Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Luke C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24
Luke 2 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51
OET (OET-LV) And having_seen him, they_were_astonished and the mother of_him said to him:
Child, why did_you thus to_us?
Behold, the father of_you and_I, being_distressed were_seeking you.
OET (OET-RV) When his parents found him, they were astonished and his mother asked, “Son, how could you do this to us? Your father and I have been frantic looking for you!”
In this section, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. This may have been Jesus’ first time to go there for Passover. While Jesus was in Jerusalem, he went to the Temple and discussed religious matters with Jewish religious leaders.
When Joseph and Mary left Jerusalem to return to Nazareth, they traveled with a group of people. They did not realize that Jesus had stayed in Jerusalem and was not traveling with them. This may have happened because of the way Jews normally walked in smaller groups when they traveled together. The women and small children walked ahead since they traveled more slowly. A boy normally traveled with his mother. But when he became a man, perhaps as early as twelve years old, he traveled with his father. So, as they returned from Jerusalem, Mary probably thought that Jesus was with Joseph, and Joseph may have thought that he was with Mary. Joseph and Mary traveled for a whole day before they realized that Jesus was not with them. The events in this section show three things:
Joseph and Mary did not know where Jesus was;
they did not know exactly what he was telling them when they found him;
by the age of twelve (or before), Jesus was aware that he was God’s Son.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
Mary and Joseph Find Jesus With the Teachers in the Temple Courtyard (GW)
Jesus when he was twelve years old
When His parents saw Him, they were astonished.
When Jesus’ parents found him, they were astonished.
Jesus’ father and mother were shocked/overwhelmed when they saw him.
When His parents saw Him, they were astonished: The text does not tell the reason why Jesus’ parents were astonished. They were probably amazed that he was speaking with the teachers. It was not normal for a child of Jesus’ age to be in a group of such teachers and to speak with them about religious matters.
astonished: The Greek word that the BSB translates here as astonished is a strong word. It is a different word from the word that the BSB translates as “astounded” in 2:47, but the meaning is very similar. Some other ways to translate this word are:
they were overwhelmed (NET)
they were shocked (GW)
They were overcome (NJB)
“Child, why have You done this to us?” His mother asked.
His mother said, “Child, why have you done this to us?(dual)
Mary said to him, “My son, explain to us why you have treated us(dual) like this.
His mother Mary asked him kindly to explain why he had not traveled back with them.
Child: When Mary addressed Jesus as her Child, she was using a term of affection that a mother would use. Use a natural term in your language.
why have You done this to us: This question can be interpreted in two ways:
As a real question that expects an answer.
As a rhetorical question that does not seek an answer.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Mary wanted Jesus to answer her, and Jesus did answer Mary’s question.
Although this question is real, it is also like a rhetorical question because it expresses Mary’s surprise and distress. Mary implied that Jesus should not have stayed behind in Jerusalem without telling her or Joseph.
There are several ways that you can translate this:
As a question. For example:
why have you done this to us? (GNT)
As a request from Mary for Jesus to explain his actions. For example:
explain to us why you have treated us like this.
As a statement that expresses surprise or mild rebuke. For example:
what you did has upset/worried us.
I do not understand why you have treated us like this.
Mary was seeking an answer, and she was also expressing surprise and/or mild rebuke. Translate this in the way that is most natural in your language.
“Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”
Your father and I have been very worried about you, and we(dual) have been trying to find you!”
She told him that she and his father had been looking for him and were afraid that he had been hurt.
anxiously searching for You: The phrase anxiously searching for You means that Joseph and Mary had been looking hard to find Jesus. They had worried about him.
Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns
καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδόντες αὐτόν ἐξεπλάγησαν καί εἶπεν πρός αὐτόν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ Τέκνον τί ἐποίησας ἡμῖν οὕτως Ἰδού ὁ πατήρ σοῦ κἀγώ ὀδυνώμενοι ἐζητοῦμεν σέ)
Alternate translation: [When Mary and Joseph found Jesus there]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
τί ἐποίησας ἡμῖν οὕτως?
why ˱you˲_did ˱to˲_us thus
Mary is using the question form to rebuke Jesus indirectly for not going back home with them, causing them to worry about him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate her words as a statement or exclamation. Alternate translation: [you should not have done this to us!]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἰδοὺ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδόντες αὐτόν ἐξεπλάγησαν καί εἶπεν πρός αὐτόν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ Τέκνον τί ἐποίησας ἡμῖν οὕτως Ἰδού ὁ πατήρ σοῦ κἀγώ ὀδυνώμενοι ἐζητοῦμεν σέ)
Mary uses Behold to get Jesus to focus his attention on what she is about to say. Alternate translation: [Listen carefully now]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ὁ πατήρ σου κἀγὼ, ὀδυνώμενοι ζητοῦμεν σε
the father (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδόντες αὐτόν ἐξεπλάγησαν καί εἶπεν πρός αὐτόν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ Τέκνον τί ἐποίησας ἡμῖν οὕτως Ἰδού ὁ πατήρ σοῦ κἀγώ ὀδυνώμενοι ἐζητοῦμεν σέ)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind the passive verbal form have been tormented with an adverb. Alternate translation: [your father and I have been searching for you anxiously]
OET (OET-LV) And having_seen him, they_were_astonished and the mother of_him said to him:
Child, why did_you thus to_us?
Behold, the father of_you and_I, being_distressed were_seeking you.
OET (OET-RV) When his parents found him, they were astonished and his mother asked, “Son, how could you do this to us? Your father and I have been frantic looking for you!”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
Open Bible Data site copyright © 2023–2026 Freely-Given.org.
Python source code for creating these static pages is available on GitHub under an open licence.
For Bible data copyrights, see the details for each displayed Bible version.
The Open English Translation (OET) main site is at OpenEnglishTranslation.Bible or OET.Bible.