📖 Biblical Definition
A heritage from the Lord, image-bearers entrusted to parents for nurture in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Psalm 127:3-5 grounds the doctrine: Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. Ephesians 6:4 names the parental responsibility: And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Proverbs is full of fatherly instruction to a son. Christ's tenderness toward children (Mark 10:13-16: suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God) sets the standard against which both ancient Roman child-exposure and modern Western child-as-lifestyle-choice are alike judged. The biblical doctrine of children is foundational to both the cultural mandate (be fruitful and multiply, Gen 1:28) and the gospel-discipleship pattern of generational covenant. Children are not a project, an interruption, or a category to be optimized; they are arrows for a quiver, image-bearers for the kingdom.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
A heritage from the Lord.
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The young of human kind; offspring; in Scripture, a blessing, a heritage, a stewardship to be raised in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
📖 Key Scripture
Psalm 127:3 — "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Ephesians 6:4 — "Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
Matthew 19:14 — "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Treated as accessories to lifestyle, burden to opt out of, or future consumers — not as image-bearers and heritage.
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Modern Western culture has reframed children as choice, cost, and inconvenience. Scripture calls them heritage, blessing, and the kingdom's natural belonging. Recover the joy of children as gift; recover parenting as discipleship.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew yeled — child; Greek teknon — child.
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['Hebrew', 'H3206', 'yeled', 'child']
['Greek', 'G5043', 'teknon', 'child, offspring']
Usage
"Children are heritage, not optional accessory."
"Bring them up in the nurture of the Lord."