What is special about a daughter? The Bible mentions daughters 577 times[1], so here is an attempt at a Christian view of daughterhood:
1) Daughters were healed and saved by Jesus
a) Isa. 62:11 Indeed the LORD has proclaimed To the end of the world: "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him.' "
b) Luke 13:16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?"
c) Luke 8:48 And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace."
d) Mark 5:23 "My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."
2) Daughters worship God
a) Ex. 10:9 And Moses said, "We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the LORD."
b) Ex. 20:10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
c) Deut. 12:18 But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands.
d) Psalm 97:8 Zion hears and is glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your judgments, O LORD.
e) Zech. 2:10 "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," says the LORD.
f) Zech. 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.
3) Daughters show forth God’s beauty
a) Not by ostentatious clothing and jewelry and manners (Isa. 3)
b) Song 7:1 How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O prince's daughter! Your curves…
c) Eccl. 12:4 “…daughters of music…”
d) Psalm 144:12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; That our daughters may be as pillars, Sculptured in palace style
e) Psalm 45:13 The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; Her clothing is woven with gold.
f) Job 42:15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job
g) 1Pet. 3:4… the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
4) Daughters carry on their father’s values
a) This was why the daughters of great men such as Caleb and the kings of Israel were so highly prized and could be won only by young men whose character and courage were worthy of them. Josh. 15:16 And Caleb said, "He who attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife."
b) Psalm 45:9 Kings' daughters are among Your honorable women…
c) 1Pet. 3:6 Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.
d) Ex. 2:1 A man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi.
e) Lev. 21:9 The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father.
f) Num. 27:7 "The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father's brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them.
g) The daughters of Lot carried on his compromising values and built the pagan nation of Moab. (Gen. 19)
5) Daughters marry and have children and build a population which lives out those values
a) Gen. 28:2 Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.
b) Jer. 29:6 …take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.
c) Married daughters have a powerful influence on the faith of the next generation: Judges 3:5-7 Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods. So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs.
d) Conversely, it was a curse not to have children with which to build one’s community: Deut. 28:41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity.
6) Daughters mourn over the evil in their community
a) Jer. 9:20 …Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a lamentation.
b) Jer. 9:3 ...Cry, you daughters of Rabbah, Gird yourselves with sackcloth! Lament and run to and fro by the walls; For Milcom shall go into captivity With his priests and his princes together.
c) Ezek. 32:16 …The daughters of the nations shall lament her; They shall lament for her, for Egypt, And for all her multitude, Says the Lord GOD.
d) Luke 23:28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”
7) Daughters prophesy – that is they speak forth (not what is in their own heart – Ezek. 13:17 - but) God’s word into their family and community to build faithfulness to God
a) This was foretold by Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.”
b) Luke 2:36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
c) Phillip’s daughters (Acts 21:9)
Compared to the typical high school curriculum of our day, it is alarming how little overlap exists – in fact, the exact opposite is what is taught to daughters in most of our public schools and universities. May God give you grace to be saved, to worship Him, to show forth His beauty, to carry on your father’s values, to build communities, to lament evil, and to speak God’s words!
[1] This is the total number of times that the English word “daughter” appears in the singular or plural in the NKJV Bible. All quotes below are also from the NKJV.
