When Jesus’ parents had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
Parallel translations
- WEB When they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.
- KJV And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
- NKJV So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.
- NASB And when His parents had completed everything in accordance with the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.
- NLT When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Having fulfilled the law's requirements, the family returns to Nazareth. It matters because the holy family completes their obedience and settles into ordinary life.
Overview
Luke notes that once all the legal observances were complete, Mary and Joseph returned to their hometown of Nazareth in Galilee. Their faithful obedience to the law is again emphasized. The Savior of the world is raised quietly in an obscure Galilean town.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Luke 2:4So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.
- Matt 3:15“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.
- Gal 4:4–5But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- Deut 12:32See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.
- Matt 2:22–23But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,
- Luke 2:51Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
- Luke 2:21–24When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.
- Luke 1:6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 2:39 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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