Luk 2:42 | RWP | e4.org | Twelve years old ( ετων δωδεκα ). Predicate genitive. Luke does not say that Jesus had not been to Jerusalem before, but at twelve a Jewish boy became a "son of the law" and began to observe the ordinances, putting on the phylacteries as a reminder. They went up ( αναβαινοντων αυτων ). Genitive absolute with present active participle, a loose construction here, for the incident narrated took place after they had gone up, not while they were gong up. "On their usual going up" (Plummer).

‏ Luke 2:42

Twelve years old ( ετων δωδεκα ). Predicate genitive. Luke does not say that Jesus had not been to Jerusalem before, but at twelve a Jewish boy became a "son of the law" and began to observe the ordinances, putting on the phylacteries as a reminder.

They went up ( αναβαινοντων αυτων ). Genitive absolute with present active participle, a loose construction here, for the incident narrated took place after they had gone up, not while they were gong up. "On their usual going up" (Plummer).