יֶלֶד

“Child” in Hebrew is Yeled (יֶלֶד), pronounced “YEH-led.” Yeled comes from the root י-ל-ד (yod-lamed-dalet), meaning 'to bear, to give birth.' The same root produces 'yaldah' (girl), 'moled' (birth), and 'toldot' (generations/genealogy). The root connects childbirth, identity, and generational continuity.

Yeled (יֶלֶד) means “Child, boy, youth” in Biblical Hebrew. Yeled appears approximately 89 times in the Hebrew Bible. It describes newborns (Exodus 2:3, Moses), young children (1 Kings 3:25, Solomon's judgment), and the messianic child (Isaiah 9:6). The feminine form 'yaldah' means girl.

Yeled is pronounced “YEH-led.” The word comes from the Hebrew root י-ל-ד.

Isaiah 9:6 prophesies 'a yeled is born, a son is given.' The word yeled emphasizes the humanity and vulnerability of the coming Messiah — He will enter the world as every human does, as a helpless baby. Yet this same yeled is called 'Mighty God' and 'Everlasting Father,' revealing that the divine Messiah would be fully human. Christians see this fulfilled in Jesus' birth in Bethlehem.

When Jesus said to become like yeladim (Matthew 18:3), He was invoking the Hebrew value of childlike trust. In Hebrew thought, a child's defining characteristic is not innocence but dependence — total reliance on a parent. To become like a yeled is to abandon self-sufficiency and place complete trust in your heavenly Father.

The root י-ל-ד (to bear/give birth) produces 'toldot' (generations), the word used to structure the book of Genesis ('These are the toldot of...'). This shows that for Hebrew thought, history itself is a birth story — each generation 'born' from the previous one. The genealogies are not boring lists but the ongoing story of God's creative work through human families.