Reference: Child
Easton
This word has considerable latitude of meaning in Scripture. Thus Joseph is called a child at the time when he was probably about sixteen years of age (Ge 37:3); and Benjamin is so called when he was above thirty years (Ge 44:20). Solomon called himself a little child when he came to the kingdom (1Ki 3:7).
The descendants of a man, however remote, are called his children; as, "the children of Edom," "the children of Moab," "the children of Israel."
In the earliest times mothers did not wean their children till they were from thirty months to three years old; and the day on which they were weaned was kept as a festival day (Ge 21:8; Ex 2:7,9; 1Sa 1:22-24; Mt 21:16). At the age of five, children began to learn the arts and duties of life under the care of their fathers (De 6:20-25; 11:19).
To have a numerous family was regarded as a mark of divine favour (Ge 11:30; 30:1; 1Sa 2:5; 2Sa 6:23; Ps 127:3; 128:3).
Figuratively the name is used for those who are ignorant or narrow-minded (Mt 11:16; Lu 7:32; 1Co 13:11). "When I was a child, I spake as a child." "Brethren, be not children in understanding" (1Co 14:20). "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro" (Eph 4:14).
Children are also spoken of as representing simplicity and humility (Mt 19:13-15; Mr 10:13-16; Lu 18:15-17). Believers are "children of light" (Lu 16:8; 1Th 5:5) and "children of obedience" (1Pe 1:14).
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And, Sara, remained barren, - she had no child,
And the child grew, and was weaned, - and Abraham made a great banquet, on the day of the weaning of Isaac.
And Rachel saw she had borne no children unto Jacob, so Rachel became envious of her sister, - and said unto Jacob, Come! give me children, or else, I die.
Now, Israel, loved Joseph more than any of his sons, because he was to him, the son of his old age, and he had made him, a long tunic.
So we said unto my lord, We have an aged father, and the child of his old age a youth, - his brother, being dead, he alone, is left of his mother and, his father, loveth him.
Then said his sister unto Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call thee a nurse, of the Hebrew women, - that she may nurse for thee the child?
And Pharaoh's daughter said to her - Take this child, and nurse it for me, and, I, will give thee thy wages. So the woman took the child, and nursed it.
When thy son shall ask thee in time to come, saying, - What mean the testimonies and the statutes and the regulations, which Yahweh our God commanded you? Then shalt thou say unto thy son, Servants, were we unto Pharaoh in Egypt, - and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a firm hand; read more. and Yahweh put forth signs and wonders great and sore upon Egypt upon Pharaoh and upon all his household before our eyes; but he brought us forth from thence, - that he might bring us in, to give unto us the land, which he sware unto our fathers. So then Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to revere Yahweh our God, - for our good, all the days, to preserve us alive as at this day; and righteousness, shall it he to us, - when we take heed to do all this commandment, before Yahweh our God, as he commanded us.
and ye shall teach them unto your children by speaking of them, - when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up;
Now, therefore, O Yahweh my God, thou, hast made thy servant king, instead of David my father, - and, I, am but a little child, I know not how to go out and come in.
Lo! an inheritance from Yahweh, are children, A reward, the fruit of the womb:
Thy wife, like a fruitful vine, within the recesses of thy house, - Thy children, like plantings of olive-trees, round about thy table.
But, unto what, shall I liken this generation? It is, like, unto children, sitting the market-places, who, calling unto the others,
Then, wore brought unto him children, - that he might lay his hands upon them, and pray. And, the disciples, rebuked them. But, Jesus, said - Suffer the children - and do not hinder them - to come unto me, - for, of such, is the kingdom of the heavens. read more. And, laying his hands upon them, he went his way from thence.
and said unto him - Hearest thou what these are saying? And, Jesus, saith unto them - Yea: Have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, hast thou prepared praise?
And they were bringing unto him children, that he might, touch, them, - the disciples, however, were rebuking them. But Jesus, seeing it, was greatly displeased, and said unto them - Suffer the children to come unto me, - do not hinder them; for, of such, is the kingdom of God. read more. Verily, I say unto you - Whosoever shall not welcome the kingdom of God, as a child, in nowise shall enter thereinto. And, folding them in his arms, he was blessing them, having laid his hands upon them.
They are like unto the children sitting, in a market-place, and calling one to another, who say - We played the flute for you, and ye danced not, We wailed, and ye wept not.
And the lord praised the unrighteous steward, in that with forethought he acted: - Because, the sons of this age, have more forethought than the sons of light, respecting their own generation.
And they were bringing unto him, even the babes, that he might touch, them; but the disciples, seeing it, began to rebuke them. But, Jesus, called them near, saying - Suffer, the children, to be coming unto me, and do not hinder them; for, of such, is the kingdom of God. read more. Verily I say unto you - Whosoever shall not welcome the kingdom of God, as a child, in nowise shall enter thereinto.
Brethren! do not become children, in your understandings; but, in baseness, become babes, while, in your understandings, ye become, full-grown.
That we may, no longer, be infants - billow-tossed and shifted round with every wind of teaching, - in the craft of men, in knavery suited to the artifice of error;
As obedient persons, not configuring yourselves unto your former covetings in your ignorance:
Watsons
CHILD. Mothers, in the earliest times, suckled their offspring themselves, and that from thirty to thirty-six months. The day when the child was weaned was made a festival, Ge 21:8; Ex 2:7,9; 1Sa 1:22-24; 2-Chronicles/31/16/type/emb'>2Ch 31:16; 2 Mac. 7:27, 28; Mt 21:16. Nurses were employed, in case the mother died before the child was old enough to be weaned, and when from any circumstances she was unable to afford a sufficient supply of milk for its nourishment. In later ages, when matrons had become more delicate, and thought themselves too infirm to fulfil the duties which naturally devolved upon them, nurses were employed to take their place, and were reckoned among the principal members of the family. They are, accordingly, in consequence of the respectable station which they sustained, frequently mentioned in sacred history, Ge 35:8; 2Ki 11:2; 2Ch 22:11. The sons remained till the fifth year in the care of the women; they then came into the father's hands, and were taught not only the arts and duties of life, but were instructed in the Mosaic law, and in all parts of their country's religion, De 6:20-25; 7:19; 11:19. Those who wished to have them farther instructed, provided they did not deem it preferable to employ private teachers, sent them away to some priest or Levite, who sometimes had a number of other children to instruct. It appears from 1Sa 1:24-28, that there was a school near the holy tabernacle, dedicated to the instruction of youth. There had been many other schools of this kind, which had fallen into decay, but were restored again by the Prophet Samuel; after whose time, the members of the seminaries in question, who were denominated by way of distinction "the sons of the prophets," acquired no little notoriety. Daughters rarely departed from the apartments appropriated to the females, except when they went out with an urn to draw water. They spent their time in learning those domestic and other arts, which are befitting a woman's situation and character, till they arrived at that period in life when they were to be sold, or, by a better fortune, given away in marriage, Pr 31:13; 2Sa 13:7.
2. In Scripture, disciples are often called children or sons. Solomon, in his Proverbs, says to his disciple, "Hear, my son." The descendants of a man, how remote soever, are denominated his sons or children; as "the children of Edom," "the children of Moab," "the children of Israel." Such expressions as "the children of light," "the children of darkness," "the children of the kingdom," signify those who follow truth, those who remain in error, and those who belong to the church. Persons arrived at almost the age of maturity are sometimes called "children." Thus, Joseph is termed "the child," though he was at least sixteen years old, Ge 37:30; and Benjamin, even when above thirty, was so denominated, Ge 44:20. By the Jewish law, children were reckoned the property of their parents, who could sell them for seven years to pay their debts. Their creditors had also the power of compelling them to resort to this measure. The poor woman, whose oil Elisha increased so much as enabled her to pay her husband's debts, complained to the prophet, that, her husband being dead, the creditor was come to take away her two sons to be bondmen, 2Ki 4:1. "Children, or sons of God," is a name by which the angels are sometimes described: "There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord," Job 1:6; 2:1. Good men, in opposition to the wicked, are also thus denominated; the children of Seth's family, in opposition to those of Cain: "The sons of God saw the daughters of men," Ge 6:2. Judges, magistrates, priests, are also termed children of God: "I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are the children of the Most High," Ps 82:8. The Israelites are called "sons of God," in opposition to the Gentiles, Ho 1:10; Joh 11:52. In the New Testament, believers are commonly called "children of God" by virtue of their adoption. St. Paul, in several places, extols the advantages of being adopted sons of God, Ro 8:14; Ga 3:26. "Children or sons of men," is a name given to Cain's family before the deluge, and, in particular, to the giants who were violent men, and had corrupted their ways. Afterward, the impious Israelites were thus called: "O ye sons of men, how long will ye love vanity?" Ps 4:2. "The sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows," 57:4.
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that the sons of God saw the daughters of men! that they were, fair, - so they took to themselves wives of whomsoever they chose,
And the child grew, and was weaned, - and Abraham made a great banquet, on the day of the weaning of Isaac.
And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died, and was buried below Beth-el, under the oak, - so the name thereof was called, Allon-bacuth.
and returned unto his brethren, and said, - The, lad, is not! And, I, oh where can I, go?
So we said unto my lord, We have an aged father, and the child of his old age a youth, - his brother, being dead, he alone, is left of his mother and, his father, loveth him.
Then said his sister unto Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call thee a nurse, of the Hebrew women, - that she may nurse for thee the child?
And Pharaoh's daughter said to her - Take this child, and nurse it for me, and, I, will give thee thy wages. So the woman took the child, and nursed it.
When thy son shall ask thee in time to come, saying, - What mean the testimonies and the statutes and the regulations, which Yahweh our God commanded you? Then shalt thou say unto thy son, Servants, were we unto Pharaoh in Egypt, - and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a firm hand; read more. and Yahweh put forth signs and wonders great and sore upon Egypt upon Pharaoh and upon all his household before our eyes; but he brought us forth from thence, - that he might bring us in, to give unto us the land, which he sware unto our fathers. So then Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to revere Yahweh our God, - for our good, all the days, to preserve us alive as at this day; and righteousness, shall it he to us, - when we take heed to do all this commandment, before Yahweh our God, as he commanded us.
the great provings which thine own eyes saw, and the signs and the wonders and the firm hand and the stretched-out arm, wherewith Yahweh thy God brought thee forth, - so, will Yahweh thy God do unto all the peoples, before whom thou art afraid.
and ye shall teach them unto your children by speaking of them, - when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up;
Then took she him up with her, when she had weaned him, with a bullock of three years old, and one ephah of meal, and a skin of wine, and took him to the house of Yahweh, at Shiloh, - the boy yet being young. So they slew the bullock, - and took the boy in, unto Eli. read more. And she said - Pardon, my lord! By the life of thy soul, my lord, - I, am the woman who was standing near thee here, praying unto Yahweh: For this boy, I prayed, - And Yahweh hath given me my petition which I asked of him. Hence, I also, have loaned him unto Yahweh, all the days that he liveth. He, is lent unto Yahweh. And he bowed down there, unto Yahweh.
Now, a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets, made outcry unto Elisha, saying - Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and, thou, knowest that, thy servant, was one who revered Yahweh, - now, the creditor, hath come to take my two boys to himself as bondmen.
Now there came a certain day, when the sons of God entered in to present themselves unto Yahweh, - so the accuser also entered, in their midst.
And there came a certain day when the sons of God entered in, to present themselves unto Yahweh - so the accuser also entered in their midst, to present himself unto Yahweh.
Ye sons of the great! how long, turning my glory to contempt, will ye love emptiness, will ye seek falsehood? Selah.
Arise! O God, judge thou the earth, For, thou, wilt inherit all the nations.
She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands:
Yet shall the number of the sons of Israel become like the sand of the sea, which can neither he measured, nor numbered, - and it shall come to pass, in the place where it used to be said to them, No people of mine, are ye, it shall be said to them, Sons of a Living God!
and said unto him - Hearest thou what these are saying? And, Jesus, saith unto them - Yea: Have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, hast thou prepared praise?
and, not for the nation only, but that, the scattered children of God also, he might gather together into one.
For, as many as by God's Spirit are being led, the same, are God's sons, -
For ye, all, are, sons of God, through the faith in Christ Jesus;