child
paidion denotes a child, whether a particular young person, children as a group, or a child used for comparison or address.
The term most often identifies a particular child or children in concrete family, healing, birth, and public scenes. It also appears in comparisons that call hearers to become like children, and as a direct plural address to an audience.
Senses in use
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A particular child or children · dominant
The singular forms identify individual young persons: in Matthew 2:13 the APB renders the command to take “the child and his mother,” and in Mark 5:41 it renders the act of taking “the child's hand.” Plural forms likewise identify children as a group, as in Mark 10:13, where children are brought to Jesus, and Matthew 14:21, where they are distinguished alongside women in the crowd.
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Child as a comparison for conduct · occasional
In Matthew 18:3 the nominative plural occurs in the comparison that hearers must become like children, while Matthew 18:4 points to “this child” in the statement about humbling oneself. In 1 Corinthians 14:20 the plural contrasts being children in thinking with being mature, so the reference is used to characterize a manner of thought rather than to identify a child present in the scene.
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Direct address to an audience · occasional
Vocative plural forms address a group directly. In John 21:5 the APB renders Jesus' question as “Children, do you have any fish?”, and in 1 John 2:18 it renders the opening address “Children” before the statement about the last hour.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term as “child” or “children,” including individual children in birth and healing accounts and groups brought to Jesus. In comparative and vocative clauses it also uses “child,” “children,” and “childlike”; These renderings indicate the clause's presentation rather than a fixed English equivalent.