Luke 2:46

After three days. From the time of separation.

In the temple. "We read in the Talmud that the members of the Temple - Sanhedrin, who, on ordinary days, sat as a court of appeal from the close of the morning to the time of the evening sacrifice, were wont, upon Sabbaths and feast days, to come out upon the terrace of the temple, and there to teach. In such popular instruction the utmost latitude of questioning would be given. It is in this audience, which sat upon the ground, surrounding and mingling with the doctors, and hence during, not after, the feast, that we must seek the child Jesus" (Edersheim, "Life and Times," etc., 1 247). From this, Edersheim argues that the parents set out for home before the close of the feast.

Sitting. Not occupying a teacher's place, but sitting in the circle among the doctors and their hearers. See above. Compare Acts 22:3.