Bible Strands
Luke 2:43
When those days were over and they were returning home, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware He had stayed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Luke records the moment after the seven-day feast concludes as the family caravan prepares to depart Jerusalem. The narrative captures the precise instant when the twelve-year-old boy stays behind while His parents begin the journey home.
The words — τελειωσάντων (teleiōsantōn) translates literally as "having completed," marking the fixed end of the pilgrimage period. ὑποστρέφειν (hupostrephein) means "returning," describing the caravan's departure movement back toward their origin.
The thread — The seven-day feast boundary aligns with Exodus 12:15 and 2 Chronicles 30:21, which define the pilgrimage's temporal structure. This established schedule explains why the family treated the departure as routine and why the delay escaped immediate notice.
Why it lands — The text states that the boy remained in Jerusalem while His parents traveled unaware. It requires the reader to accept that ordinary routines and temporary oversight do not interrupt deliberate action.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
Cross-references
- Exodus 12:15 For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 25:17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent word to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.
- 2 Chronicles 30:21 The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and priests praised the LORD day after day, accompanied by loud instruments of praise to the LORD.