In the ancient world cities were nearly nations unto themselves – they existed within walls, with their own laws and customs, generally centered on the common purpose of trade. This is not as much the case in the modern world, but we still tend to divide ourselves city by city in terms of sports teams, accents, music and culture, and still tend to generalize the character of people from other cities. It follows, then, that in the Bible cities represent various doctrines – collections of inter-related ideas about spiritual reality. Such doctrines can be based on anything from the Lord’s true teachings – the New Jerusalem seen by John in Revelation – to the falsity and heresy of Sodom and various cities obliterated by the people of Israel at God’s command. On the most personal level, a city can also represent the natural mind of one person – which makes sense since we each to some extent have our own doctrine and our own set of ideas and beliefs.

Marriages among people – both in the Bible and in life – represent spiritual marriage. Women represent the desire to be good and to do good things; men represent the understanding of how to be good and how to do good things. Each one of us, male or female, can experience that marriage within us if we work to learn about the Lord and dedicate ourselves to doing His will. And just as natural marriages produce children, so do spiritual marriages. Daughters represent affections, the emotional response we have to good things and positive ideas. Sons represent those positive ideas, facts and knowledge leading to a greater understanding. This makes sense if you think about it. If in life you’re working to be a good person and thinking about how to do that, finding a nugget of wisdom in the Word – or from another source – is a joyful thing. Finding a way to be good to someone and serve them is a joyful thing as well (it helps if they appreciate it, but that’s not really the point). That joy, that affection for what is true and what is good, is a "daughter." On a broader level, daughters also sometimes represent churches, since churches are based on an affection for truth. And as with all representations, the meaning of "daughter" can also be reversed, representing the thrill of evil.

In Psalm 45:9, this signifies a church from goods. (Arcana Coelestia 490)

In Genesis 20:12, this signifies the rational, conceived of celestial good as a father, but not of spiritual truth as a mother. (Arcana Coelestia 2557)