'Sons' in the Bible

They built the high places [for worship] of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom) to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to [worship and honor] Molech—which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this repulsive thing, to cause Judah to sin.

So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites,

and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum the doorkeeper.

Then I set before the men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.”

But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us: ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons, forever.

We have obeyed the words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, in all our days we have never drunk wine, nor have our wives, our sons, or our daughters,

“The command which Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons not to drink wine has been observed [as a custom for more than two hundred years]. To this day they do not drink wine, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have repeatedly spoken to you, yet you have not listened to Me.

Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have observed the command of their father which he gave them, but this people has not listened to Me.’”’

Then at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; the king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah.

they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Moab!The people of [the pagan god called] Chemosh have perished;For your sons have been taken away captiveAnd your daughters into captivity.

Concerning the sons (descendants) of Ammon.Thus says the Lord:“Does Israel have no sons [to reclaim Gad from the Ammonites]?Has he no heir?Why then has Malcam taken possession of GadAnd [why do] his people live in the cities [of Gad]?

Concerning Kedar and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the Lord,“Arise, go up against KedarAnd destroy the men of the east.

The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the princes of Judah at Riblah.

The [noble and] precious sons of Zion,[Once] worth their weight in fine gold,How they are regarded [merely] as earthen jars,The work of a potter’s hands!

Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you and I will scatter to all the winds the remnant of you.

though these three men were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate (ruined, deserted).

even though these three men were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved.

Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it [escaping the judgments], both sons and daughters. Listen carefully, they are going to come out to you [in Babylon] and you will see their [wicked] conduct and [despicable] actions; then you will be at peace in regard to the disaster which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought on it [has been deserved].

“Moreover, you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to Me, and you destroyed them as sacrifices [to your man-made gods]. Were your gross immoralities so small a matter?

“But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers nor observe their ordinances nor defile yourselves with their idols.

Yet the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, which, if a man keeps, he will live; they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the wilderness.

When you offer your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be asked by you [for an oracle], O house of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you.

You shall point out a way for the [Babylonian] sword to come to Rabbah [the capital] of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

“And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach (disgrace),’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter; it is sharpened and polished to put an end [to everything], and to flash like lightning,

I will pour out My indignation on you [sons of Ammon]; I will blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will place you in the hand of brutal men, skilled in destruction.

Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister, and they became Mine and they gave birth to sons and daughters. And as for [the identity of] their names, Oholah is Samaria (capital city of Israel) and Oholibah is Jerusalem (capital city of Judah).

They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters and they killed her with the sword. So she became notorious among women, and they executed judgments on her.

I will set My jealous indignation against you [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], and they will deal with you in fury. They will remove your nose and your ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and the survivors will be devoured by the fire.

For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery [against Me] with their idols and have even forced their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire as [an offering of] food to them (idols).

And the horde will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and burn down their houses with fire.

‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind [in Jerusalem] will fall by the sword.

‘As for you, son of man, on the day when I take their strength and their stronghold from them, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes and their heart’s [chief] delight (the temple), and I also take their sons and their daughters,

Because you [descendants of Esau] have had an everlasting hatred [for Jacob (Israel)] and you handed over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their tragedy, at the time of their final punishment [the Babylonian conquest],

but the chamber which faces toward the north is for the priests who have the responsibility and take care of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who [alone] from the sons of Levi come near to the Lord to minister to Him.”

“But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of My sanctuary when the children (descendants) of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God.

‘Thus says the Lord God, “If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons from his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons [permanently]; it is their possession by inheritance.

But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his until the year of liberty [the Year of Jubilee]; after that it shall be returned to the prince. His inheritance shall be only his sons’ [permanently]; it shall belong to them.

Moreover, the prince shall not take from the people’s inheritance by oppression and by evicting them from their property; he shall give his sons an inheritance from his own possession, so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his possession.”’”

It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, and who did not go astray when the children (descendants) of Israel went astray as the [other] Levites did.

And behold, one who resembled the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who was standing before me, “O my lord, because of the vision anguish has come upon me, and I have retained no strength.

“His sons will prepare for battle and assemble a multitude of great forces; which will keep on coming and overflow [the land], and pass through, so that they may again wage war as far as his fortress.

Yet the number of the sons of IsraelShall be like the sand of the sea,Which cannot be measured or numbered;And in the placeWhere it is said to them,“You are not My people,”It will be said to them,“You are the sons of the living God.”

They sacrifice on the tops of the mountainsAnd burn incense on the hills,Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,Because the shade is pleasant there.Therefore your daughters play the prostituteAnd your brides commit adultery.

O Israel, you have [willfully] sinned since the days of Gibeah;There they (Israel) stand!Will not the battle against the sons of wickedness overtake them at Gibeah?

They will walk after the Lord [in obedience and worship],Who will roar like a lion;He will roar [summoning them]And His sons will come trembling from the west.

The vine dries upAnd the fig tree fails;The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree,All the trees of the field dry up,Indeed, joy dries up and withdrawsFrom the sons of men.

“It shall come about after thisThat I shall pour out My Spirit on all mankind;And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,Your old men will dream dreams,Your young men will see visions.

and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the Greeks, so that you may send them far away from their territory,

Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken.

“Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets [who gave you My revelation],And some of your young men to be Nazirites (dedicated ones).Is this not true, O you children of Israel?” says the Lord.

Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city [when the Assyrians capture Samaria] and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean and defiled [pagan] land, and Israel shall certainly go from its land into exile.’”

“Do not gaze and gloat [in triumph] over your brother’s day,The day when his misfortune came.Do not rejoice over the sons of JudahIn the day of their destruction;Do not speak arrogantly [jeering and maliciously mocking]In the day of their distress.

Then the remnant of JacobShall be among many peoplesLike dew from the Lord,Like showers on the grass [a source of blessing]Which [come suddenly and] do not wait for manNor delay for the sons of men.

“Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’s sacrificeThat I will punish the princes and the king’s sonsAnd all who are clothed in [lavish] foreign apparel [reflecting their paganism].

Then he said, “These are the two sons of fresh oil [Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the prince of Judah] who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth [as His anointed ones].”

For I will bend Judah as My bow,I will fit the bow with Ephraim [as My arrow].And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece,And will make you [Israel] like the sword of a warrior.

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi [the priests], and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord [grain] offerings in righteousness.

“For I am the Lord, I do not change [but remain faithful to My covenant with you]; that is why you, O sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.

“Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God.

while the sons and heirs of the kingdom [the descendants of Abraham who will not recognize Me as Messiah] will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place [which is farthest removed from the kingdom] there will be weeping [in sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [in distress and anger].”

If I cast out the demons by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan), by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

Peter answered, “Yes.” And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly rulers collect duties or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?”

When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt [from taxation].

Then [Salome] the mother of Zebedee’s children [James and John] came up to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down [in respect], asked a favor of Him.

And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit [in positions of honor and authority] one on Your right and one on Your left.”

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’

And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee [James and John], He began to be grieved and greatly distressed.

Then the words spoken by Jeremiah the prophet were fulfilled: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him on whom a price had been set by the sons of Israel;

Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and [Salome] the mother of Zebedee’s sons [James and John].

and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”);

“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and all the abusive and blasphemous things they say;

James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.”

He will turn many of the sons of Israel back [from sin] to [love and serve] the Lord their God.

and so were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon [Peter]. Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear; from now on you will be catching men!”

But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Now if I drive out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons [the Jewish exorcists] drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

Then He said, “A certain man had two sons.

And his master commended the unjust manager [not for his misdeeds, but] because he had acted shrewdly [by preparing for his future unemployment]; for the sons of this age [the non-believers] are shrewder in relation to their own kind [that is, to the ways of the secular world] than are the sons of light [the believers].

and they cannot die again, because they are [immortal] like the angels (equal to, angel-like). And they are children of God, being participants in the resurrection.

Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and who used to drink from it himself, and his sons and his cattle also?”

While you have the Light, believe and trust in the Light [have faith in it, hold on to it, rely on it], so that you may become sons of Light [being filled with Light as followers of God].”Jesus said these things, and then He left and hid Himself from them.

Simon Peter, and Thomas who is called Didymus (the twin), and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, as well as [John and James] the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.

‘And it shall be in the last days,’ says God,‘That I will pour out My Spirit upon all mankind;And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,And your young men shall see [divinely prompted] visions,And your old men shall dream [divinely prompted] dreams;

You are the sons (descendants) of the prophets and [heirs] of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed (descendant) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

When they heard this, they went into the temple [courtyards] about daybreak and began teaching.Now when the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), even all the council of elders of the sons of Israel, and sent word to the prison for the apostles to be brought [before them].

And God gave Abraham a covenant [a formal agreement to be strictly observed] of [which] circumcision [was the sign]; and so [under these circumstances] Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [became the father] of Jacob, and Jacob [became the father] of the twelve patriarchs.

“The [ten elder] patriarchs, overwhelmed with jealousy, sold [their younger brother] Joseph into [slavery in] Egypt; but God was with him,

and [from Egypt] their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

At this remark Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons.

“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation [obtained through faith in Jesus Christ].

Seven sons of one [named] Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed.

And not only this, but we too, who have the first fruits of the Spirit [a joyful indication of the blessings to come], even we groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for [the sign of] our adoption as sons—the redemption and transformation of our body [at the resurrection].

And not only that, but this too: Rebekah conceived twin sons by one man [under the same circumstances], by our father Isaac;

“And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

And Isaiah calls out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is only the remnant [a small believing minority] that will be saved [from God’s judgment];

And I will be a Father to you,And you will be My sons and daughters,”Says the Lord Almighty. Cross references: 2 Corinthians 6:2 : Is 49:8 2 Corinthians 6:11 : Is 60:5; Ezek 33:22 2 Corinthians 6:16 : Ex 25:8; 29:45; Lev 26:12; Jer 31:1; Ezek 37:27 2 Corinthians 6:17 : Is 52:11 2 Corinthians 6:18 : Is 43:6; Hos 1:10 end of crossrefs

So understand that it is the people who live by faith [with confidence in the power and goodness of God] who are [the true] sons of Abraham.