[3] Both Rembrandt's depiction of the subject in two etchings and a painting by Matthias Stom, then attributed to Gerrit van Honthorst, which he probably saw in the Alte Pinakothek, in Munich, influenced Liebermann's design of the group of figures.

The Dutch Caravaggist Matthias Stom had the idea of putting Jesus and the scribes on an equal footing by depicting the child standing and his adult interlocutors sitting (c. 1640/45); Liebermann followed this influence.

The trousers and the fact that one of the two seated men is shaved, contrary to Jewish tradition, indicate the bourgeois status of these two people, while the other synagogue visitors seem to be somewhat poorer.

To the left of this group is a modernly dressed man in a green suit bending over the lectern, and to the right there is a tall, slightly stooped man in a black caftan and a fur hat named spodik; he turns his back on the viewer and is reminiscent of a traditional Eastern European Jew, like those who would be occasionally found on the streets of Berlin at Liebermann's time.

In a preliminary study, the man dressed in green smiles as if amused by the child's zeal; in the painting the facial expression is different, because he seems genuinely interested.

Before the overpainting, the barefoot Jesus wore a kind of irregularly draped antique tunic, thus contrasting with the contemporary dressed persons who surrounded him.

Some German artists such as Wilhelm Leibl, Heinrich von Zügel and Lorenz Gedon [de] praised the depiction of the Biblical event.

But even at the opening of the exhibition, Prince Regent Luitpold von Bayern and the royal family reacted negatively.The painting was said to have been moved for this reason, but this can no longer be verified.

Art critic Friedrich Pecht [de] wrote that Liebermann's treatment of the biblical narrative was purely humorous and without religious reverence – a witty child who makes fun of a few old people.

In his view, Liebermann portrayed Jesus as "the ugliest, snobby Jewish boy imaginable" and the rabbis as a "pack of the sleakiest haggling Jews".