambridge cites Exodus 23:15-17 and Deuteronomy 16:1-16; Pulpit and JFB cite the same statutes. Luke quotes none of them. His sentence reports a family's practice, and the Law stands behind it as the reason the practice existed. Cambridge adds the honest qualification that "The custom of going up three times a year seems long to have fallen into abeyance with most Jews," which makes the yearly ascent a mark of devotion rather than mere conformity.

Exodus 23:17 · Deuteronomy 16:16

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so shared Strong's numbers are impossible and no verbal tier is available. The basis is the explicit citation of these statutes at Luke 2:41 by Ellicott, Barnes, Cambridge, JFB and Pulpit, and the shared institution of the pilgrim feast. Luke makes no quotation.

"And the boy Samuel grew": the nearest wording in the canon structural / thematic: confirmed

Cambridge, commenting on προέκοπτεν at v. 52, writes "Comp. 1 Samuel 2:26", and the resemblance is the closest in the unit: a boy growing, and favour both with the LORD and with men. Luke's other closest parallel, also noted by Cambridge, is Proverbs 3:4. ⚙ Beyond the wording there is a shape: a child left in the sanctuary, hearing and answering, whose mother had given him there. The wording, however, is Samuel's, and Luke neither marks nor claims a citation.

1 Samuel 2:26

basis: The clearest verbal borrowing in this unit, but the tier is structural because the pairing is cross-Testament (Greek Luke to Hebrew 1 Samuel), where shared Strong's numbers cannot be computed and a verbal tier is not permitted. Recorded basis: Cambridge explicitly compares 1 Samuel 2:26 at Luke 2:52, and the wording of favour with God and with men is Samuel's.

"The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple" typological

⚙ This is the tool's own figural reading and no voice in this brief proposes it. Malachi promises a Lord who is sought and who comes suddenly to his temple; Luke writes a chapter in which a mother says "we were seeking you" and is answered in the temple courts by a boy who asks why the search was needed. The verbal hinge in Greek is ζητέω, used twice in two verses (2:48 and 2:49). The link cannot be demonstrated from lexemes, since Malachi is Hebrew, and Luke gives no citation formula. Offered as a typological reading to be tested, and marked novel in this brief: it is the kind of connection that could easily be over-read.

Malachi 3:1

basis: Cross-Testament figural reading, so no shared Strong's basis exists and no verbal tier is available. No commentator in this brief makes the link; it is ⚙ and novel here. The only textual footing is the repeated Greek ζητέω (G2212) in Luke 2:48-49 against Malachi's promise of a sought Lord coming to his temple.

"I was glad when they said unto me": the Psalms JFB puts in the boy's mouth flagged: verify source

JFB imagines the twelve-year-old on the road and supplies his interior monologue from the Psalter: Psalm 26:8, Psalm 42:1, Psalm 87:2, Psalm 122:1-2, Psalm 48:2, Psalm 50:2, and at the temple scene Psalm 119:20. This is homiletic expansion and should be received as such: Luke records not one word of what he thought. The reason it is not simply fanciful is that the Psalms of ascent are the texts a pilgrim actually sang, and the desire they express is the desire the narrative shows.

Psalm 122:1 · Psalm 26:8 · Psalm 119:20

basis: Cross-Testament and, more importantly, provenance is the issue: these Psalms are supplied by JFB as imagined speech for Jesus, not quoted by Luke and not attributed to Jesus by any text. Flagged so that the reader checks JFB's own pages before treating the connection as exegesis rather than devotion.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

"My Father": the first recorded words ancient/widely-held

Mary says "thy father and I"; he answers with τοῦ Πατρός μου and names no other. Ellicott calls these words "the first recorded utterance of the Son of Man" and "a prophecy of that consciousness of direct Sonship," and finds in this least Johannine of contexts the germ of John 5:17 and John 10:30. Cambridge observes that Jesus always says ὁ πατήρ μου with the article while teaching his disciples πατὴρ ἡμῶν without it, and concludes that "God is His Father in a different way from that in which He is ours." JFB presses the same grammatical point homiletically. ⚙ The discipline this synthesis keeps is Maclaren's: we are not warranted in affirming that the Child meant everything the Man later meant, nor in denying it. The claim in the text is the possessive pronoun, and the possessive pronoun is enough to have made the scene worth preserving.

Luke 2:49 · John 5:17 · John 10:30

Subordinated: the descent that follows the claim ancient/widely-held

The sentence that follows the highest claim in the unit is ἦν ὑποτασσόμενος, a periphrastic imperfect of a word meaning to be placed under in rank. JFB names the logic: "The marvel of this condescension lies in its coming after such a scene, and such an assertion of His higher Sonship." Cambridge sets Philippians 2:7 and Isaiah 53:2 alongside it; Geneva's gloss on the verse is simply that "Christ, very man, is made like us in every way except sin"; Ellicott adds that in a carpenter's house the subjection meant manual and menial work. ⚙ The redemptive-historical reading this synthesis offers is that the two verses are one motion, not two: the necessity of v. 49 is what produces the subjection of v. 51, and the eighteen silent years are the first long stretch of it.

Luke 2:51 · Philippians 2:7 · Isaiah 53:2

Passover, and the boy brought up to it novel

⚙ This is a fallible reading and no voice in this brief offers it. The feast Luke names twice (v. 41, v. 42) is the one Luke will name again at the end, where Jesus says he has earnestly desired to eat this Passover. The typology of Christ as the Passover is ancient and apostolic; what is the tool's own, and therefore the part to be tested, is the joining of it to this scene, the annual journey of a boy whose family went up year after year to keep the memorial of a lamb. Luke draws no such line. He simply records that the household kept the feast, and later that the man kept it once more.

Luke 2:41 · Luke 22:15

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. Two variants in this unit are noted by the brief's own voices. At v. 43 Ellicott reports that "The better MSS. read, his parents" against the received text's "Joseph and his mother," and Cambridge concurs, citing Aleph, B, D, L; BSB follows the better reading. At v. 52 the word ἡλικία can mean either age or stature, and the commentators divide (Cambridge and JFB for age, Gill for stature); the lexicon gives both and the Greek does not decide.

The unresolved crux. At v. 49 the phrase ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Πατρός μου has no noun at all. The interlinear itself marks word 18 with a bracketed supply, "[ house ]". Cambridge and the old Syriac read "in my Father's house"; Ellicott, Gill, Henry, Barnes and Pulpit prefer "about my Father's business"; JFB argues that the courts-sense includes the business-sense. Every English rendering here is an interpretive choice, and this synthesis has declined to pick a winner.

Sources and their limits. All eleven voices are used somewhere in this unit. Two carry known bias that a reader should hold in view: Gill and Benson both import large blocks of rabbinic material (Yoma, Massechet Sopherim, Zohar, sanhedrin seating), which is valuable background but is later than the first century in parts and is offered by them without date-critical sorting; and JFB at v. 42 and v. 49 writes extended first-person speech for Jesus out of the Psalms, which is devotion, not exegesis, and is flagged as such in the threads. Maclaren's entry is heavily capped in the brief (over 8,000 further characters); only its opening was available, and the synthesis has used only what was quoted.

What is uncertain. Whether v. 48's "they were astonished" has the parents or the bystanders as its subject is disputed in the brief itself (Benson reports Campbell's case for the bystanders). Whether the boy sat among the teachers or at their feet is reconstructed differently by Gill and Cambridge and is not stated by Luke. The Malachi 3:1 thread and the Passover christ-entry are the tool's own figural readings, marked typological and novel, and no commentator in this brief supports either. Every ⚙ paragraph in this unit is fallible and is offered to be tested against the text.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)