Dictionaries :: Babe

Babe:

used of children generally (Mat 11:25; 21:16; Luk 10:21; Rom 2:20). It is used also of those who are weak in Christian faith and knowledge (1Cr 3:1; Hbr 5:13; 1Pe 2:2). In Isa 3:4 the word "babes" refers to a succession of weak and wicked princes who reigned over Judah from the death of Josiah downward to the destruction of Jerusalem.

Babe:

bab:

(1) na‘ar; pais of a male infant 3 months old (Ex 2:6) translated elsewhere "boy" or "lad."

(2) ‘olel, ta‘alulim, in the general sense of "child" (Ps 8:2; 17:14; Isa 3:4).

(3) brephos an unborn or newborn child (King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) of Lu 1:41,44; 2:12,16; 1Pe 2:2 and the Revised Version (British and American) of Lu 18:15 [AV "infants"]; Ac 7:19 [King James Version, "young children"] and 2Ti 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 Mt 11:25; 21:16; Lu 10:21; Ro 2:20; 1Co 3:1; Heb 5:13) the same word is translated "child," plural "children" (in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) of 1Co 13:11; Ga 4:1,3; Eph 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" (1Co 14:20). Nepios is used metaphorically of those who are like children, of simple and single minds, as opposed to the "wise and understanding" (Mt 11:25 =Lu 10:21; compare 1Co 14:20). "Babes in Christ" are men of little spiritual growth, carnal as opposed to spiritual (1Co 3:1; compare Heb 5:13; Eph 4:14). Nepios is also used of a child as a minor or infant in the eye of the law (Ga 4:1,3).

Written by T. Rees

Babe:

denotes

(a) "an unborn child," as in Luk 1:41,44;

(b) "a newborn child, or an infant still older," Luk 2:12, 16; 18:15; Act 7:19; 2Ti 3:15; 1Pe 2:2.
See CHILD, INFANT.

Babe:

lit., "without the power of speech," denotes "a little child," the literal meaning having been lost in the general use of the word. It is used

(a) of "infants," Mat 21:16;

(b) metaphorically, of the unsophisticated in mind and trustful in disposition, Mat 11:25 and Luk 10:21, where it stands in contrast to the wise; of those who are possessed merely of natural knowledge, Rom 2:20; of those who are carnal, and have not grown, as they should have done, in spiritual understanding and power, the spiritually immature, 1Cr 3:1, those who are so to speak partakers of milk, and "without experience of the word of righteousness," Hbr 5:13; of the Jews, who, while the Law was in force, were in state corresponding to that of childhood, or minority, just as the word "infant" is used of a minor, in English law, Gal 4:3, "children;" of believers in an immature condition, impressionable and liable to be imposed upon instead of being in a state of spiritual maturity, Eph 4:14, "children." "Immaturity" is always associated with this word.
See CHILD, No. 7

Note: The corresponding verb, nepiazo, is found in 1Cr 14:20, where believers are exhorted to be as "babes" (RV) in malice, unable to think or speak maliciously.