StrongerBible

thugatēr

θυγάτηρ

GreekG2364daughter

Appears 28 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 9:18Mat 9:22Mat 10:35Mat 10:37Mat 14:6Mat 15:22Mat 15:28Mat 21:5Mrk 5:34Mrk 5:35Mrk 6:22Mrk 7:26Mrk 7:29Luk 1:5Luk 2:36Luk 8:42Luk 8:48Luk 8:49Luk 12:53 (2×)Luk 13:16Luk 23:28Jhn 12:15Act 2:17Act 7:21Act 21:92Co 6:18Heb 11:24
Root family
Word studythoo-GAH-tarenoun

What thugatēr means

daughter: a female child, and by extension a woman marked as belonging to a family, people, or city

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

At its center this word simply means a daughter, a man or woman's female child. That plain sense covers most of its New Testament uses, from Jairus pleading for his dying girl to Herod's court and the Canaanite mother whose daughter is healed.

Around that core the word stretches in ways English keeps the same word for. It can name a woman further down a family line rather than an immediate child, so a woman can be called a daughter of Abraham or counted among the daughters of Aaron. It also works as a warm, gentle way to address a woman who is not the speaker's child, the way Jesus says "Daughter, your faith has made you well."

Finally it carries a set Old Testament turn of speech into the Gospels. "Daughter of Zion" and "daughter of Jerusalem" do not point to one girl at all; they address a city and its people as a single woman. Each of these is the same everyday word doing a slightly different job, which is why one English word tracks it throughout.

Nuances

1aone's own daughter: a female child of a named or implied parent
TranslatabilityDirect
Mat 9:18Mat 10:35Mat 10:37Mat 14:6Mat 15:22Mat 15:28Mrk 5:35Mrk 6:22Mrk 7:26Mrk 7:29Luk 2:36Luk 8:42
1ba female descendant or member of a people or line, not an immediate child
Luk 1:5Luk 13:16Luk 23:28Act 2:172Co 6:18
1ca gentle, affectionate way to address a woman who is not the speaker's child
Mat 9:22Mrk 5:34Luk 8:48
1d"daughter of Zion" / "daughter of Jerusalem": a city and its people addressed as a single woman
Mat 21:5Jhn 12:15

What scholars say about thugatēr

Standard lexica treat θυγάτηρ as monosemous with a graded range: (1) one's own female child, (2) a more remote female descendant or member of a lineage, (3) a woman addressed kindly, and (4) the personification of a city and its inhabitants in the phrases "daughter Zion" and "daughter Jerusalem" (BDAG, LSJ). Senses 2 and 4 are inherited from Septuagintal usage rendering Hebrew bat, especially the prophetic bat-tsiyyon, so the New Testament figure is a citation of that tradition rather than a fresh Greek development.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. θυγάτηρlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. θυγάτηρlexicon
  • G. Fohrer and E. Lohse, "Σιών, Ἰερουσαλήμ κτλ.," TDNT 7:292-338dictionary

All attested forms of θυγάτηρ

nominative f s

θυγάτηρ

Mat 9:18, Mat 14:6, Mat 15:22, Mat 15:28, Mrk 5:34, Mrk 5:35, Luk 2:36, Luk 8:42

accusative f s

θυγατέρα

Mat 10:35, Mat 10:37, Luk 12:53, Luk 13:16

genitive f s

θυγατρὸς, θυγατρός

Mrk 6:22, Mrk 7:26, Heb 11:24, Mrk 7:29

nominative f p

θυγατέρες

Act 2:17, Act 21:9

vocative f s

θύγατερ, θυγάτηρ

Mat 9:22, Jhn 12:15

accusative f p

θυγατέρας

2Co 6:18

dative f s

θυγατρὶ

Mat 21:5

genitive f p

θυγατέρων

Luk 1:5

vocative f p

θυγατέρες

Luk 23:28