The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:43
And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the Child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem . The feast lasted seven days. Now, a boy in the East, twelve years old, is usually far more advanced than is ever the case in our Northern nations, where development is much slower. We may well suppose that the Boy was left much to himself during these days of the feast. It requires no stress of imagination to picture him absorbed in the temple and all that was to be seen and learned there.... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:42
And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast . When a Jewish boy was three years old he was given the tasselled garment directed by the Law ( Numbers 15:38-41 ; Deuteronomy 22:12 ). At five he usually began to learn portions of the Law, under his mother's direction; these were passages written on scrolls, such as the shema or creed of Deuteronomy 6:4 , the Hallel Psalms ( Psalms 114:1-8 , Psalms 118:1-29 , Psalms 136:1-26 ). When the... read more