Wean
Wean
( from the completion of the infant at that time) Most Oriental mothers suckle their children much longer than is usual in Europe, and the same custom seems to have prevailed among the ancient Hebrews. When Samuel was weaned, he was old enough to be left with Eli for the service of the tabernacle (1Sa 1:24). As no public provision was made for the children of priests and Levites until they were three years of age, it is probable that they were not weaned sooner (2Ch 31:16; 2Ma 7:27). In India, a boy is not taken from the breast until he is three years of age; but throughout the East a girl is generally weaned within the first or second year. Abraham made a great feast when Isaac was weaned (Gen 21:8), and the same custom prevails among the Hinds and Persians. SEE CHILD.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Wean
Among the Hebrews children (whom it was customary for the mothers to nurse, Ex. 2:7-9; 1 Sam. 1:23; Cant. 8:1) were not generally weaned till they were three or four years old.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Wean
wen: To wean in English Versions of the Bible is always the translation of (, gamal), but gamal has a much wider force than merely to wean, signifying to deal fully with, as in Psa 13:6, etc. Hence, as applied to a child, gamal covers the whole period of nursing and care until the weaning is complete (1Ki 11:20). This period in ancient Israel extended to about 3 years, and when it was finished the child was mature enough to be entrusted to strangers (1Sa 1:24). And, as the completion of the period marked the end of the most critical stage of the child’s life, it was celebrated with a feast (Gen 21:8), a custom still observed in the Orient. The weaned child, no longer fretting for the breast and satisfied with its mother’s affection, is used in Psa 131:2 as a figure for Israel’s contentment with God’s care, despite the smallness of earthly possessions. In Isa 28:9 there is an ironical question, ‘Is God to teach you knowledge as if you were children? You should have learned His will long ago!’