Luke 2:46

Luke 2:46 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.
• New International Version (NIV)After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
• English Standard Version (ESV)After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions.

Context of Luke 2:46

44but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. 48So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

Luke 2:46 word by word

καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ ἡμέρας τρεῖς εὗρον αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ καθεζόμενον ἐν μέσῳ τῶν διδασκάλων καὶ ἀκούοντα αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπερωτῶντα αὐτούς.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• it came to passγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• that afterμετάmeta · with/afterG3326
• threeτρεῖςtreis tria · ThreeG5140
• daysἡμέραhēmera · dayG2250
• they foundεὑρίσκωheuriskō · to find/meetG2147
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the templeὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the templeἱερόνhieron · templeG2411
• sittingκαθέζομαιkathezomai · to sit downG2516
• the midstμέσοςmesos · midstG3319
• of the doctorsδιδάσκαλοςdidaskalos · teacherG1320
• hearingἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
• askingἐπερωτάωeperōtaō · to questionG1905

Cross-references for Luke 2:46

• Luke 2:44but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances.
• 1 Kings 12:5So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed.
• Matthew 12:40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
• Matthew 16:21From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
• Matthew 27:63saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’
• Luke 5:17Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
• Acts 5:34Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while.
• Isaiah 49:1“Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
• Isaiah 50:4“The Lord God has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned.

Commentaries on Luke 2:46

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 46Sitting in the midst of the doctors - The rabbins, who were explaining the law and the ceremonies of the Jewish religion to their disciples. Asking them questions - Not as a scholar asks his teacher, to be informed; but as a teacher, who proposes questions to his scholars in order to take an occasion to instruct them. In the time of Josephus, the Jewish teachers were either very ignorant or very humble: for he tells us that, "when he was about fourteen…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 46After three days - This means, probably, “on the third day” after they had left Jerusalem - that is, the first day they went toward Galilee, on the second they returned to Jerusalem, and on the third they found him. Compare Matthew 27:63; Mark 8:31. In the temple - In the “court” of the temple, for Jesus, not being a Levitical priest, could not enter into the temple itself. See Matthew 21:12. In the midst of the doctors - The “teachers,” the “rabbis,” who…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 41-52Verses 41-52 It is for the honour of Christ that children should attend on public worship. His parents did not return till they had stayed all the seven days of the feast. It is well to stay to the end of an ordinance, as becomes those who say, It is good to be here. Those that have lost their comforts in Christ, and the evidences of their having a part in him, must bethink themselves where, and when, and how they lost them, and must turn back again…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 46The three days likely included one day traveling from Jerusalem, one day traveling back, and one day searching. • in the temple courts: He was in the temple complex, not the sanctuary. • listening to them and asking them questions: Jesus was acting like a student. In rabbinic teaching (the teaching methods of Jewish teachers), a teacher often answered a student’s question by asking more questions. Jesus asked wise questions and gave wise answers, and this…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 45-4645-46. After three sorrowing days, they find Him still in Jerusalem, not gazing on its architecture, or surveying its forms of busy life, but in the temple--not the "sanctuary" (as in Lu 1:9), to which only the priests had access, but in some one of the enclosures around it, where the rabbins, or "doctors," taught their scholars.Read the comment

Topics related to Luke 2:46

• Children
• Doctor
• Jesus, the Christ
• Joseph
• Passover
• Temple

In the dictionaries

• Consolation
• Decree
• Depart
• Devout
• Doctor
• Glory
• Inn
• Lighten
• Mary
• Pair

Commentaries on Luke 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings