'Maidens' in the Bible
Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, and [she, together with] her maidens walked along the river’s bank; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid [to get it], and she brought it to her.
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but stay here close by my maids.
Naomi said to Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, for you to go out [to work] with his maids, so that others do not assault you in another field.”
So she stayed close to the maids of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Now Boaz, with whose maids you were [working], is he not our relative? See now, he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight.
As they went up the hill to the city, they met some young women going out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer (prophet) here?”
So it came about when the king’s command and his decree were proclaimed and when many young women were gathered together in the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace [and placed] in the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.
Now the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the [other] virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in the place of Vashti.
And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.
“Will you play with him as with a bird?Or will you bind him [and put him on a leash] for your maidens?
The singers go in front, the players of instruments last;Between them the maidens playing on tambourines.
“The aroma of your oils is fragrant and pleasing;Your name is perfume poured out;Therefore the maidens love you.
“Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,And the young men and old, together,For I will turn their mourning into joyAnd will comfort them and make them rejoice after their sorrow.
The roads to Zion are in mourningBecause no one comes to the appointed feasts.All her gates are desolate;Her priests are groaning,Her virgins are grieved and suffering,And she suffers bitterly.
“The Lord is righteous and just;For I have rebelled against His commandment (His word).Hear now, all you peoples,And look at my pain;My virgins and my young menHave gone into captivity.
The elders of the Daughter of ZionSit on the ground keeping silent;They have thrown dust on their heads,They have covered themselves with sackcloth.The virgins of JerusalemHave bowed their heads to the ground.
The young and the oldLie on the ground in the streets;My virgins and my young menHave fallen by the sword.You have killed them in the day of Your anger,You have slaughtered, not sparing.
My eyes [see things that] bring pain to my soulBecause of all the daughters of my city.
And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman; but they shall marry virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who was previously married to a priest.
For how great is God’s goodness and how great is His beauty! And how great [He will make Israel’s] goodliness and [Israel’s] beauty!Grain and new wine will make the young men and virgins flourish.
But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful and miraculous things that Jesus had done, and heard the boys who were shouting in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple [in praise and adoration], “Hosanna to the Son of David (the Messiah),” they became indignant
Now concerning the virgins [of marriageable age] I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.