29th December 2024

Luke 2:41-52

Jesus increased in favor with all

2:41Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.

2:42And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival.

2:43When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this.

2:44Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends.

2:45When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.

2:46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

2:47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

2:48When his parents saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.”

2:49He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

2:50But they did not understand what he said to them.

2:51Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

2:52And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor.

^[41]Καὶ ἐπορεύοντο οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ κατ᾿ ἔτος εἰς ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ τῇ ἑορτῇ τοῦ πάσχα.

 ^[42]καὶ ὅτε ἐγένετο ἐτῶν δώδεκα, ἀναβάντων αὐτῶν εἰς ῾Ιεροσόλυμα κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῆς ἑορτῆς

 ^[43]καὶ τελειωσάντων τὰς ἡμέρας, ἐν τῷ ὑποστρέφειν αὐτοὺς ὑπέμεινεν ᾿Ιησοῦς ὁ παῖς ἐν ῾Ιερουσαλήμ, καὶ οὐκ ἔγνω ᾿Ιωσὴφ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ. 

^[44]νομίσαντες δὲ αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ συνοδίᾳ εἶναι ἦλθον ἡμέρας ὁδὸν καὶ ἀνεζήτουν αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς συγγενέσι καὶ ἐν τοῖς γνωστοῖς·

 ^[45]καὶ μὴ εὑρόντες αὐτὸν ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ ζητοῦντες αὐτόν. 

^[46]καὶ ἐγένετο μεθ᾿ ἡμέρας τρεῖς εὗρον αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ καθεζόμενον ἐν μέσῳ τῶν διδασκάλων καὶ ἀκούοντα αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπερωτῶντα αὐτούς· 

^[47]ἐξίσταντοδὲ πάντες οἱ ἀκούοντες αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῇ συνέσει καὶ ταῖς ἀποκρίσεσιν αὐτοῦ.

 ^[48]καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν ἐξεπλάγησαν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ εἶπε· τέκνον, τί ἐποίησας ἡμῖν οὕτως; ἰδοὺ ὁ πατήρ σου κἀγὼ ὀδυνώμενοιἐζητοῦμέν σε.

 ^[49]καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς· τί ὅτι ἐζητεῖτέ με; οὐκ ᾔδειτε ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρός μου δεῖ εἶναί με;

 ^[50]καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐ συνῆκαν τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς.

 ^[51]καὶ κατέβη μετ᾿ αὐτῶν καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς Ναζαρέτ, καὶ ἦν ὑποτασσόμενος αὐτοῖς. καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ διετήρει πάντα τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς.

 ^[52]Καὶ ᾿Ιησοῦς προέκοπτε σοφίᾳ καὶ ἡλικίᾳ καὶ χάριτι παρὰ Θεῷ καὶ ἀνθρώποις.

Comments

Jesus’ riposte in v. 49, ‘I must be in the ___(plural) of my father’, is puzzling. Mary ‘treasured the memory’ (impf.) of these words.

[43] ὑπέμεινεν ᾿Ιησοῦς ὁ παῖς: ὑπομένω, ‘stay behind’ (Homer & cl. Gk: LSJ s.v.I); also LXX (Muraoka 3).

 ὁ παῖς: παῖς, ‘child, boy or girl’ (LSJ, s.v. II); also LXX (Muraoka s.v. 1), ‘child’.

οὐκ ἔγνω ᾿Ιωσὴφ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ: ἔγνω, ‘did not realise, perceive’ from γινώσκω, ‘Ι come to know (through observation), perceive’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v.  I.1). The 3^rd pers. sg. aor. should strictly speaking be plural.

[46] ἐπερωτῶντα αὐτούς: ἐπερωτάω, c. acc. pers., ‘consult, inquire of’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v. 1); LXX has related constructions.

[47] ἐπὶ τῇ συνέσει καὶ ταῖς ἀποκρίσεσιν αὐτοῦ: σύνεσις, ‘faculty of quick comprehension’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v. II), a capacity which children can have according to Aristotle (EN 1161 b26); comparable meanings in LXX; EDNT s.v. interprets the term in this verse as ‘understanding or powers of reasoning’. Jesus was quick on the uptake.

ἀπόκρισις, ‘reply’ (originally a medical term: LSJ s.v. II); also in LXX.

[49] ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρός μου: ‘in the things, matters, affairs, concerns of my father’. If that is the meaning, we might supply either πράγμασι (which is also implied at Mt 22:21, Ἀπόδοτε οὖν τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ Θεῷ, ‘Render unto Casesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s’; esp. Mt 18:19, Heb 10:1) or even better, μέρεσι. Μέρος is post-class. Gk for ‘branch of activity, matter, business’ (Diggle Cambr. Dict., s.v. μέρος, 13).

[50] οὐ συνῆκαν: 3^rd pers. pl. aor., συνίημι, ‘I understand’ (cl. Gk: LSJ II.3), which corresponds to the noun σύνεσις, v. 47 above. Mary and Joseph did not comprehend—they were stumped.

[51] διετήρει πάντα τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς: διατηρέω, ‘retain in memory’, c. acc. rei, as in Ge 37.11 (δ. τὸ ρῆμα, ‘the matter’) and Da 7.28 (ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ), see Muraoka s.v. διατηρέω 2.