There are at least 480 references to daughters in the Bible. And that is not factoring in the many references to “sons and daughters” when talking about children or those that mention daughters as a way of establishing family relationships. A good example is Genesis 11:29 which mentions that Milcah was the daughter of Haran. Evidently, daughters are highly regarded in the scriptures and that would explain why the term is mentioned so many times.
The following are some of the noteworthy Bible Verses about daughters:
Genesis 6:2
God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.
This scripture has two possible interpretations. The first is the sons of God referred to as the angels who married the sons of men. The second interpretation is that the sons of God referred to the descendants of Seth who married the descendants of Cain. The second interpretation is the most probable since angels can not marry (Math. 22:30).
The message in Genesis 6:2 is comparable to the message of 2 Cor. 6:14 which teaches against being “unequally yoked.” In simple terms, Christians should not get married to unchristian partners as that would lead to apostasy as was the case in Genesis.
Ruth 3:10
He said, “You are blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have shown more kindness
in the latter end than at the beginning because you didn’t follow young men, whether
poor or rich.”
The above scripture is an excerpt from a conversation between Ruth (who was a
Moabite woman), and Boaz ( a wealthy man who was a distant relative of Ruth’s
deceased husband. In this portion of scripture, Boaz was responding to Ruth’s gratitude
after he had shown her kindness. Ruth is portrayed as a woman of character since she
did not pursue the youthful pleasures of her agemates but rather chose to stick with her
mother-in-law’s plan (which was God’s plan for her life).
Leviticus 18:9
‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or born abroad.’
The scripture above is an excerpt from a passage where God was giving Moses instructions regarding sexual relations in Israel. In the above scripture, God speaks against any form of incest. The verses below continue to describe the other sexual sins that were prohibited in Israel. This is a stark reminder that God’s daughters should live holy lives and that parents and society should protect the girl child from any kind of sexual perversion.
Ez. 16:44
Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like
daughter.”
In this verse, the prophet Ezekiel is delivering a message from God to the people of
Jerusalem, likening their behavior to that of their ancestors. The proverb “Like mother, like daughter” implies that the current generation is behaving like their predecessors. This saying suggests a pattern of behavior or traits being passed down from one generation to the next. It is a stark reminder for mothers to be good examples to their daughters. This explains why older women are charged in the book of Titus to teach younger women the right way (Titus 2:4-8).
Psalms 144:12
Then our sons will be like well-nurtured plants, our daughters like pillars carved to adorn a palace.
The Psalmist is making a prayer for prosperity and strength for his children. In his prayer, he desires the sons to be well-nurtured and the daughters to be pillars. From this, we can infer that daughters are meant to be strong, beautiful, and valuable – just like the pillars that decorated Biblical structures. This underscores the importance of daughters
In the family and community at large.
Mark 5:34
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
These words were spoken by Jesus to the woman whom he healed of hemorrhage. It is worth noting that even though the Apostles referred to her as “the woman with the issue of blood,” Jesus referred to her as “daughter.” This illustrates the agape love that Jesus showed to the woman. The story also serves to demonstrate the faith the woman had and how it helped her get her miracle. She had suffered her disorder for 12 years but she still had hope that all was not lost – and she approached Jesus with the conviction that if she touched the helm of his garment, she would be healed. And her faith paid off. Every daughter of God should learn from this example and always demonstrate faith in God no matter the circumstances.
Luke 12:53
They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter
and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and
daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Jesus spoke these words to highlight the challenges of following him. Family conflict is one of the possible challenges that his followers are bound to face. He specifically warned daughters and mothers of possible conflict due to their faith. For instance, a mother may be at loggerheads with a daughter if one of them is not a believer. In some cases, the difference may be a result of doctrinal differences even though they are both believers. The thing to remember is that the Christian life is not smooth sailing and conflict is part and parcel of the package of salvation.
Acts 21:8-9
On the next day, we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea. We entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
In this scripture, Luke describes an event during the Apostle Paul’s journey to Jerusalem. Paul had stopped in Caesarea, where a man named Philip lived. Philip was one of the seven men chosen to serve the early Christian community in Jerusalem, as recorded in Acts 6. He was known as Philip the Evangelist, indicating his role in spreading the gospel.
Luke mentions that Philip had four virgin daughters who had the gift of prophecy. The fact that they were virgins (and unmarried) is important because it shows they were not in the prophetic ministry because of their husbands. On the contrary, they had clearly received the prophetic ministry directly from God.
Conclusion
To sum it up, daughters are held in high regard in the Bible. The Bible uses the term daughter in family, societal, and spiritual contexts to expound on their pivotal role in all of the three contexts. The scriptures shared above are just but a couple but there are hundreds more that mention daughters. Suffice it to say that the story of the Bible would be incomplete without the daughters and women mentioned therein.