CHILDREN
A numerous offspring was regarded as a signal blessing, Psalms 1:127-5, and childless wives sought various means to escape the reproach of barrenness, which was deprecated in the blessing given to a newly married couple, Ruth 4:11. The pangs of childbirth, in their suddenness and sharpness, are often alluded to in Scripture. The apostle Paul speaks of them as fruits and evidences of the fall; but assures those who abide in faith, that, amid all the suffering that reminds them that woman was first in the transgression, Genesis 3:16, they may yet look trustfully to God for acceptance and salvation, 1 Timothy 2:15.
A newborn child was washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in swaddling clothes, Ezekiel 16:4; Luke 1:2-11. On the eighth day he was circumcised and named. At his weaning a feast was often made, Genesis 21:34. The nurse of a female child often attended her through life, Genesis 24:59; Genesis 1:35. Children were to be instructed with great diligence and care, Deuteronomy 1:6-23. They were required to honor and obey their parents, and were subject to the father’s control in all things, Genesis 22:21; Numbers 30:5; they were even liable to be sold into temporary bondage for his debts, Leviticus 1:25-41; 2 Kings 4:1; Matthew 18:25.
The first-born son received, besides other privileges, (see BIRTHRIGHT,) two portions of his father’s estate; the other sons, one portion each. The sons of concubines received presents, and sometimes an equal portion with the others, Genesis 1:21; Genesis 1:25; Genesis 1:49; Judges 1:11-7. The daughters received no portion, except in cases provided for in Numbers 1:27-11.
The term child or children, by a Hebrew idiom, is used to express a great variety of relations: the good are called children of God, of light, of the kingdom, etc.; the bad are named children of the devil, of wrath, of disobedience, etc. A strong man is called a son of strength; an impious man, a son of Belial; an arrow, the son of a bow, and a branch the son of a tree. The posterity of a man is his "sons," for many generations.