Daughter

I was going to start out by saying that doing a study of the word "daughter" in the Bible is really interesting, but then I realized that I'm in no position to talk, because have I really looked up all 327 times in the Bible where it uses the word daughter? Uh, no. A lot of the mentions are really generic ones "who was the daughter of some guy out of Bethel, etc." but there are many cool times where it references daughter. A lot of times the daughter in question was an actual biological daughter (Jephthah, for instance, cried about his daughter), but often it's almost like a term of endearment.

Like all those cool verses in Zechariah (and other places in the Bible, I just happen to fancy the ones from Zechariah) about the Daughter of Zion. Maybe it's just because of that song Todd Agnew did based off those verses (it used to give me shivers, no joke), but I love the imagery. "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem." Good stuff.

But I got on this little tangent because I was thinking of those times in Ruth when Naomi called Ruth her daughter. I know, I know, she pretty much was, that whole in-law thing, but when you read the book of Ruth, the term "daughter" comes off as a caress. A small word that shows how much love and care Naomi had for Ruth. "Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall."

Maybe it's because it's one of those stories we romanticize, so maybe there's nothing cool about Naomi called Ruth her daughter, but it has always charmed me. Of course, Boaz called Ruth daughter, too. That's a whole different ball of wax.

Well. This was random.