The female offspring of parents. Daughters lived in their father's house, under his protection, until marriage. Usually they became his heirs only if he had no sons to inherit his estate. Normally they shared in the inheritance of their husbands.
Protection of daughters
Fathers were responsible for protecting their daughters
Genesis 31:50 See also Genesis 19:12–13, Genesis 19:15–17; Numbers 30:3–5
If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, although no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
Examples of fathers who failed to protect their daughters
Genesis 19:8 See also Judges 19:24; 2 Samuel 13:6–14
Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
Marriage of daughters
Fathers were responsible for arranging marriages for their daughters
Genesis 34:8–9 See also Genesis 29:26; Joshua 15:16–17 parallel Judges 1:12–13; Judges 12:9, Judges 21:1; 1 Samuel 18:17–21, 1 Samuel 25:44
But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.
Fathers received a bride-price from their daughters' husbands
1 Samuel 18:25 See also Genesis 29:16–27
Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’” But Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.
Fathers gave a dowry to their daughters
1 Kings 9:16 See also Joshua 15:17–19 parallel Judges 1:13–15
Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
Sometimes the marriage of a daughter was the basis of a political alliance
1 Kings 3:1 See also Daniel 11:6, Daniel 11:17
Later, Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his palace and the house of the LORD, as well as the wall around Jerusalem.
In cases of dispute, parents were expected to prove their daughter's virginity
Inheritance of daughters
If a man had no sons, the inheritance went to his daughters
Numbers 27:1–11 See also Joshua 17:3–6
Daughters who inherited their father's property were obliged to marry within his clan
Job allocated his daughters an inheritance
And he also had seven sons and three daughters. He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch. No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance among their brothers.
Priests' daughters
Leviticus 10:14 See also Leviticus 21:1–2, Leviticus 21:9, Leviticus 22:12–13; Numbers 18:11, Numbers 18:19; Ezekiel 44:25
And you and your sons and daughters may eat the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution in a ceremonially clean place, because these portions have been assigned to you and your children from the peace offerings of the sons of Israel.
Slavery of daughters
In dire circumstances fathers sometimes sold their daughters into slavery
Nehemiah 5:5 See also Exodus 21:7
We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
A slave girl married to a son was to be accorded the rights of a daughter
And if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her as with a daughter.
Immorality of daughters
Prostitution of daughters forbidden
Leviticus 19:29 See also Leviticus 21:9
You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.
Incest of Lot's daughters
Daughters-in-law
Sexual relations with daughters-in-law forbidden
Leviticus 18:15 See also Leviticus 20:12; Ezekiel 22:11
You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sexual relations with her.
Examples of daughters-in-law
Ruth 4:14–15 See also Genesis 38:6–26; Ruth 1:3–17
Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
Daughters in a spiritual role
Acts 21:9 See also Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17
He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
An adopted daughter
And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter.
Daughter in a non-literal sense
Of an area, town or country or its population
Matthew 21:5 parallel John 12:15 See also 2 Kings 19:21; Psalm 137:8; Isaiah 10:30, Isaiah 23:12, Isaiah 52:2; Jeremiah 6:23, Jeremiah 48:18, Jeremiah 51:33; Lamentations 1:15, Lamentations 2:10; Micah 4:8; Zephaniah 3:14; Zechariah 2:7, Zechariah 9:9
“Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
Of the female inhabitants of an area, town or country
Luke 23:27–29 See also Genesis 24:3, Genesis 24:13; 2 Samuel 1:24; Song of Solomon 3:5, Song of Solomon 5:8; Isaiah 32:9–11; Ezekiel 13:17, Ezekiel 32:18
A great number of people followed Him, including women who kept mourning and wailing for Him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’
Of the female descendants
Luke 13:16 See also 1 Peter 3:5–6
Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”
As an honorific term
Matthew 9:22 parallels Mark 5:34, Luke 8:48
Jesus turned and saw her. “Take courage, daughter,” He said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that very hour.
Daughters in a theological sense
God's people are his sons and daughters
2 Corinthians 6:18 See also Jeremiah 14:17, Jeremiah 31:21–22
And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
Family relationships must be subservient to one's relationship with God
Matthew 10:37 See also Matthew 10:35 parallel Luke 12:53
Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.