The meaning of Babe in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
bab:
(1) na'ar; pais of a male infant 3 months old (Exodus 2:6) translated elsewhere "boy" or "lad."
(2) 'olel, ta'alulim, in the general sense of "child" (Psalms 8:2; Psalms 17:14; Isaiah 3:4).
(3) brephos an unborn or newborn child (King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) of Luke 1:41, Luke 1:44; Luke 2:12, Luke 2:16; I Peter 2:2 and the Revised Version (British and American) of Luke 18:15 [AV "infants"]; Acts 7:19 [King James Version, "young children"] and II Timothy 3:15 [King James Version, "child"]).
(4) nepios = Latin infans) "a child that cannot speak." (King James and the Revised Version (British and American) of Matthew 11:25; Matthew 21:16; Luke 10:21; Romans 2:20; I Corinthians 3:1; Hebrews 5:13) the same word is translated "child," plural "children" (in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) of I Corinthians 13:11; Galatians 4:1, Galatians 4:3; Ephesians 4:14) the verb nepiazete is translated in the King James Version "be ye children" and in the Revised Version (British and American) "be ye babes" (I Corinthians 14:20). Nepios is used metaphorically of those who are like children, of simple and single minds, as opposed to the "wise and understanding" (Matthew 11:25 = Luke 10:21; compare I Corinthians 14:20). "Babes in Christ" are men of little spiritual growth, carnal as opposed to spiritual (I Corinthians 3:1; compare Hebrews 5:13; Ephesians 4:14). Nepios is also used of a child as a minor or infant in the eye of the law (Galatians 4:1, Galatians 4:3).
T. Rees
See more on the meaning of Babe in the Bible:
Babe {Easton's Bible Dictionary}
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