[29] (In answer to this) Mary merely pointed towards the infant. The people said, “How shall we talk with him, who is but an infant in the cradle?”20
20People who misinterpret the Qur'an translate this verse as: "How shall we talk with him, who is but a child of yesterday?".They attribute these words to the elderly people of the Jews, who said years later, when Jesus was a grown up boy, that they could not have any useful dialogue with a mere kid. But the person who keeps the whole context in view, will realize that this interpretation is absurd and has been given merely to avoid the miracle. As a matter of fact, the dialogue took place when the people were condemning Mary who being unmarried, had brought forth a child, and not when the child had grown up into manhood. V. 46 of AI-i-`Imran (III) and v. 110 of Al-Ma'idah (V) also support the view that Prophet Jesus had uttered these words as a baby in the cradle and not when grown up. In the first verse, the angel while giving the good news of a son to Mary, says: "He will speak to the people alike when in the cradle and when grown up"; in the other verse, Allah Himself says to Prophet Jesus: ".......you talked to the people even in the cradle as you talked when you were grown up."
