Luke 2:50
in Luke 2But they did not understand the statement He was making to them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
KJV
And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
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This verse in Luke 2
Commentary
12 notes on this verseOr they knew not whether when He said about my Father's business, He referred to the temple, or something higher and more edifying; for every one of us who doeth good, is the seat of God the Father; but whoso is the seat of God the Father, has Christ in the midst of him.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church5 voices
Clearly the abode in the hearts of the elect of the holy Trinity, the nature of whose divinity is one and indivisible, cannot be disparate. Therefore, when he was sitting in the temple, the Lord said, "I must be about my Father's business," and this …
And they did not understand the word that he spoke to them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. How much an example of piety and humility in the Lord! His parents did not understand the word …
It follows, And they understood him not, that is, the word which He spoke to them of His divinity.
"But they did not understand" what He said to them, for this was a mystery.
And because the word was hidden, it is added: And they did not understand: First Corinthians 2: "We speak wisdom hidden in mystery"; and Tobit 12: "It is good to hide the secret of a king." In this, however, that Christ, when he was corrected, …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is observable that Joseph is not mentioned after this time; whence it is probable, he did not live long after.
He was born in the days of Augustus Cæsar, when the Roman empire extended itself further than ever before or since, including Parthia one way, and Britain another way; so that it was then called Terraram orbis imperium--The empire of the whole earth; and here that empire is called all the world (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And they understood not the saying,.... What he meant by his Father's house, or his Father's business, and the necessity of his being there, and about that: which he spake unto them; at that time, and as above related.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They understood not ... - It is remarkable that they did not understand Jesus in this, but it shows how slow persons are to believe. Even his parents, after all that had taken place, did not seem to comprehend that “he” was to be the Saviour of people, or if they did, they understood it in a very imperfect manner.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
These verses should always be deeply interesting to a reader of the Bible. They record the only facts which we know about our Lord Jesus Christ during the first thirty years of His life on earth, after His infancy. How many things a Christian would like to know about the events of those thirty years, and the daily history of the house at Nazareth! But we need not doubt that there is wisdom in the silence of Scripture on the subject. If it had been good for us to know more — then more would have been revealed.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
proposed
These verses should always be deeply interesting to a reader of the Bible. They record the only facts which we know about our Lord Jesus Christ during the first thirty years of His life on earth, after His infancy. How many things a Christian would like to know about the events of those thirty years, and the daily history of the house at Nazareth! But we need not doubt that there is wisdom in the silence of Scripture on the subject. If it had been good for us to know more — then more would have been revealed. Let us first, draw from the passage — a lesson for all married people. We have it in the conduct of Joseph and Mary, here described. We are told that "they went to Jerusalem every year, at the feast of the Passover." They regularly honored God's appointed ordinances — and they honored them together. The distance from Nazareth to Jerusalem was great. The journey, to poor people without any means of conveyance — was, doubtless, troublesome and fatiguing. To leave house and home for some two weeks, was no slight expense. But God had given Israel a command, and Joseph and Mary strictly obeyed it. God had appointed an ordinance for their spiritual good — and they regularly kept it. And all that they did concerning the Passover — they did together. When they went up to the feast, they always went up side by side. So ought it to be with all Christian husbands and wives. They ought to help one another in spiritual things, and to encourage one another in the service of God. Marriage, unquestionably, is not a sacrament , as the Romish Church vainly asserts. But marriage is a state of life which has the greatest effect on the souls of those who enter into it. It helps them upwards or downwards. It leads them nearer to Heaven — or nearer to Hell. We all depend much on the company we keep.
How the passage was read
On Luke 2:41-52On Luke 2:41-52
Why a boy from Galilee was in Jerusalem
The Law asked every Israelite male to appear in Jerusalem three times a year, Passover chief among them (Deuteronomy 16:16). Galilean families like Joseph's traveled in large caravans of relatives and neighbors: several days on the road each way. That is why Jesus' parents could travel a full day assuming He was “in the company”: a caravan was a moving village. The Mishnah's tractate on the festival visit opens with exactly who was obligated to make this trip (Chagigah 1:1): men were bound, women and children came freely, and Mary came.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Deuteronomy 16:16 (the pilgrimage command) · Mishnah Chagigah 1:1 (who must appear)
The words behind it
9 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| αὐτοὶ | autoi | they themselves | G846 → | 5565 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| συνῆκαν | sunekan | understood | G4920 → | 26 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ῥῆμα | rhema | declaration | G4487 → | 68 times |
| ὃ | ho | that | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ἐλάλησεν | elalesen | He spoke | G2980 → | 294 times |
| αὐτοῖς. | autois | to them. | G846 → | 5565 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
αὐτοὶthey themselves
autoiG846 →5565 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
συνῆκανunderstood
sunekanG4920 →26 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
ῥῆμαdeclaration
rhemaG4487 →68 times
ὃthat
hoG3739 →1405 times
ἐλάλησενHe spoke
elalesenG2980 →294 times
αὐτοῖς.to them.
autoisG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 18:34But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
it leads to
- Luke 9:45
But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 9:32
But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 24:25
Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
- John 10:6
Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.
- Luke 9:45
Through
Mark 9:32But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
it leads to
- John 12:16
At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Luke 18:34
But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 16:19
Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while…
- Mark 9:10
So they kept this matter to themselves, discussing what it meant to rise from the dead.
- John 12:16
Where this verse is studied
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About Luke
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 1.19; Bede, On the Gospel of Luke; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bonaventure, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 2; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Luke.