Babe

used of children generally ( Matthew 11:25 ; 21:16 ; Luke 10:21 ; Romans 2:20 ). It is used also of those who are weak in Christian faith and knowledge ( 1 Corinthians 3:1 ; Hebrews 5:13 ; 1 Peter 2:2 ). In Isaiah 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 (Exodus 2:6) translated elsewhere "boy" or "lad."

(2) `olel, ta`alulim, in the general sense of "child" (Psalms 8:2; 17:14; Isaiah 3:4).

(3) brephos an unborn or newborn child (King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) of Luke 1:41,44; 2:12,16; 1 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 2 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; 21:16; Luke 10:21; Romans 2:20; 1 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 1 Corinthians 13:11; Galatians 4:1,3; 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" (1 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 \1Co 14:20\). "Babes in Christ" are men of little spiritual growth, carnal as opposed to spiritual (1 Corinthians 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 (Galatians 4:1,3).

T. Rees