A female offspring; in Hebrew, bath, and in Greek, thy·gaʹter. (Ge 5:4; Mt 14:6; Ac 21:9) The birth of daughters in the household in Biblical times was not as great an occasion as was the arrival of sons; their position was less honored than that of boys, and their names have not been recorded as often. (1Ch 2:34, 35) Yet most parents dearly loved their daughters and protected their interests. When grieving parents interceded, Jesus healed a Phoenician woman’s daughter, and he raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead.​—Mt 15:22-28; Lu 8:41, 42, 49-56.

In the patriarchal society, daughters had certain rights, responsibilities, and also limitations. They were assigned various chores. Priests’ daughters ate from the priestly portions of sacrifices.  (Ge 24:16, 19, 20; 29:6-9; Le 10:14) A daughter was the property of her father until he gave her in marriage (Jos 15:16, 17; 1Sa 18:17, 19, 27), and as such she could even be used as security or sold into slavery, though not to a foreigner. (Ex 21:7-10; Ne 5:2-5) Until she was married, her vows were subject to her father’s annulment. (Nu 30:3-5) A father could not lawfully make her a prostitute, and if she were violated, he could collect damages. (Ex 22:16, 17; Le 19:29; De 22:28, 29) There are instances where fathers offered their virgin daughters to depraved mobs in order to protect their guests. (Ge 19:6-8; Jg 19:22-24) Daughters were sometimes given an inheritance along with their brothers, but in the case of the five daughters of Zelophehad whose father died without sons, they received the entire inheritance of their forefathers, on the condition that they marry sons of Manasseh so that the property would remain in the same tribe. (Nu 36:1-12; Jos 15:19; Job 42:15) If a daughter was divorced or widowed, she could come back into her father’s household.​—Ge 38:11; Le 22:13.

“Daughter”​—is it always an immediate female offspring?

The term “daughter” was applied to relationships other than one’s immediate progeny. For example, under certain circumstances the term referred to a sister (Ge 34:8, 17), an adopted daughter (Es 2:7, 15), a daughter-in-law (Jg 12:9; Ru 1:11-13), a granddaughter (1Ki 15:2, 10, where the Hebrew word for daughter, bath, is rendered “granddaughter” in Mo, NW; see 2Ch 13:1, 2), and a descendant.​—Ge 27:46; Lu 1:5; 13:16.

Aside from these direct relatives, the term “daughter” was applied to women in general (Ge 6:2, 4; 30:13; Pr 31:29); women of a particular land, people or city (Ge 24:37; Jg 11:40; 21:21); and female worshipers of false gods (Mal 2:11). It was used as a general address of kindness by one with authority or by an older person to a younger woman. (Ru 3:10, 11; Mr 5:34) Forms of the word bath are also used when referring to “branches” of a tree (Ge 49:22) and “dependent towns” of a larger city. (Nu 21:25; Jos 17:11; Jer 49:2) The term for “daughter,” in its many senses, occurs over 600 times in the Bible.