Luke 2:45

45 and [when they] did not find [him], they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.

Luke 2:45 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 2:45

And when they found him not
In the company that came from Jerusalem with them, nor among any of their relations and friends, with whom they supposed he was:

they turned back again to Jerusalem,
that is, the next morning, for it can hardly be thought they would set out that night, after they had travelled all day, without taking some repose:

seeking him;
at Jerusalem, in the streets and broad places of it; a figure of the church and ordinances, where souls look for, and inquire after their beloved, when they have lost him, ( Song of Solomon 3:1-3 ) .

Luke 2:45 In-Context

43 And [after] the days were completed, while they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. And his parents did not know [it],

44 but believing him to be in the group of travelers, they went a day's journey. And they began searching for him among [their] relatives and [their] acquaintances,

45 and [when they] did not find [him], they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.

46 And it happened that after three days they found him in the temple [courts], sitting in the midst of the teachers and listening to them and asking them [questions].

47 And all who heard him were amazed at his insight and [his] answers.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("find") which is understood as temporal
• [b]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation