'Child' in the Bible

And Adam had marital relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, "God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him."

Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, "Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"

The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child when I am old?'

The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

Early in the morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of Beer Sheba.

When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the child under one of the shrubs.

Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, "I refuse to watch the child die." So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.

But Onan knew that the child would not be considered his. So whenever he had sexual relations with his brother's wife, he withdrew prematurely so as not to give his brother a descendant.

While she was giving birth, one child put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, "This one came out first."

He named the second child Ephraim, saying, "Certainly God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."

The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a healthy child, she hid him for three months.

But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him and sealed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and set it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile.

opened it, and saw the child -- a boy, crying! -- and she felt compassion for him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."

Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get a nursing woman for you from the Hebrews, so that she may nurse the child for you?"

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 child and nursed him.

When the child grew older she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "Because I drew him from the water."

"If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman's husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides.

"Tell the Israelites, 'When a woman produces offspring and bears a male child, she will be unclean seven days, as she is unclean during the days of her menstruation.

If she bears a female child, she will be impure fourteen days as during her menstrual flow, and she will remain sixty-six days in blood purity.

The priest is to present it before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean from her flow of blood. This is the law of the one who bears a child, for the male or the female child.

Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, 'Carry them in your arms, as a foster father bears a nursing child,' to the land which you swore to their fathers?

Be keenly aware that just as a parent disciplines his child, the Lord your God disciplines you.

Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, and they both bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife.

When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.

Look, you will conceive and have a son. You must never cut his hair, for the child will be dedicated to God from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines."

He said to me, 'Look, you will conceive and have a son. So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. For the child will be dedicated to God from birth till the day he dies.'"

Manoah prayed to the Lord, "Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God to visit us again, so he can teach us how we should raise the child who will be born."

Manoah said, "Now, when your announcement comes true, how should the child be raised and what should he do?"

Manoah's wife gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the Lord empowered him.

Naomi took the child and placed him on her lap; she became his caregiver.

She made a vow saying, "O Lord of hosts, if you will look with compassion on the suffering of your female servant, remembering me and not forgetting your servant, and give a male child to your servant, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut."

So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don't spare them. Put them to death -- man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.'"

Then Nathan went to his home. The Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill.

Then David prayed to God for the child and fasted. He would even go and spend the night lying on the ground.

On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, "While the child was still alive he would not listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!"

When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, "Is the child dead?" They replied, "Yes, he's dead."

His servants said to him, "What is this that you have done? While the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!"

He replied, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, 'Perhaps the Lord will show pity and the child will live.

So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had marital relations with her. She gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child

This woman's child suffocated during the night when she rolled on top of him.

The king then said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!"

The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. She said, "My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don't kill him!" But the other woman said, "Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!"

The king responded, "Give the first woman the living child; don't kill him. She is the mother."

The mother of the child said, "As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So Elisha got up and followed her back.

Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child's face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha he told him, "The child did not wake up."

When Elisha arrived at the house, there was the child lying dead on his bed.

Elisha went back and walked around in the house. Then he got up on the bed again and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

The fatherless child is snatched from the breast, the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.

Indeed I am composed and quiet, like a young child carried by its mother; I am content like the young child I carry.

Listen, my child, to the instruction from your father, and do not forsake the teaching from your mother.

My child, if sinners try to entice you, do not consent!

My child, do not go down their way, withhold yourself from their path;

My child, if you receive my words, and store up my commands within you,

My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,

My child, do not despise discipline from the Lord, and do not loathe his rebuke.

My child, do not let them escape from your sight; safeguard sound wisdom and discretion.

When I was a son to my father, a tender only child before my mother,

Listen, my child, and accept my words, so that the years of your life will be many.

My child, pay attention to my words; listen attentively to my sayings.

My child, be attentive to my wisdom, pay close attention to my understanding,

My child, if you have made a pledge for your neighbor, and have become a guarantor for a stranger,

then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself, because you have fallen into your neighbor's power: go, humble yourself, and appeal firmly to your neighbor.

My child, guard the commands of your father and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.

My child, keep my words and treasure up my commands in your own keeping.

The Proverbs of Solomon: A wise child makes a father rejoice, but a foolish child is a grief to his mother.

The one who spares his rod hates his child, but the one who loves his child is diligent in disciplining him.

A wise child brings joy to his father, but a foolish person despises his mother.

A foolish child is a grief to his father, and bitterness to the mother who bore him.

A foolish child is the ruin of his father, and a contentious wife is like a constant dripping.

Discipline your child, for there is hope, but do not set your heart on causing his death.

If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will stray from the words of knowledge.

Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.

Do not withhold discipline from a child; even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

My child, if your heart is wise, then my heart also will be glad;

Listen, my child, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right way.

The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him.

Eat honey, my child, for it is good, and honey from the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.

Fear the Lord, my child, as well as the king, and do not associate with rebels,

The one who keeps the law is a discerning child, but a companion of gluttons brings shame to his parents.

A rod and reproof impart wisdom, but a child who is unrestrained brings shame to his mother.

Discipline your child, and he will give you rest; he will bring you happiness.

Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years -- even if he lives a long, long time, but cannot enjoy his prosperity -- even if he were to live forever -- I would say, "A stillborn child is better off than he is!"

Though the stillborn child came into the world for no reason and departed into darkness, though its name is shrouded in darkness,

Here is why this will be so: Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land whose two kings you fear will be desolate.

for before the child knows how to cry out, 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria."

For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called: Extraordinary Strategist, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

There will be so few trees left in his forest, a child will be able to count them.

A wolf will reside with a lamb, and a leopard will lie down with a young goat; an ox and a young lion will graze together, as a small child leads them along.

Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!

As a mother consoles a child, so I will console you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem."

So I said, "Oh, my dear people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now that destructive army will come against us."

"So now the Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, asks, 'Why will you do such great harm to yourselves? Why should every man, woman, child, and baby of yours be destroyed from the midst of Judah? Why should you leave yourselves without a remnant?

After some years have passed, they will form an alliance. Then the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she will not retain her power, nor will he continue in his strength. She, together with the one who brought her, her child, and her benefactor will all be delivered over at that time.

Will the Lord accept a thousand rams, or ten thousand streams of olive oil? Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion, my offspring -- my own flesh and blood -- for my sin?

No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.