The description of the boy Jesus in Luke 2.52 echoes this description of Samuel.

The boy Samuel: while Samuel was clearly still “young” at the time he reached this point in his life, some languages may require a different term from the one used in verses 11 and 21. And almost certainly the word will be different from that used to translate the same Hebrew word (“child”) in 1.22, 24, 25, and 27. The Hebrew word refers to a wide range of ages, including babies, teenagers, and men around age thirty. In all instances it seems to refer to any young man from birth to just before marriage. Samuel was clearly not an infant, but neither was he a fully grown man.

New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh again uses the transition word “meanwhile” (see verse 21) to show that Samuel’s growth was taking place simultaneously with the other events described in verses 22-25.

The word translated grow … in stature is used in the Old Testament of becoming great, wealthy, or well liked (Gen 26.13; 2 Chr 17.12), but in this context it may mean simply growing up physically. Modern versions are divided on the meaning here. Many use the word “stature,” which is equally ambiguous. But Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, for example, speaks of growing in “height,” while New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh speaks of “esteem.”

Men: the Hebrew noun does not intend to exclude women. Many contemporary translations say “the people” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .