Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 2:41-52)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 2:41-52:

Every year Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for Passover,
       and when Jesus was twelve, they went there as usual.
After Passover, his parents left,
       not knowing Jesus had stayed on in the city.

They thought he was traveling with friends,
       and they went a whole day before looking for him.

When they could not find Jesus with relatives or friends,
they returned to Jerusalem and for three days
       anxiously searched everywhere.

Finally, they found Jesus in the temple,
listening to the teachers, asking them questions,
       and surprising everyone by his wisdom and knowledge.

“Son, why have you done this to us?” asked his mother.
       “Your father and I’ve been frantically searching for you.”

“Why did you have to search for me?” questioned Jesus.
“Didn’t you know I’d be here in my Father’s house?”
       But they didn’t understand what he meant.

Jesus returned home to Nazareth with his parents,
       and was always obedient to them.
But his mother never stopped thinking about all of this.

As Jesus grew up, he grew wiser and stronger —
       so much so that God and people were pleased with him.

Translation commentary on Luke 2:46

Exegesis:

kai egeneto … heuron auton ‘and it happened that they found him’; here it indicates that the climax of the story is at hand: they found him, of all places, in the temple.

meta hēmeras treis ‘after three days,’ i.e. most probably on the second day after the day of their departure from Jerusalem, because according to Jewish and Greco-Roman time-reckoning the day of departure is counted as a full day.

en tō hierō ‘in the temple,’ to be taken with heuron auton ‘they found him.’

kathezomenon en mesō tōn didaskalōn ‘sitting among the teachers.’ For the correct interpretation of this phrase two considerations are important: (a) public teaching in the temple was customary, especially at the occasion of the great festivals and discussion between teachers and questions from the listeners were an essential part in Jewish teaching methods (cf. Strack-Billerbeck II, 150); hence there is nothing out of the ordinary in the scene in the temple and there is no reason to imagine Jesus as teaching the teachers; (b) en mesō, preferably rendered as “surrounded by” (New English Bible), cf. 8.7; 10.3; 22.27, 55; 24.36, is best understood from the point of view of Joseph and Mary, not of the teachers: for the parents who have been looking for him for two or three days, Jesus is in the centre of the scene. kathezomai.

kai akouonta autōn kai eperōtōnta autous ‘and listening to them and asking them questions.’ The first and the second kai are different in function, because akouonta ‘listening’ and eperōtōnta ‘asking questions’ belong together closely, as contrasted with the preceding kathezomenon ‘sitting,’ and express together what Jesus was doing while sitting.

eperōtaō ‘to ask a question’ with the accusative of the person to whom the question is addressed. Sometimes it is used of the asking of questions in discussions, cf. 6.9; 20.21, 27; see also on next verse.

Translation:

After three days. The idiomatic way to indicate the intended time limit often will be different (cf. on “eight” in 1.59); in English, for instance, one normally would say, “two days later”, “the day after the next”, in Balinese, ‘on its after to-morrow.’ It is preferable to use such an idiomatic rendering. (For a probably necessary exception see on 9.22, “on the third day be raised”.)

Sitting, or, ‘where he sat,’ ‘as he was sitting’; or co-ordinated, ‘There he sat.’ — To sit. In some languages usage makes preferable a more generic rendering, e.g. ‘to be,’ ‘to be present,’ ‘to stay,’ or even omission of any verb (‘found him among the teachers’), whereas in others it tends to be more specific, e.g. ‘to sit-cross-legged,’ ‘to sit-with-the-legs-at-the-side-of-the-body.’ The generic rendering is acceptable because it is not Jesus’ act of sitting but the place where he was found that counts in the narrative; the specific rendering is acceptable provided that the term chosen fits the situation as envisaged according to local custom.

Teacher (also in 5.17; 6.40; 8.49; 22.11; and as polite form of address, cf. on 3.12). The rendering often is a phrase built on the verb ‘to teach’ (for which cf. below on 4.15), e.g. ‘those who habitually/professionally teach,’ ‘those who always taught there’ (Tboli), or an agent noun of that verb; sometimes a specific noun exists, e.g. ‘guru’ (in some Indic and Indonesian languages). The term usually has a connotation of status, hence The Four Gospels – a New Translation‘s “Doctors”.

Listening to them and asking them questions. The two participles form a closely connected pair here, which may be indicated by the use of a stronger connective, e.g. ‘and also,’ ‘as well as,’ or by only once naming the object, if the syntactic structure of the receptor language allows doing so. For to listen cf. on “heard” in 1.41. Asking them questions. The aspect is iterative, as expressed by the plural form of the noun in English (cf. also ‘many-things also he asked,’ Tae’ 1933), by reduplication in several Indonesian languages. That the phrase implies discussion may lead to the use of such expressions as, ‘to question-answer’ (Bahasa Indonesia) and ‘in-turns taking-up speech’ (Balinese).

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 2:46

2:46a

Finally, after three days: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as after three days probably indicates that Joseph and Mary found Jesus on the third day after they left Jerusalem. The first day was the day that they left Jerusalem to go toward Nazareth. On the second day they went back to Jerusalem, and on the third day they found Jesus.

If you want to make this clear in your translation you could say:

On the third day ⌊after they left Jerusalem⌋

Most commentators do not think that this phrase means that they searched for him in Jerusalem for three days.

temple courts: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as temple courts is literally “temple” (as in most English versions). The temple was in Jerusalem and was the most important place where Jews worshiped God. It consisted of the main building and the walls and courtyards that surrounded it. Here “temple” refers specifically to one of the temple courtyards.

Some English versions (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, NET Bible) have made this clear by translating “temple” as temple courts. You may want to do this also if your word or phrase for “temple” would make readers think that Joseph and Mary found Jesus inside the temple building.

This word also occurs in 2:27a. See the note on 2:27a for examples of how to translate this. See temple, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.

2:46b

among: The word among indicates that Jesus was with a group of teachers. It does not imply that he was one of the teachers. The word among can be translated as “with,” “next to,” “in front of,” or “in the middle of.” Translate it in a natural way in your language for this context.

teachers: The teachers were teachers of the Jewish religion. They were probably some of the best-known religious teachers in Israel.

2:46c

listening to them and asking them questions: Jesus was respectful toward these teachers. He behaved like a student.

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