θῠγάτρ-ιον G2365
little daughter, young girl (diminutive)
A diminutive form of 'daughter,' this tender term expresses affection and smallness. Both occurrences in Mark involve Jairus's dying daughter. In Mark 5:23, Jairus pleads with Jesus, 'My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.' In 7:25, a Syrophoenician woman whose 'little daughter had an unclean spirit' falls at Jesus's feet begging for help. The diminutive conveys both the child's youth and the parents' tenderness—she's not just a daughter but a 'little' one, evoking pathos and urgency.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Both uses appear in healing narratives where desperate parents approach Jesus on behalf of dying or demon-possessed daughters. The diminutive intensifies the emotional appeal—these aren't grown women but small children, vulnerable and beloved. Mark's use of this term (rather than the simple 'daughter') heightens the contrast between the child's fragility and Jesus's power, making the healings all the more moving. The German 'Toechterlein' and Spanish 'hijita' preserve the affectionate diminutive force. 2×
AR["ابْنَتي الصَّغيرَةُ", "ابْنَتُهَا-الصَّغِيرَةُ"]·ben["কন্যার", "ছোট-মেয়ে"]·DE["Toechterlein"]·EN["little-daughter"]·FR["petite-fille"]·heb["בִּתִּי-הַקְּטַנָּה", "בַּת-הַקְּטַנָּה"]·HI["अच्छा-तरह", "मेरी"]·ID["anak-perempuan-kecil", "anak-perempuanku"]·IT["thugatrion"]·jav["anak-wadon-cilik", "putra-èstri-alit"]·KO["어린-딸-이", "어린-딸이"]·PT["filhinha"]·RU["дочка", "дочь"]·ES["hijita"]·SW["binti-yake-mdogo", "binti-yangu-mdogo"]·TR["Kızım", "kızında"]·urd["بیٹی", "چھوٹی-بیٹی"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
θῠγάτρ-ιον, τό, diminutive of θυγάτηρ, little daughter or girl, Refs 5th c.BC+