The Bible has a great deal to say about children. This study gathers passages from across Scripture and sets them out for reading and reflection.
What Scripture Says
The subject of children appears throughout Scripture, and the verses gathered here show us its many dimensions. We first meet children in the sorrow of the fall: God told the woman, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children” (Genesis 3:16). From the beginning, bringing forth children is bound up with both blessing and pain. Yet the same verse ties children to the woman’s desire and to the order of the household, showing that family life is part of God’s design even in a broken world.
A second thread running through these verses is that “children” often names the people of God as a whole. Israel is repeatedly called “the children of Israel” (Exodus 1:1; Leviticus 1:2; Numbers 1:2; Deuteronomy 1:3; Joshua 1:2; Judges 1:1; 1 Chronicles 1:43; 2 Chronicles 5:2). The LORD speaks to them, numbers them, commands them, and gives them land as a father deals with his household. Even after captivity, they are called “the children of the province” who returned to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:1). This teaches us that God relates to His covenant people with the care and authority of a father.
Scripture also shows the deep personal weight of children. Hannah “had no children,” while Peninnah had children (1 Samuel 1:2)—a grief that drove Hannah to prayer. Children are also meant to be taught: David commanded that the “children of Judah” be taught the use of the bow (2 Samuel 1:18). And children are not always innocent in their conduct: the “little children” who mocked Elisha cried, “Go up, thou bald head” (2 Kings 2:23), a sober warning that youth does not excuse scorn.
Finally, children stand at the center of God’s promises and conditions. To David the LORD said, “If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee… a man on the throne of Israel” (1 Kings 2:4). The future of God’s covenant rested on whether the next generation would walk faithfully. Children, then, are both a gift to be received and a trust to be raised in the truth.
Living It Out
For the ordinary reader, these verses call us to treat children—whether our own or those around us—as both a gift and a responsibility. The sorrow of Genesis 3:16 reminds us that family life in a fallen world involves real pain, and we should not be surprised or ashamed when it does. Yet the persistent phrase “children of Israel” shows that God’s way of working has always been generational: He builds His purposes through families and through the passing of faith from one generation to the next. That means the time we spend teaching, correcting, and modeling faithfulness to children is never wasted. Like David teaching the children of Judah the bow, we are to equip the young with real skills and real truth.
At the same time, 1 Kings 2:4 warns us that godly children are not automatic. Each generation must choose to “take heed to their way.” Parents and mentors can teach and pray, but they cannot believe for a child. And the mocking children of 2 Kings 2:23 remind us that children can be cruel and need correction, not flattery. Whether we are raising children, teaching them, or simply being an example to them, our calling is the same: to walk before God in truth with all our heart, so that the next generation sees a faith worth following.
Reflection
- The LORD’s promise to David was conditional on his children walking before Him in truth (1 Kings 2:4)—what are you actively passing on to the children in your life, and would they see in you a faith worth imitating?
- Hannah’s grief over having no children drove her to the LORD (1 Samuel 1:2)—when it comes to children, whether in longing for them, raising them, or watching them stray, do you bring your sorrow to God or carry it alone?
Verses to Consider
- Genesis 3:16 — Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
- Exodus 1:1 — Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
- Leviticus 1:2 — Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.
- Numbers 1:2 — Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;
- Deuteronomy 1:3 — And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;
- Joshua 1:2 — Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
- Judges 1:1 — Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?
- 1 Samuel 1:2 — And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
- 2 Samuel 1:18 — (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)
- 1 Kings 2:4 — That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.
- 2 Kings 2:23 — And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
- 1 Chronicles 1:43 — Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel; Bela the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
- 2 Chronicles 5:2 — Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.
- Ezra 2:1 — Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;
Where These Come From
These verses are drawn from different parts of the Bible on purpose. A subject is rarely settled by a single line; the whole counsel of Scripture gives the shape of it.