Luke 2:46-49

2:46 After ¹  three days ²  they found him in the temple courts, ³  sitting among the teachers, ⁴  listening to them and asking them questions. 2:47 And all who heard Jesus ⁵  were astonished ⁶  at his understanding and his answers. 2:48 When ⁷  his parents ⁸  saw him, they were overwhelmed. His ⁹  mother said to him, “Child, ¹⁰  why have you treated ¹¹  us like this? Look, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” ¹²  2:49 But ¹³  he replied, ¹⁴  “Why were you looking for me? ¹⁵  Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” ¹⁶ 

[2:46]  ¹ tn Grk “And it happened that after.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:46]  ² sn Three days means there was one day out, another day back, and a third day of looking in Jerusalem.

[2:46]  ³ tn Grk “the temple.”

[2:46]  ⁴ tn This is the only place in Luke’s Gospel where the term διδάσκαλος (didaskalo", “teacher”) is applied to Jews.

[2:47]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:47]  ⁶ sn There was wonder (all who heard…were astonished) that Jesus at such a young age could engage in such a discussion. The fact that this story is told of a preteen hints that Jesus was someone special.

[2:48]  ⁷ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:48]  ⁸ tn Grk “when they”; the referent (his parents) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:48]  ⁹ tn Grk “And his.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:48]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek word here is τέκνον (teknon) rather than υἱός (Juios, “son”).

[2:48]  ¹¹ tn Or “Child, why did you do this to us?”

[2:48]  ¹² tn Or “your father and I have been terribly worried looking for you.”

[2:49]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

[2:49]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he said to them.”

[2:49]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Why is it that you were looking for me?”

[2:49]  ¹⁶ tn Or “I must be about my Father’s business” (so KJV, NKJV); Grk “in the [things] of my Father,” with an ellipsis. This verse involves an idiom that probably refers to the necessity of Jesus being involved in the instruction about God, given what he is doing. The most widely held view today takes this as a reference to the temple as the Father’s house. Jesus is saying that his parents should have known where he was.