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 Sarai is barren -- she hath no child.
And the lad groweth, and is weaned, and Abraham maketh a great banquet in the day of Isaac's being weaned;
And Rachel seeth that she hath not borne to Jacob, and Rachel is envious of her sister, and saith unto Jacob, 'Give me sons, and if there is none -- I die.'
And Israel hath loved Joseph more than any of his sons, for he is a son of his old age, and hath made for him a long coat;
and we say unto my lord, We have a father, an aged one, and a child of old age, a little one; and his brother died, and he is left alone of his mother, and his father hath loved him.
And his sister saith unto the daughter of Pharaoh, 'Do I go? when I have called for thee a suckling woman of the Hebrews, then she doth suckle the lad for thee;'
and the daughter of Pharaoh saith to her, 'Take this lad away, and suckle him for me, and I -- I give thy hire;' and the woman taketh the lad, and suckleth him.
When thy son asketh thee hereafter, saying, What are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you? then thou hast said to thy son, Servants we have been to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Jehovah bringeth us out of Egypt by a high hand; read more. and Jehovah giveth signs and wonders, great and sad, on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; and us He hath brought out thence, in order to bring us in, to give to us the land which He had sworn to our fathers. And Jehovah commandeth us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for good to ourselves all the days, to keep us alive, as at this day; and righteousness it is for us, when we observe to do all this command before Jehovah our God, as He hath commanded us.
and ye have taught them to your sons, by speaking of them in thy sitting in thy house, and in thy going in the way, and in thy lying down, and in thy rising up,
And now, O Jehovah my God, Thou hast caused thy servant to reign instead of David my father; and I am a little child, I do not know to go out and to come in;
Lo, an inheritance of Jehovah are sons, A reward is the fruit of the womb.
Thy wife is as a fruitful vine in the sides of thy house, Thy sons as olive plants around thy table.
'And to what shall I liken this generation? it is like little children in market-places, sitting and calling to their comrades,
Then were brought near to him children that he might put hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, 'Suffer the children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the reign of the heavens;' read more. and having laid on them his hands, he departed thence.
and they said to him, 'Hearest thou what these say?' And Jesus saith to them, 'Yes, did ye never read, that, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou didst prepare praise?'
And they were bringing to him children, that he might touch them, and the disciples were rebuking those bringing them, and Jesus having seen, was much displeased, and he said to them, 'Suffer the children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the reign of God; read more. verily I say to you, whoever may not receive the reign of God, as a child -- he may not enter into it;' and having taken them in his arms, having put his hands upon them, he was blessing them.
they are like to children, to those sitting in a market-place, and calling one to another, and saying, We piped to you, and ye did not dance, we mourned to you, and ye did not weep!
'And the lord commended the unrighteous steward that he did prudently, because the sons of this age are more prudent than the sons of the light, in respect to their generation.
And they were bringing near also the babes, that he may touch them, and the disciples having seen did rebuke them, and Jesus having called them near, said, 'Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the reign of God; read more. verily I say to you, Whoever may not receive the reign of God as a little child, may not enter into it.'
Brethren, become not children in the understanding, but in the evil be ye babes, and in the understanding become ye perfect;
that we may no more be babes, tossed and borne about by every wind of the teaching, in the sleight of men, in craftiness, unto the artifice of leading astray,
as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves to the former desires 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/ylt'>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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and sons of God see the daughters of men that they are fair, and they take to themselves women of all whom they have chosen.
And the lad groweth, and is weaned, and Abraham maketh a great banquet in the day of Isaac's being weaned;
And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, dieth, and she is buried at the lower part of Bethel, under the oak, and he calleth its name 'Oak of weeping.'
and he returneth unto his brethren, and saith, 'The lad is not, and I -- whither am I going?'
and we say unto my lord, We have a father, an aged one, and a child of old age, a little one; and his brother died, and he is left alone of his mother, and his father hath loved him.
And his sister saith unto the daughter of Pharaoh, 'Do I go? when I have called for thee a suckling woman of the Hebrews, then she doth suckle the lad for thee;'
and the daughter of Pharaoh saith to her, 'Take this lad away, and suckle him for me, and I -- I give thy hire;' and the woman taketh the lad, and suckleth him.
When thy son asketh thee hereafter, saying, What are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you? then thou hast said to thy son, Servants we have been to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Jehovah bringeth us out of Egypt by a high hand; read more. and Jehovah giveth signs and wonders, great and sad, on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; and us He hath brought out thence, in order to bring us in, to give to us the land which He had sworn to our fathers. And Jehovah commandeth us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for good to ourselves all the days, to keep us alive, as at this day; and righteousness it is for us, when we observe to do all this command before Jehovah our God, as He hath commanded us.
the great trials which thine eyes have seen, and the signs, and the wonders, and the strong hand, and the stretched-out arm, with which Jehovah thy God hath brought thee out; so doth Jehovah thy God to all the peoples of whose presence thou art afraid.
and ye have taught them to your sons, by speaking of them in thy sitting in thy house, and in thy going in the way, and in thy lying down, and in thy rising up,
and she causeth him to go up with her when she hath weaned him, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and she bringeth him into the house of Jehovah at Shiloh, and the youth is but a youth. And they slaughter the bullock, and bring in the youth unto Eli, read more. and she saith, 'O, my lord, thy soul liveth! my lord, I am the woman who stood with thee in this place, to pray unto Jehovah; for this youth I prayed, and Jehovah doth give to me my petition which I asked of Him; and also I have caused him to be asked for Jehovah, all the days that he hath lived -- he is asked for Jehovah;' and he boweth himself there before Jehovah.
And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets hath cried unto Elisha, saying, 'Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou hast known that thy servant was fearing Jehovah, and the lender hath come to take my two children to him for servants.'
And the day is, that sons of God come in to station themselves by Jehovah, and there doth come also the Adversary in their midst.
And the day is, that sons of God come in to station themselves by Jehovah, and there doth come also the Adversary in their midst to station himself by Jehovah.
Sons of men! till when is my glory for shame? Ye love a vain thing, ye seek a lie. Selah.
Rise, O God, judge the earth, For Thou hast inheritance among all the nations!
She hath sought wool and flax, And with delight she worketh with her hands.
and the number of the sons of Israel hath been as the sand of the sea, that is not measured nor numbered, and it hath come to pass in the place where it is said to them, Ye are not My people, it is said to them, Sons of the Living God;
and they said to him, 'Hearest thou what these say?' And Jesus saith to them, 'Yes, did ye never read, that, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou didst prepare praise?'
and not for the nation only, but that also the children of God, who have been scattered abroad, he may gather together into one.
for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God;
for ye are all sons of God through the faith in Christ Jesus,