وَيُكَلِّمُ ٱلنَّاسَ فِى ٱلْمَهْدِ وَكَهْلًا وَمِنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ
Wa yukallimun naasa filmahdi wa kahlanw wa minassaaliheen
اور ماں کی گود میں اور بڑی عمر کا ہو کر (دونوں حالتوں میں) لوگوں سے (یکساں) گفتگو کرے گا اور نیکو کاروں میں ہوگا
And he will speak to people in the cradle and in maturity, and he will be among the righteous."
The word for the second age names middle life, the years past thirty, and pairing it with the cradle has drawn attention for centuries; commentators have read the promise of speech then as pointing past the span the narrative gives him. The announcement also arrives before Maryam has said anything, since her question comes only in the following verse, so the child's whole future is spoken over her before she consents to it.