'Boy' in the Bible

Lamech said to his wives:Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words.For I killed a man for wounding me,a young man for striking me.

But God said to Abraham, “Do not be concerned about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac.

Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba.

When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” So as she sat nearby, she wept loudly.

God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from the place where he is.

Get up, help the boy up, and support him, for I will make him a great nation.”

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink.

God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer.

Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”

Then He said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.”

This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.

He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

As it was, he withdrew his hand, and then his brother was born. Amazed, the midwife cried out loud, "What's this? A breach birth?" So that boy was named Perez.

But Reuben replied: “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.

We said to my lord, 'We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. The boy's brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'

But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’

“So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us—his life is wrapped up with the boy’s life—

when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.’

Now please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers.

For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.”

But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him, and she coated it with tar and with pitch, and she placed the boy in it, and she placed [it] among the reeds on the bank of the Nile.

When she opened it, she saw the child—a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.”

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a woman from the Hebrews to nurse the boy for you?”

And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, "Go." And the girl went, and she called the mother of the boy.

Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him.

And the boy grew, and she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he became her son, and she called his name Moses, and she said, "Because I drew him out from the water."

So a boy ran and told Moses and said, "Eldad and Medad [are] prophesying in the camp."

Now therefore kill every boy, and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man.

And he said to Jether, his firstborn, "Get up, kill them." But the boy did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he [was] still a boy.

for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.”

He said to me, ‘You will conceive and give birth to a son. Therefore, do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth until the day of his death.’”

Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born.”

So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the Lord blessed him.

Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.”

She vowed a vow, and said, "Yahweh of Armies, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a boy, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head."

but Hannah did not go up with them. Instead she told her husband, "Once the boy is weaned, I will bring him and appear before the Lord, and he will remain there from then on."

When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull, half a bushel of flour, and a jar of wine. Though the boy was still young, she took him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh.

Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the boy to Eli.

I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord gave me what I asked Him for,

I now give the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” Then he bowed in worship to the Lord there.

Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

The boy Samuel served in the Lord’s presence and wore a linen ephod.

The Lord paid attention to Hannah’s need, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men.

The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.

Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy.

Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the boy, so Eli told Samuel, "Go lie down, and then if he calls you, answer, "Speak, LORD, because your servant is listening.'" Then Samuel went and lay down.

She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and to the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

But Saul replied to David, "You aren't able to go against this Philistine and fight him! You're just a boy! He has been a warrior from his youth!"

When the Philistine looked carefully at David, he despised him, for he was only a ruddy and handsome boy.

The king said, "Find out whose son this boy is!"

When I send a boy after them, I will say, "Go and find the arrows." If I say to the boy, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them,' then come back. For as surely as the Lord lives, you will be safe and there will no problem.

But if I say thus unto the boy, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way; for Jehovah hath sent thee away.

{And then} in the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a young boy [was] with him.

He said to his servant, "Run, please find the arrows that I am shooting!" The boy ran, and he shot the arrow to pass [over] him.

When the boy came up to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called out after the boy and said, "[Is] not the arrow {beyond you}?"

Then Jonathan called out after the boy, "Quick, hurry, do not linger!" And Jonathan's servant collected the arrows and came to his master.

But the boy did not know anything [about this]; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy, and said to him, "Go, carry them to the city."

The boy left, and then David got up from the south side, and he fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed {each other} and wept {together}, but David [wept] the most.

David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted, went home, and spent the night lying on the ground.

But a boy saw them, and told Absalom. Then they both went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there.

So then, O Yahweh, you are my God. You have made your servant king in place of David my father [though] I [am] a young boy. I do not know going out or coming in.

Solomon said, “Cut the living boy in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

Hadad fled to Egypt, along with some Edomites from his father’s servants. At the time Hadad was a small boy.

Take with you 10 loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

“As for you, get up and go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the boy will die.

Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As she was crossing the threshold of the house, the boy died.

Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times. He cried out to the Lord and said, “My Lord God, please let this boy’s life return to him!”

The LORD listened to Elijah, and the soul of the little boy returned to him, and he revived.

Then Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “Look, your son is alive.”

The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers.

Now, run to meet her and ask her, 'Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?'" She told Gehazi, "Everything's fine."

Then he said to Gehazi, "Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, you must not greet them; if anyone greets you, you must not answer them. You must put my staff on the face of the boy."

Then the mother of the boy said, "{As Yahweh lives} and {as your soul lives}, I will surely not leave you." So he got up and went after her.

Gehazi went ahead of them and placed the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or sign of life, so he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy didn’t wake up.”

When Elisha got to the house, he discovered the boy lying dead on his bed.

Then he went up and lay on the boy: he put mouth to mouth, eye to eye, hand to hand. While he bent down over him, the boy’s flesh became warm.

Elisha got up, went into the house, and paced back and forth. Then he went up and bent down over him again. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored and became like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean.

Then David said, "Solomon my son [is] a boy and inexperienced, and the house built for Yahweh [must be] exceedingly great in fame and splendor throughout every land. I will make preparations for him." So David provided abundant [materials] before he died.

and worthless men, {sons of wickedness}, were gathered about him and became hostile against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was a boy and gentle of heart and was not strong enough [to stand] before them.

In the eighth year of his reign, while he [was] still a boy, he began to seek the God of David his ancestor. And in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherahs, the idols, and the images.

May the day I was born perish,and the night when they said,“A boy is conceived.”

Folly is bound up in the heart of a boy; [the] rod of discipline will drive it from him.

Unhappy is the land whose king is a boy, and whose rulers are feasting in the morning.

And the people will be oppressed {by each other} and a man by his neighbor. The boy will act arrogantly toward the elder, and the dishonorable toward the honorable.

For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned.

for before the boy knows how to call out father or mother, the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”

And the rest of the trees of his forest will be a small number, and a boy can write them [down].

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;And a little boy will lead them.

"And there will no longer be in it a young boy who lives only a few days, or an old person who does not live out his days; for one who dies at a hundred years will be thought a mere youth, and one who falls short of a hundred years will be considered accursed.

Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth;before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.

Cursed is the person who brought the good news to my father, "A baby boy has been born to you," making him very happy.

I'll smash man and woman with you. I'll smash old man and young boy with you. I'll smash young man and young woman with you.

And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, with intense and terrible, tormenting pain.”