world of the child in the Hebrew Bible, The

By Naomi A. Steinberg

Book Description

What defines a child? This profound question opens unexpected doorways into understanding both ancient wisdom and our modern assumptions about childhood itself.

Naomi Steinberg invites readers on a revelatory journey through the Hebrew Bible, where she uncovers how dramatically different childhood was in biblical times compared to today. Drawing from careful analysis of key biblical passages including Genesis 21, 1 Samuel 1, and Exodus 21, she reveals that age and physical development were not the primary markers of childhood in ancient Israel.

Instead, a child's place in society depended on their utility to parents and family structures. Children existed as extensions of parental needs and aspirations, their experiences shaped by factors like birth order, gender, family composition, and the broader social context of their time. A child born into a polygamous household faced entirely different realities than one in a monogamous family.

Steinberg enriches her biblical scholarship with insights from contemporary childhood studies and her own cross-cultural observations from Guatemala, creating a multidimensional exploration that challenges readers to examine their own cultural assumptions. Her work demonstrates that childhood is not a universal constant but a social construction that varies dramatically across cultures and eras.

For those seeking deeper understanding of biblical texts and human development, this study offers fresh perspectives on how societies shape the most vulnerable members of their communities, revealing timeless truths about family, power, and belonging.