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Child, ChildrenAid to Bible Understanding
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was also manifest in marriage inasmuch as the parents selected wives for their sons or made arrangements for the marriage.—Gen. 21:21; Ex. 21:8-11; Judg. 14:1-3.
The inheritance rights came through the father. A childless wife often endeavored to acquire children from her maidservant as her husband’s concubine. Such a child was welcomed by the barren wife as her own. (Gen. 30:1-8) An illegitimate child could not be a member of the congregation of Israel. (Deut. 23:2) In the birth of twins, great care was exercised to distinguish the child that came into the world first (Gen. 38:28), since the firstborn son received two portions of his father’s inheritance, while the other son received only one portion. (Deut. 21:17; Gen. 25:1-6) Usually the older son assumed the responsibility of supporting the females in the family after his father had died. A son born through levirate marriage was raised up as the son of the dead man and inherited his property.—Deut. 25:6; Ruth 4:10, 17.
FIGURATIVE USES
The words “child” and “children” as used in the Bible have considerable latitude in meaning. The descendants of Israel are referred to as “children in the flesh,” also as “children of transgression” by Isaiah because of their rebellious ways against Jehovah. (Rom. 9:8; Isa. 57:4) In the days of the apostles wicked persons were classified as “accursed children” and “children of the Devil.” (2 Pet. 2:14; 1 John 3:10) In contrast, persons exercising faith in Christ and becoming spirit-begotten ones are called “God’s children.” (John 1:12; Rom. 8:16) Disciples are often called children.—John 13:33; Heb. 2:13.
Individuals privileged to receive a resurrection from the dead are spoken of as “children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36); also those who are joint heirs with Christ are “the children by the promise” (Rom. 9:8) or children “of the free woman.” (Gal. 4:31) All those desiring to attain life in the kingdom of heaven must display the childlike qualities of humility, receptiveness and trust. (Matt. 18:2-4) Men and women who strive to obey God by using the light of truth in their lives are described as “obedient children” and as “children of light.”—1 Pet. 1:14; Eph. 5:8.
Paul counseled the congregation at Corinth as he would children, to “widen out” in affection; prior to this he had encouraged them not to become children in powers of understanding.—2 Cor. 6:13; 1 Cor. 14:20.
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ChildbearingAid to Bible Understanding
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CHILDBEARING
A privilege granted exclusively to womankind by the Creator, and for which he especially designed and equipped the female. The Edenic mandate given to the first human couple and later repeated to the survivors of the Flood included conceiving and bearing children. (Gen. 1:28; 9:7) However, because of sin and disobedience, Jehovah said to Eve, in connection with childbearing: “I shall greatly increase the pain of your pregnancy; in birth pangs you will bring forth children.”—Gen. 3:16; see BIRTH; LABOR PAINS.
Concerning childbearing and motherhood, the apostle Paul recommended that younger widows, who may be greatly distracted if their motherly instincts are not satisfied, get married and bear children rather than spend their time gadding about as “gossipers and meddlers in other people’s affairs.” (1 Tim. 5:11-15) Concerning women in the Christian congregation, Paul said that they “will be kept safe through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and sanctification along with soundness of mind.”—1 Tim. 2:15.
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ChileabAid to Bible Understanding
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CHILEAB
(Chilʹe·ab).
David’s second son born in Hebron. His mother Abigail was the former wife of Nabal. (2 Sam. 3:2, 3) Chileab is called Daniel at 1 Chronicles 3:1.—See DANIEL No. 1.
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ChilionAid to Bible Understanding
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CHILION
(Chilʹi·on) [frailty].
A son of Naomi and Elimelech and the brother of Mahlon the husband of Ruth. In Moab, where the family had moved from Bethlehem, in Judah, to escape a famine that occurred in the time of the judges, Chilion, after the death of his father, married the Moabitess Orpah. Both he and his brother died childless in Moab.—Ruth 1:1-5; 4:9, 10.
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ChilmadAid to Bible Understanding
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CHILMAD
(Chilʹmad) [meaning uncertain].
Evidently a place listed among those trading with Tyre in the sale of fine clothing, dyed materials, carpets and ropes.—Ezek. 27:2, 23, 24.
In the phrase “Asshur and Chilmad were your traders,” the word “and” is supplied, not appearing in the Hebrew text. Because of this the version of the Jewish Publication Society prefers the rendering: “Asshur was as thine apprentice in traffic,” thereby not translating Chilmad as a proper name. Most translations, however, treat Chilmad as a place-name. Some authorities suggest an identification with Kalwadha, a city near Baghdad. The changing of an “m” for a “w” is common in Assyro-Babylonian.
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ChimhamAid to Bible Understanding
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CHIMHAM
(Chim’ham) [pale].
Presumably a son of Barzillai. When the aged Barzillai declined the invitation to become part of King David’s court and recommended that Chimham go in his place, David replied: “With me Chimham will go across [the Jordan], and I myself shall do to him what is good in your eyes; and all that you may choose to lay upon me I shall do for you.” (2 Sam. 19:33, 37-40) Apparently Chimham remained in the royal court, as indicated by David’s final instructions to Solomon. (1 Ki 2:7) Reference is made at Jeremiah 41:17 to the “lodging place of Chimham” near Bethlehem. It is not known whether this refers to the Chimham of David’s time or to a later man by the same name. Some commentators say that Chimham may have been given a tract of land for his services to David, or that it was a place where Chimham had built a lodging place for travelers.
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ChinnerethAid to Bible Understanding
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CHINNERETH
(Chinʹne·reth) [perhaps, lute, harp].
1. A fortified city of Naphtali. (Josh. 19:32, 35) It is presently identified with Khirbet el-ʽOreimeh, situated on a mound about two miles (3.2 kilometers) SW of Capernaum, overlooking the NW portion of the Sea of Galilee. The name el-ʽOreimeh means “harp” or “lyre.” Chinnereth appears on the temple walls of Karnak at Thebes, Egypt, in the list of Canaanite cities conquered by Thutmose III (whose reign historians assign to the sixteenth century B.C.E.).
2. A district or region of Israel attacked by Syrian King Ben-hadad at the instigation of King Asa of Judah. (c 962/961 B.C.E.) (1 Ki. 15:20; compare 2 Chronicles 16:4.) The expression “all Chinnereth” is usually considered to refer to the fertile Plain of Gennesaret, a small, well-watered triangular area extending S of the suggested site of the city of Chinnereth.
3. The early name of the Sea of Galilee. (Num. 34:11) Associating the name with the Hebrew word for harp (kin·nohrʹ), some suggest that it is applied to the lake because of the harp-shaped form of this body of water. Gennesaret, probably the Greek form of the name, was used when Jesus was on earth (Luke 5:1), as well as the names Sea of Galilee and Sea of Tiberias.—John 6:1.
In addition to being included among the boundaries of the Promised Land (Num. 34:11), the lake formed part of the W boundary of the Amorite kingdom of Og, and, following the Israelite conquest, figured in the W boundary of the tribe of Gad. (Deut. 3:16, 17; Josh. 13:24-27) The reference to “the desert plains [Heb., ʽara·vahʹ] south of Chinnereth” (Josh. 11:2) evidently means the section of the Jordan valley S of the Sea of Galilee, known as the Ghor.—See GALILEE, SEA OF.
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