Luke 2 · Verse 45

Luke 2:45

And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

Luke 2:45, King James Version

Luke 2:45 in other translations

BSB	When they could not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him.
WEB	When they didn’t find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him.
ASV	and when they found him not, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking for him.
YLT	and not having found him, they turned back to Jerusalem seeking him.
DARBY	and not having found him they returned to Jerusalem seeking him.
BBE	And seeing that he was not there, they went back to Jerusalem, to make search for him.
Webster	And when they found him not, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him.

What does Luke 2:45 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 2:45-46

45-46. After three sorrowing days, they find Him still in Jerusalem, not gazing on its architecture, or surveying its forms of busy life, but in the temple--not the "sanctuary" (as in Lu 1:9), to which only the priests had access, but in some one of the enclosures around it, where the rabbins, or "doctors," taught their scholars.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 45. No entry from BARNES for this verse.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 45 Seeking him - Ζητουντες αυτον - or rather, seeking him diligently, αναζητουντες. This is the reading of BCDL, six others, Vulgate, and nine copies of the Itala. If they sought earnestly when they first found him missing, there is little doubt that their solicitude and diligence must be greatly increased during his three days' absence, therefore the word which I have adopted, on the above authority, is more likely to be the true reading than the ζητουντες of the common text, which simply signifies seeking; whereas the other strongly marks their solicitude and diligence.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Luke 2:41-52

It is for the honour of Christ that children should attend on public worship. His parents did not return till they had stayed all the seven days of the feast. It is well to stay to the end of an ordinance, as becomes those who say, It is good to be here. Those that have lost their comforts in Christ, and the evidences of their having a part in him, must bethink themselves where, and when, and how they lost them, and…

Read the full comment on Luke 2:41-52 →

Luke 2:45 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

καὶkaiandG2532

μὴmēnotG3361

εὑρόντεςheuronteshaving foundG2147

ὑπέστρεψανhupestrepsanthey returnedG5290

εἰςeistoG1519

ἸερουσαλὴμIerousalēmJerusalemG2419

ἀναζητοῦντεςanazētountessearchingG327

αὐτόν.autonHim.G846

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Context

Luke 2:44
But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
Luke 2:45
And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
Luke 2:46
And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

Read all of Luke 2

Luke 2:45 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Mas como no le hallasen, volvieron á Jerusalem buscándole.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	et ne le trouvant pas, ils s’en retournèrent à Jérusalem à sa recherche.
German Elberfelder 1871	und als sie ihn nicht fanden, kehrten sie nach Jerusalem zurück und suchten ihn.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et non invenientes, regressi sunt in Jerusalem, requirentes eum.