Babes (1025) brephos by Greek Word Studies

Babes (1025) (brephos) is used most often in the NT of a literal baby whether unborn or born or newly born. Some contexts signify a young child. Peter's has the only figurative use of brephos in the NT. In context brephos could be interpreted as referring to believers who have only recently been born again into the family of God by grace through faith (see Peter's mention of the new birth in notes on 1Pe 1:3-note and 1Pe 1:23-note). The alternative interpretation is that believers are in a sense always to be considered like infants in the sense that they are always in need of and totally dependent upon the pure milk of God's Word. Hiebert observes that 1Peter 2:1-3... In classical Greek, the term "baby" (brephos) was used of the embryo, the unborn child, but in later writings it was extended to include the suckling child and even small children generally. Those who view 1 Peter as originally a baptismal homily naturally appeal to that designation as confirmation of their view Thus Beare asserts that the designation "could not be used with any appropriateness of the general body of Christians in the provinces mentioned in the salutation" and insists that "the words are wholly appropriate to the condition of converts who have just been received into the Church by baptism." Admittedly, Peter's designation can be understood to support that view. Kelly remarks, "The adjective need mean no more than that the Asian communities included a substantial proportion of fairly recent converts." Rather, as Selwyn maintains, "The purpose of the adjective is to make the imagery of the passage more vivid... What the author wants to express is the ardor of the suckled child." Such an ardor for spiritual food is essential for spiritual growth. Believers should at all times be like infants in their craving for the nourishment that the Lord has provided for their spiritual growth. The imagery is both expressive and challenging! Peter's picture is apparently based on the teaching of Christ that the kingdom of God must be received as a little child (Matt. 18:3; Mark 10:15). Peter made no mention of a process of growth from infancy to adulthood, where the longing for milk is replaced by the ability to eat solid food. His picture of the readers as babes, unlike that of Paul and the author of Hebrews (1Cor. 3:1-4; Heb. 5:12-14), is not derogatory. He was eager for them, as those who had been born again (1:23), to maintain the distinctive characteristic of baby-like eagerness for spiritual nourishment. His figure was clearly influenced by the imagery that follows.(1 Peter Commentary) Meyer rightly observes that... The most advanced among us, in knowledge and attainment, are, in comparison with what they shall be, only as babes. Classic Greek used brephos to describe a babe at the breast, one who is dependent on the mother's milk for nourishment. The use of cows’ milk was rare in ancient times. It was believed that children were very impressionable at the nursing stage, and those who allowed them to be tended by nursemaids were advised to select the nurses with care. Brephos - 8x in the NT... Luke 1:41 And it came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:44"For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. Luke 2:12 "And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger." Luke 2:16 And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. Luke 18:15 And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. Acts 7:19 "It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive. 2 Timonty 3:15 (note) and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 1 Peter 2:2 like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, Peter is painting a vivid picture -- Grasp for the Word like a baby grasps for its bottle! The Bible tells us that the goal of Bible study is not just that we might know (and be smarter sinners), but that we might grow (and be more like the Savior) as shown schematically... Appetite v Attitude v Aim Peter is saying that more than simply receiving spiritual nourishment, the readers should be ardently (Ardent = from root = to burn > expressed in eager zealous activity; impassioned) longing for it. Matthew Henry on newborn babes... He puts them in mind of their regeneration. A new life requires suitable food. They, being newly born, must desire the milk of the word. Infants desire common milk, and their desires towards it are fervent and frequent, arising from an impatient sense of hunger, and accompanied with the best endeavors of which the infant is capable. Jamieson on newborn babes... new-born babes—altogether without “guile” (1Pe 2:1). As long as we are here we are “babes,” in a specially tender relation to God (Is 40:11). The childlike spirit is indispensable if we would enter heaven. “Milk” is here not elementary truths in contradistinction to more advanced Christian truths, as in 1Co 3:2; Heb 5:12, 13; but in contrast to “guile, hypocrisies,” &c. (1Pe 2:1); the simplicity of Christian doctrine in general to the childlike spirit. The same “word of grace” which is the instrument in regeneration, is the instrument also of building up. “The mother of the child is also its natural nurse” [Steiger]. The babe, instead of chemically analyzing, instinctively desires and feeds on the milk; so our part is not self-sufficient rationalizing and questioning, but simply receiving the truth in the love of it (Mt 11:25). Illustration - 1Peter 2:2 tells us to "long for the pure milk of the Word." Pure means undiluted. A lot of us want the Word but we mix it up with other information. At most county or state fairs, you can find candied apples—apples dipped in sugar. Now, apples by themselves are a great, healthy fruit. Once you dip them in sugar, however, you’ve just killed the benefit of the apple although it tastes good. A candied apple is sweet but its nutritional value is diluted because something with no value has been added to it. Many of us will read the Word, hear the Word, and then talk to people about the Word but then dip it in human viewpoint. - Tony Evans ><>><>><> Illustration - WHEN you travel to a country where you don’t speak the language, you shouldn’t be surprised when you don’t understand what is being said. More than likely, you will need an interpreter so that you can communicate. There is nothing wrong with you if you don’t understand. It’s simply that you are new to a very different environment. This is how things seem for an infant Christian. They are new to the Christian environment, and they may not know how to “walk the walk” and “talk the talk.” They are babies born into a whole new world. - Tony Evans How to Get the Most from Reading your Bible Puritan writer Thomas Watson tells us how to prepare for reading the Bible... 1. Remove hindrances. (a) remove the love of every sin (b) remove the distracting concerns of this world, especially covetousness [Matt. 13:22] (c) Don't make jokes with and out of Scripture. 2. Prepare your heart. [1 Sam. 7:3] Do this by: (a) collecting your thoughts (b) purging unclean affections and desires (c) not coming to it rashly or carelessly. 3. Read it with reverence, considering that each line is God speaking directly to you. 4. Read the books of the Bible in order. 5. Get a true understanding of Scripture. [Ps. 119:73] This is best achieved by comparing relevant parts of Scripture with each other. 6. Read with seriousness. [Deut. 32:47] The Christian life is to be taken seriously since it requires striving [Luke 13:24] and not falling short [Heb. 4:1]. 7. Persevere in remembering what you read. [19.52" class="scriptRef">Ps. 119:52] Don't let it be stolen from you [Matt. 13:4,19]. If it doesn't stay in your memory it is unlikely to be much benefit to you. 8. Meditate on what you read. [Ps. 119:15] The Hebrew word for meditate' means to be intense in the mind'. Meditation without reading is wrong and bound to err; reading without meditation is barren and fruitless. It means to stir the affections, to be warmed by the fire of meditation [Ps. 39:3]. 9. Read with a humble heart. Acknowledge that you are unworthy that God should reveal himself to you [James 4:6] 10. Believe it all to be God's Holy Word. [2 Tim 3:16] We know that no sinner could have written it because of the way it describes sin. No saint could blaspheme God by pretending his own Word was God's. No angel could have written it for the same reason. [Heb 4:2] 11. Prize the Bible highly. [Ps. 119:72] It is your lifeline; you were born by it [James 1:18] you need to grow by it [1 Pet 2:2] [cf. Job 23:12]. 12. Love the Bible ardently [Ps. 119:159]. 13. Come to read it with an honest heart. [Luke 8:15] (a) Willing to know the entire and complete will of God (b) reading in order to be changed and made better by it [John 17:17]. 14. Apply to yourself everything that you read, take every word as spoken to yourself. Its condemnation of sins as the condemnation of your own sin; the duty that it requires as the duty God would require from you [2 Kings 22:11]. 15. Pay close attention to the commands of the Word as much as the promises. Think of how you need direction just as much as you need comfort. 16. Don't get carried away with the minor details, rather make sure to pay closest attention to the great things [Hosea 8:12]. 17. Compare yourself with the Word. How do you compare? Is your heart something of a transcript of it, or not? 18. Pay special attention to those passages that speak to your individual, particular and present situation. e.g. (a) Affliction -- [Heb. 12:7, Isaiah 27:9, John 16:20, 2 Cor 4:17. (b) Sense of Christ's presence and smile withdrawn -- [Isaiah 54:8, Isaiah 57:16, Ps. 97:11] (c) Sin -- [Gal 5:24, James 1:15, 1 Peter 2:11, Prov 7:10&22-23, Prov 22:14] (d) Unbelief -- [Isaiah 26:3, 2 Sam 22:31, John 3:15, 1 John 5:10, John 3:36] 19. Pay special attention to the examples and lives of people in the Bible as living sermons. (a) Punishments [Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Num 25:3-4&9, 10" class="scriptRef">1 Kings 14:9-10, Acts 5:5,10, 1 Cor 10:11, Jude 7] (b) mercies and deliverances [Daniel, Jeremiah, the 3 youths in the fiery furnace] 20. Don't stop reading the Bible until you find your heart warmed. [Ps 119:93] Let it not only inform you but also inflame you [Jer 23:29, Luke 24:32]. 21. Put into practice what you read [Ps 119:66, Ps 119:105, Deut 17:19]. 22. Christ is for us Prophet, Priest and King. Make use of His office as a Prophet [Rev 5:5, John 8:12, Ps 119:102-103]. Get Christ not only to open the Scriptures up to you, but to open up your mind and understanding [Luke 24:45] 23. Make sure to put yourself under a true ministry of the Word, faithfully and thoroughly expounding the Word [Pr 8:34] be earnest and eager in waiting on it. 24. Pray that you will profit from reading [Isaiah 48:17, Ps 119:18, Nehemiah 9:20]. Natural obstacles You may still be able to profit from reading even though: 1. You don't seem to profit as much as others do. Remember the different yields [Matt 13:8] though the yield isn't as much as others it is still a true and fruitful yield. 2. You may feel slow of understanding [Luke 9:45, Heb 5:11]. 3. Your memory is bad (a) remember you are still able to have a good heart despite this (b) you may still remember the most important things even if you cannot remember everything, be encouraged by John 14:26. (How to Get the Most from Reading your Bible) The Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 90. How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation? Answer. That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer [a]; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives [b]. [a]. Dt 6:6, 7, 8, 9; Ps. 119:18; 1Pet. 2:1,2 [b]. Ps 119:11; 2Th 2:10; Heb. 4:2; Jas 1:22-25 LONG FOR: epipothesate (2PAAM): This is the main verb in 1Pe 2:1-3, which is one sentence in the Greek. NO INTAKE OF THE WORD NO SPIRITUAL GROWTH Peter gives a command to have this attitude (longing, yearning, passionate) for the Scripture, for he knows that studying the Scriptures is the only means of spiritual growth, not to mention that His Lord had instructed him repeatedly regarding the importance of proper spiritual nutrition for God's flock ("Tend my lambs") Jn 21:15, 16, 17-note). You can mark it down - There is no growth spiritually speaking, apart from the intake of the pure Word of Truth (cp Ps 119:43, 2Cor 6:7, Col 1:5-note, 2Ti 2:15-note, Jas 1:18-note). Pastors remember the words of John Brown... A man can't always be defending the truth; there must be a time to feed on it. Jamieson on the picture of longing for the Word notes that this is... a natural impulse to the regenerate (born again), “for as no one needs to teach new-born babes what food to take, knowing instinctively that a table is provided for them in their mother’s breast,” so the believer of himself thirsts after the word of God Matthew Henry writes that Peter... like a wise physician, having prescribed the purging out of vicious humours, goes on to direct to wholesome and regular food, that they may grow thereby. The duty exhorted to is a strong and constant desire for the word of God, which word is here called reasonable milk, only, this phrase not being proper English, our translators rendered it the milk of the word, by which we are to understand food proper for the soul, or a reasonable creature, whereby the mind, not the body, is nourished and strengthened. This milk of the word must be sincere, not adulterated by the mixtures of men, who often corrupt the word of God, 2Co. 2:17. Adam Clarke writes that the Jewish rabbins frequently express learning to know the law, etc., by the term sucking, and their disciples are often denominated those that suck the breast. The figure is very expressive: as a child newly born shows an immediate desire for that nourishment, and that only, which is its most proper food John Calvin wrote that... Those only are worthy students of the law who come to it with a cheerful mind, and are so delighted with its instruction as to account nothing more desirable or delicious than to make progress therein. Albert Barnes makes an excellent point regarding one's longing for pure milk of God's word explaining that it... furnishes evidence of conversion, if we have a love for the simple and pure truths of the Gospel. It is evidence that we have spiritual life, as really as the desire of appropriate nourishment is evidence that an infant has natural life. The new-born soul loves the truth. It is nourished by it. It perishes without it. The gospel is just what it wants; and without that it could not live. Comment: Dear reader, Barnes' insightful point begs a question - Have you ever at any time since your profession of belief in Christ had a true longing for God's Word? If not, you may be self-deceived. Remember, when someone is deceived by definition they don't know it! So let me repeat the question with a slight alteration - Do you have a hunger and thirst that is only satisfied by God's Word? The corollary question is whether you once had a strong impulse for God's Word, but in recent times have not. This latter situation may reflect a different problem. You would do well to look back over 1Peter 2:1 and the notes on that passage. Your appetite may be blunted by unconfessed sin.

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Babes (1025) brephos

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