Matius 13:54

13:54 Then ¹  he came to his hometown ²  and began to teach the people ³  in their synagogue. ⁴  They ⁵  were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?

Yohanes 7:15

7:15 Then the Jewish leaders ⁶  were astonished ⁷  and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?” ⁸ 

[13:54]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[13:54]  ² sn Jesus’ hometown (where he spent his childhood years) was Nazareth, about 20 miles (30 km) southwest of Capernaum.

[13:54]  ³ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:54]  ⁴ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23. Jesus undoubtedly took the opportunity on this occasion to speak about his person and mission, and the relation of both to OT fulfillment.

[13:54]  ⁵ tn Grk “synagogue, so that they.” Here ὥστε (Jwste) has not been translated. Instead a new sentence was started in the translation.

[7:15]  ⁶ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 1.

[7:15]  ⁷ tn Or “began to be astonished.” This imperfect verb could also be translated ingressively (“began to be astonished”), but for English stylistic reasons it is rendered as a simple past.

[7:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “How does this man know learning since he has not been taught?” The implication here is not that Jesus never went to school (in all probability he did attend a local synagogue school while a youth), but that he was not the disciple of a particular rabbi and had not had formal or advanced instruction under a recognized rabbi (compare Acts 4:13 where a similar charge is made against Peter and John; see also Paul’s comment in Acts 22:3).

[7:15]  sn He has never had formal instruction. Ironically when the Jewish leaders came face to face with the Word become flesh – the preexistent Logos, creator of the universe and divine Wisdom personified – they treated him as an untaught, unlearned person, without the formal qualifications to be a teacher.