child
Nepios denotes a child and, in figurative settings, those portrayed as immature, dependent, or needing instruction.
The attested uses most often portray people figuratively as immature, dependent, or needing instruction; other verses refer to children or infants in direct child imagery. The adjective occurs in comparisons of spiritual instruction, stability, heirship, and knowledge, as well as in sayings about children and infants.
Senses in use
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Figurative immaturity, dependence, or elementary instruction · dominant
In 1 Corinthians 3:1, the dative plural form occurs where the speaker says he could not address the recipients as spiritual but as fleshly; the APB renders the comparison “as to children in Christ.” Ephesians 4:14 sets the nominative plural in the condition believers are not to remain in, “tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine,” while Hebrews 5:13 links the nominative singular with sharing milk and being unacquainted with the word of righteousness. Galatians 4:1, Galatians 4:3, and Romans 2:20 similarly place the term in clauses about an heir under constraint, being enslaved, and teaching those characterized as children.
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Children and infants in direct child imagery · common
In 1 Corinthians 13:11, the nominative singular and genitive singular occur in the speaker's contrast between speaking, thinking, and reasoning as a child and becoming a man. Luke 10:21 and Matthew 11:25 use the dative plural where things hidden from the wise are revealed to children, and Matthew 21:16 has the genitive plural in the phrase the APB renders “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing children.”
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses “child” or “children,” but also has “little children” in Luke 10:21 and “infants and nursing children” in Matthew 21:16. These renderings show the verse-level presentation rather than fixed English equivalents for each form.