וַיֹּאמְר֥וּ נַעֲרֵֽי־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ מְשָׁרְתָ֑יו יְבַקְשׁ֥וּ לַמֶּ֛לֶךְ נְעָר֥וֹת בְּתוּל֖וֹת טוֹב֥וֹת מַרְאֶֽה׃
Тогда сказал король'Слуги, которые служили ему: 'Пусть там будут искать короля юных девственниц справедливо смотреть;
Ramban
AND HIS MINISTER JOSHUA, ‘BIN’ (THE SON OF) NUN, ‘NA’AR’ (A LAD). Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote: “Joshua lived a hundred and ten years,455Joshua 24:29. and the Sages say456Arakhin 13a. that it took him seven years to conquer the Land [of Israel] and seven years to apportion it amongst the tribes. If so, he was now fifty-six years old,457The forty years of the wilderness plus the fourteen years in the Land of Israel, make a total of fifty-four years. Subtract these from a hundred and ten, and you are left with fifty-six. Yet Scripture calls him na’ar (lad)! and how does Scripture call him na’ar (lad)? We must therefore say that this is the meaning thereof: and his minister Joshua the son of Nun rendered him such service as can be given only by a youthful attendant.”
In my opinion it is the way of the Sacred Language to call any attendant [regardless of age] na’ar, for the person of high office is called ish (man),458See Ramban Genesis 9:20, Vol. I, p. 141. and [with respect to him] his attendant is called na’ar. Thus: Gehazi ‘na’aro’ (his attendant);459II Kings 4:12. Let ‘ha’ne’arim’ (the attendants), I pray thee, arise and play before us.460II Samuel 2:14. Similarly, and ten ‘ne’arim’ (attendants) that bore Joab’s armor,461Ibid., 18:15. and Joab [David’s commander-in-chief] would surely only turn over his armor to valiant men who stood near him! And it is also written, And Joshua said unto the two ‘men’ that had spied out the land,462Joshua 6:22. and yet it is written there, and ‘ha’ne’arim’ the spies went in etc!463Ibid., Verse 23. [Thus we must say that the] term [ha’ne’arim] is used because they were servants of the congregation, acting for them as spies. There are many similar instances. So also, the ‘na’arei’ of the king that ministered unto him,464Esther 2:2. [the second half of the phrase being in apposition,] explaining that they were the servants who attended the king personally, and not the attendants of the court. And if so, our verse is stating: and his minister Joshua the son of Nun was always in attendance, and never departed out of the tent.
In my opinion it is the way of the Sacred Language to call any attendant [regardless of age] na’ar, for the person of high office is called ish (man),458See Ramban Genesis 9:20, Vol. I, p. 141. and [with respect to him] his attendant is called na’ar. Thus: Gehazi ‘na’aro’ (his attendant);459II Kings 4:12. Let ‘ha’ne’arim’ (the attendants), I pray thee, arise and play before us.460II Samuel 2:14. Similarly, and ten ‘ne’arim’ (attendants) that bore Joab’s armor,461Ibid., 18:15. and Joab [David’s commander-in-chief] would surely only turn over his armor to valiant men who stood near him! And it is also written, And Joshua said unto the two ‘men’ that had spied out the land,462Joshua 6:22. and yet it is written there, and ‘ha’ne’arim’ the spies went in etc!463Ibid., Verse 23. [Thus we must say that the] term [ha’ne’arim] is used because they were servants of the congregation, acting for them as spies. There are many similar instances. So also, the ‘na’arei’ of the king that ministered unto him,464Esther 2:2. [the second half of the phrase being in apposition,] explaining that they were the servants who attended the king personally, and not the attendants of the court. And if so, our verse is stating: and his minister Joshua the son of Nun was always in attendance, and never departed out of the tent.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ומשרתו יהושע בן נון נער, “and his personal disciple, Yehoshua son of Nun, a lad, etc.“ Joshua lived a total of 110 years (Joshua 24,29). If you deduct the 40 years the Israelites marched through the desert and the 14 years which Joshua spent in the land of Israel prior to his death (seven years of war and seven years of distributing the country and allocating it to the various tribes) you will note that at this time Joshua was 56 years old. How is it then that the Torah refers to him as a נער, “a lad?” The answer is that the word נער means “personal valet.” The master is known as איש, whereas the valet is known as נער by comparison. This is spelled out in greater detail in Esther 2,2 where the text speaks of נערי המלך משרתיו, “the lads of the king, i.e. his personal valets.” The word משרתיו in that verse is used to define who were the people called נערי המלך.