Son and Daughter

The words for “son” and “daughter” in Hebrew indicate a direct family relationship, as they do in English.

The words can also be used in a wider sense: for the inhabitant of a city or country, for someone who is part of a particular group or for descendants of the same ancestor.

In the patriarchal society of biblical times, sons were more important than daughters. That is because everything ran through the male line. Thus even after their wedding, sons continued to live with their family. They could therefore take on the care of their parents. A daughter would go to live with her husband’s family.
Daughters were seen as less important than sons and this is also apparent from the fact that daughters could only inherit if there were no sons. The most important person in a family was the first-born son. He received a double share of the inheritance: the right of the first-born.

There is talk of “the son of God” in both the Old and the New Testaments. In the Old Testament the title son of God is used, for instance, for various kings. A clear example may be found in 2 Samuel 7:14. The people of Israel, however, are also often compared with a child of God, for instance in Deuteronomy 14:1 (ESV).
In the New Testament Son of God always means Jesus.