Children are integral to the literature of the Hebrew Bible and the world that gave rise to its stories, yet they have been largely overlooked in biblical scholarship.
One pioneering contribution was The Jewish Family in Antiquity, edited by Shaye Cohen and published in the Brown Judaic Studies series in 1993.
In the introduction, Cohen noted that the evidence for studying the Jewish family in antiquity was abundant, but the research was slim.
He rightly observed that this was due to “lack of interest” and added, “the purpose of this volume is to stimulate interest in this underexplored field.”
1 Twenty years later, this book seeks to build on Cohen’s seminal volume by offering a scholarly treatment of children in the Hebrew Bible.
Research in this area is still sparse. The field of childhood studies has expanded greatly over the past few decades with new academic departments and journals emerging.
2However, childhood studies in the biblical
1. Shaye J. D. Cohen, The Jewish Family in Antiquity (BJS 289; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993), 2.
2. For introductions to childhood studies, see Dominic Wyse, ed., Childhood Studies: An Introduction (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004); Mary Jane Kehily, ed., An Introduction to Childhood Studies (2nd ed.; Maidenhead, NY: Open University Press, 2009); and Jens Qvortrup, William A. Corsaro, and Michael-Sebastian Honig, eds., The Palgrave Handbook of Childhood Studies (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
Many related topics appear in the Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood: In History and Society (ed. Paula S. Fass; 3 vols.; New York: Macmillan, 2004). Academic journals include The Journal of Childhood and Religion(published by Sopher Press and established in 2010), The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth (in association with the Society for the History of Children and Youth, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, and established in 2008), Childhoods Today (www. childhoodstoday.org, in association with the University of Sheffield and established in 2007), and Childhood (published by Sage and established in 1993).
Allison James points out that children have long been a focus of academic research in a variety of disciplines, including literature, science, psychology, sociology, etc.
However, scholars have only recently started engaging children themselves and combining interdisciplinary approaches to create the emerging field of childhood studies.
See Allison James, “Understanding Childhood from an Interdisciplinary Perspective: Problems and Potentials,” in Rethinking Childhood (ed. Peter B. Pufall and Richard P. Unsworth; New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2004), 26.
Colleges and universities in the United States with interdisciplinary childhood studies programs include Antioch University Los Angeles, Brooklyn College, Bucknell University, Case Western Reserve University, Charter Oak State College, Christopher Newport University, Eastern Washington University, Farleigh Dickinson University, George Mason University, Hampshire College, King’s University College at the University of Western
