Child Development in the Bible

The importance of the earliest years . . .

We have probably all been told, at sometime or other, that the Eskimos have piles of different words for snow. Because they are so well acquainted with it, they are able to make minute distinctions, which, for the rest of us, we all come under the heading of “white stuff.”

The Hebrews had a number of distinct words to describe children in the various stages of growth and development (although we should note that children do not progress in lockstep through the stages). As we examine the use of these words, we should be encouraged in seeing that many of the developmental distinctions which we see in our children are scriptural distinctions.

The first word is yeled, and refers to a newborn baby. It is used by the prophet Isaiah when he says . . . unto us a Child is born (9:6). The second word refers to the suckling—yoneq—and is found in Isaiah 11:8. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den (11:8). 

Olel refers to a suckling who is beginning to ask for food. In Lamentations 4:4, it says this, The tongue of the infant clings to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the young children ask for bread, but no one breaks it for them. The fourth Hebrew word is gamul, which has reference to the weaned child. Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned for milk? Those just drawn from the breast? (Isaiah 28:9)

The word taph applies to the next stage: the child clinging to its mother. It is used in Jeremiah 40: 7. Elem refers to a child becoming firm, naar speaks of a lad. Literally, it means “one who shakes himself free,” and bachur means ripened one

As parents, we are responsible for the education of our children. This oversight of education is to be thoughtful. One of the most important things to remember in this is the frame and capacity of our children. There are some who, in the name of biblical strictness, overwhelm their children. And of course, there is the far more common error of underestimating the capacity of children to work and learn.

But in determining the capacities of children, we should not look to the unbelieving world, our own instincts or common sense, or even to the children themselves. The world will lie to us, our own assumptions can oftentimes be too harsh or too permissive, and many children successfully put off getting to work through convincing their parents that they are not yet “ready” for whatever it is, math, or reading, or school, or work, or anything.

We must think biblically, therefore, about the following distinctions in child development.

The infant is what we call a newborn. The suckling is the nursing baby. The next stage is the nursing baby who is also capable of banging on the high chair with a spoon. The next is the child just weaned from his mother, and who eats with the rest of us. The next to the skirt-clinging stage, where the child wants to be held, or to view the world only while embracing mom or dad’s legs. It is the underfoot stage.

The beginning of independence is the next milestone. The child can be left somewhere for a short time without coming unglued. Independence for a short time is something which the child does not actively seek, but he is able to handle. Then comes the time when the child begins actively to seek some sort of independence. The last stage is seen when the child is ready to leave home and take a wife, or leave home to become one. 

The ramifications for formal education in all this are important, but not necessarily obvious.

The most important time in education is before any formal schooling begins, during the first five stages. It is commonly said that successful schools are simply reaping the benefits of successful parenting. This is quite true, but it is a deeper truth than many realize. Successful parents are not to be understood as those who help with homework, or make it to the parent/teacher conferences, although such things are important in their own place. The most important things a parent can do to prepare for true education are done in those early years when a child scarcely knows what a school is. Preschool children are not non-school children. The most important lessons are mastered, or not, at this time. 

Formal schooling, whether in a classroom or at home, would occur during the last three stages. These stages are the time when parental neglect or success during the preschool years becomes visible to outside observers. In some ways, this causes some Christians to react to certain aspects of child development. For example, they do not want to see their children in the seventh stage (approximately junior high age) because they assume that independence always means rebellion against parental authority. It does not. 

Many Christian schools and homeschoolers fail to teach the student to think. Instead of disciplining and teaching “with the grain” they assume the child has become rebellious and seek to squelch it. Independence of mind is assumed to go hand-in-hand with with rebellion against authority. But Christian schools are not supposed to be propaganda centers. The goal is not to teach the students to parrot an evangelical party line. The goal is to guide the child through each stage, utilizing the opportunities provided by each, and teaching the child to resist the temptations common to each.