40 Bible Verses about Sisters

Do not rebuke an older man, but appeal to [him] as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.

And {near a dead person} he shall not come to be defiled, {but only} for a father and for a mother and for a son and for a daughter, for a brother and for a sister {who was not married} may they defile themselves.

Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, Aaron's sons, and say to them, 'One must not make himself unclean for a dead person among his [own] people, except for his direct relative closest to him: his mother and his father, and his son and his daughter, and his brother, and for his sister, a virgin, [who is] closest to him, {who has not had a husband}--for her he may defile himself.

" 'All the days of keeping himself separated for Yahweh he will not go to a person who is dead; for even his father, mother, brother, or sister he will not make himself unclean {by their death}, because the separation to his God [is] on his head.

[There] was a man in the land of Uz whose name [was] Job. That man was blameless and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Then his livestock came to be seven thousand sheep and goats and three thousand camels and five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred female donkeys, and he had very many slaves, and that man was greater than all the people of the east.read more.
And his sons used to go and hold a feast {at each other's house} on his day, and they would send, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Tamar put ashes on her head, and she tore the long-sleeved robe which [was] on her. She put her hand on her head, and {she went away, crying out as she went}. Absalom her brother said to her, "[Was] Amnon your brother with you? But now, my sister, be quiet; he [is] your brother. {Do not take this matter to heart}." So Tamar remained a desolate woman in the house of Absalom her brother.

{Besides}, she [is] my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife.

[As for] your sister's nakedness, [whether] your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, [whether] {born at home} or {born abroad}, you must not expose their nakedness.

[As for] the nakedness of the daughter of your father's wife, she [is] your sister, a relative of your father; you must not expose her nakedness. You must not expose the nakedness of your father's sister; she [is] {your father's close relative}. You must not expose the nakedness of your mother's sister, because she [is] {your mother's close relative}.

" 'As for a man who takes his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's daughter, and he sees her nakedness and she herself sees his nakedness, it [is] a disgrace, and they shall be cut off {before} the eyes of {their people}; he has exposed his sister's nakedness--he must bear his guilt.

'Cursed be the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

And a man does a detestable thing [with] the wife of his neighbor, and a man defiles his daughter-in-law in wickedness, and a man sexually violates among you his sister, the daughter of his father.

Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. And he took her and lay with her and raped her. And his soul clung to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke {tenderly} to the girl.read more.
So Shechem said to Hamor his father, saying, "Get this girl for me as a wife." And Jacob heard that Dinah his daughter had been defiled, but his sons were with his flocks in the field. And Jacob kept silent until they came. And Hamor, father of Shechem, went out to Jacob to speak with him. And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard [it]. And the men were distressed and very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by having sexual relations with the daughter of Jacob--{something that} should not be done. And Hamor spoke with them saying, "Shechem my son {is in love with} your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife. Make marriages with us. Give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. You shall dwell with us and the land shall be before you; settle and trade in it, and acquire [property] in it." Then Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will do. {Make the bride price and gift as high as you like}; I will give what you say to me. But give me the girl as a wife." Then the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor speaking deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. And they said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who [is] uncircumcised, for that [is] a disgrace for us. Only on this [condition] will we give consent to you; if you will become like us--every male among you to be circumcised. Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take for ourselves your daughters, and we will live with you and become one family. But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our daughters and we will go." And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem, the son of Hamor. And the young man did not delay to do the thing, for he wanted the daughter of Jacob. Now he [was] the most honored of his father's house. Then Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of their city, saying, "These men [are] at peace with us. Let them dwell in the land and let them trade in it. Now, behold, the land is {broad enough for them}. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give our daughters to them. Only on this [condition] will they give consent to us, to live with us [and] to become one family--when every male among us [is] circumcised as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals [be] ours? Only let us give consent to them so they will live among us." And all those who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem. Every male was circumcised, all those who went out of the gate of his city. And it happened [that] on the third day, while they were in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, each took his sword and came against the unsuspecting city and killed all the males. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and they took Dinah from the house of Shechem and went out. The [other] sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks and their cattle and their donkeys, and whatever [was] in the field. They captured and plundered all that [was] in the houses--all their wealth, their little ones, and their women. Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me, making me stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites! I [am] few in number! If they gather against me and attack me, I will be destroyed--I and my household!" But they said, "Shall he treat our sister like a prostitute?"

It happened afterwards that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name [was] Tamar, and Amnon the son of David fell in love with her. And Amnon {was so frustrated that he felt ill} because of Tamar his sister, because she [was] a virgin, and it [was] too difficult in Amnon's eyes to do anything with her. Now Amnon had a friend whose name [was] Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David. (Now Jonadab [was] a very crafty man.)read more.
And he said to him, "Why [are] you so sullen {every morning}, O son of the king? Will you not tell me?" And Amnon said to him, "I [am] in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom." Then Jonadab said to him, "Lie down on your bed and appear ill. If your father comes to see you, you shall say to him, 'Please let Tamar my sister come and give me food to eat, and let her prepare the food before my eyes, in order that I may see it and eat from her hand.'" So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill, and the king came to see him. Amnon said to the king, "Please let Tamar my sister come, and let her bake two cakes before my eyes that I may eat from her hand." So David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, "Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare food for him." Tamar went to the house of Amnon her brother. Now he [was] lying down, and she took the dough and kneaded [it] and made cakes before his eyes, and she baked the cakes. Then she took the pan and poured it out before him, but he refused to eat. Then Amnon said, "Let all [the] men go out from me." So all [the] men went out from him. Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food [to] the private room that I may eat from your hand." So Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them to Amnon her brother in the private room. When she brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, "Come, lie with me, my sister!" Then Tamar said to him, "No, my brother! Do not force me, for such a thing has not been done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing! As for me, where should I take my disgrace? You will be as one of the fools in Israel. So please, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you." But he [was] not willing to listen to her voice. He [was] stronger than she, and he forced her and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her {very deeply}, for the hatred with which he hated her [was] greater than [the] love with which he had loved her. So Amnon said to her, "Get up [and] go." She said to him, "No, because this evil in sending me away [is] greater than the other you have done to me." But he [was] not willing to listen to her. Then he called his young man who [was] serving him and said, "Please send this woman from me to the outside, and bolt the door behind her!" Now there [was] a long-sleeved robe on her, for so they clothed the daughters of the king who [were] virgins, in robes. His servant put her outside, and he bolted the door behind her. Tamar put ashes on her head, and she tore the long-sleeved robe which [was] on her. She put her hand on her head, and {she went away, crying out as she went}.

{About two full years later}, Absalom's shearers were in Baal Hazor, which [is] near Ephraim, and Absalom summoned all the sons of the king. Then Absalom went to the king and said, "Look, here [are] your servant's shearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant. The king said to Absalom, "No my son, not all of us shall go, so that we not be a burden to you." And he urged him, but he [was] not willing to go, but he blessed him.read more.
So Absalom said, "But [will you] not let Amnon my brother go with us?" And the king said to him, "Why should he go with you?" But Absalom pressed him, so he sent Amnon with him and all of the sons of the king. Absalom commanded his servants, saying, "Please watch. At the moment the heart of Amnon [is] {tipsy} with wine, then I shall say to you, 'Strike Amnon down,' and you shall kill him! Don't be afraid. [Is] it not I myself who has commanded you? Be courageous and be {valiant!} So Absalom's servants did to Amnon just as Absalom commanded, and all the sons of the king got up, and each mounted his mule and fled. {While they were on the way}, the message came to David, "Absalom has killed all the sons of the king, and not one of them [was] left." Then the king rose and tore his garments, and he lay on the ground, and all his servants standing by [were] tearing their garments. Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, responded and said, "My lord should not think that all the young men, the sons of the king, [are] dead, because only Amnon [is] dead. {Absalom was talking about it}, as it was being determined from the day he raped Tamar his sister. So then, let not my lord the king set his heart on this matter, thinking, 'All the sons of the king [are] dead,' for only Amnon alone [is] dead." So Absalom fled, and the young man who [was] keeping watch lifted up his eyes and saw, and there were many people coming from the road behind him from the side of the mountain. Jonadab said to the king, "Look, the sons of the king have come. According to the word of your servant, so it has come about." When he finished speaking, look, the sons of the king came and they lifted up their voice and wept. Also, the king and all his servants wept a very great weeping.

And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to dwell as an alien there, for the famine was severe in the land. And it happened [that] as he drew near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, "Look now, I know that you are a woman beautiful of appearance, and it shall happen [that], if the Egyptians see you, then they will say, 'This [is] his wife,' then they will kill me but let you live.read more.
Please say you are my sister so that it will go well for me on your account. {Then I will live} on account of you." And it happened [that] as Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she [was] very beautiful. And the officials of Pharaoh saw her, and they praised her [beauty] to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh. And he dealt well with Abram on account of her, and he had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. Then Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues on account of the matter of Sarai the wife of Abram. Then Pharaoh called for Abram and said, "What [is] this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she [was] your wife? Why did you say 'She [is] my sister,' so that I took her to myself as a wife? Now then, here [is] your wife. Take her and go." And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and then sent him and his wife and all that [was] with him away.

And Abraham journeyed from there to the land of the Negev, and he settled between Kadesh and Shur. And he dwelled as an alien in Gerar. And Abraham said about Sarah his wife, "She [is] my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. And God came to Abimelech in a dream at night. And he said to him, "Look, you [are] a dead man on account of the woman you have taken. For she [is] {a married woman}."read more.
Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, "my Lord, will you even kill a righteous people?" Did not he himself say to me, 'She [is] my sister'? And she herself said, 'He [is] my brother.' With integrity of my heart and with cleanness of my hands I did this." Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you did this, and I also {kept you from sinning} against me. Therefore, I did not allow you to touch her. So now, return the wife of the man, for he [is] a prophet, so that he will pray for you and you will live. And {if you do not return her}, know that you will certainly die, and all that [are] yours."

And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine which was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar. And Yahweh appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land which I will show to you. Dwell as an alien in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham you father.read more.
And I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and I will give to your descendants all these lands. And all nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, because Abraham listened to my voice and kept my charge: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." So Isaac settled in Gerar. When the men of the place asked concerning his wife, he said, "She [is] my sister," for he was afraid to say, "my wife," thinking "the men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for {she was beautiful}." And it happened [that], {when he had been there a long time}, Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked through the window, and saw--behold--Isaac [was] fondling Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Surely she [is] your wife. Now why did you say 'She [is] my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I thought I would die on account of her." And Abimelech said, "What [is] this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have slept with your wife! Then you would have brought guilt upon us!"

When Rachel saw that she could not bear children to Jacob, Rachel envied her sister. And she said to Jacob, "Give me children--if not, I will die!"

And Bilhah, Rachel's servant, conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob. And Rachel said, "I have struggled a mighty struggle with my sister and have prevailed." And she called his name Naphtali.

Now as they traveled along, he entered into a certain village. And a certain woman {named} Martha welcomed him. And {she had} a sister named Mary, who also sat at the feet of Jesus [and] was listening to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much preparation, so she approached [and] said, "Lord, is it not a concern to you that my sister has left me alone to make preparations? Then tell her that she should help me!"read more.
But the Lord answered [and] said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many [things]! But few [things] are necessary, or [only] one [thing], for Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he took (because he took a Cushite wife); and they said, "Has Yahweh spoken only through Moses? Has not Yahweh also spoken through us?" And Yahweh heard it. Now the man, Moses, [was] more humble than any other person on the face of the earth,read more.
and Yahweh said suddenly to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Go out, you three, to the tent of assembly." So the three of them when out. And Yahweh went down in a column of cloud and stood [at] the doorway of the tent, and he called Aaron and Miriam, and the two of them went, and he said, "Please hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; in all my house he [is] faithful. I will speak to him mouth to mouth, [in] clearness, not in riddles; and he will look at the form of Yahweh. Why were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?" {And Yahweh became very angry} with them, and he went [away]. And the cloud departed from on the tent, and behold, Miriam [was] infected with {a skin disease} white like snow; when Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, [she was] afflicted with a skin disease. So Aaron said to Moses, "Please, my lord, please do not put on us [this] sin [in] which we were foolish and [in] which we have sinned. Please do not let her be like the dead, whose flesh is half consumed when coming out from the womb of its mother." And Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, "God, {please heal her}!" But Yahweh said to Moses, "[If] her father had surely spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be confined for seven days to an outside place of the camp, and afterward she may be gathered." So Miriam was confined to the outside place of the camp seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam was gathered.

But Jehosheba the daughter of the king took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and kidnapped him away from the sons of the king who were to be put to death. And she put him and his nurse in a private bedroom. So Jehosheba the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from before Athaliah so that she did not put him to death.

But Jehosheba the daughter of King Joram and sister of Ahaziah took Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, and she stole him from among the sons of the king who were being put to death, [putting] him and his nurse in the inner bedroom. So they hid him from the presence of Athaliah, and he was not killed.

And a man from the {family} of Levi went, and he took {a descendent of Levi}. And the woman conceived, and she gave birth to a son, and she saw him, that he was a fine baby, and she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him, and she coated it with tar and with pitch, and she placed the boy in it, and she placed [it] among the reeds on the bank of the Nile.read more.
And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to wash at the Nile, [while] her maidservants were walking alongside the Nile, and she saw the basket in the midst of the reeds, and she sent her slave woman [for it] and took it and opened [it] and saw him--the boy--and it was a lad weeping, and she had compassion for him and said, "This [must be] from the boys of the Hebrews." And his sister said to the daughter of Pharaoh, "Shall I go and call for you a woman from the Hebrews [who is] nursing [so that] she will nurse the boy for you?" And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, "Go." And the girl went, and she called the mother of the boy.

So all his brothers and all his sisters and all [those who] had known him {before} came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house and showed sympathy to him and comforted him for all the disaster that Yahweh had brought upon him. Then each one gave to him one piece of money, and each one [gave to him] one ornamental ring of gold.

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) So the sisters sent [word] to him, saying, "Lord, behold, [the one] whom you love is sick."

And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name [was] Tamar. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh killed him. Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to the wife of your brother and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother."read more.
But Onan knew that the offspring would not be for him, so whenever he went in to the wife of his brother he would waste [it] on the ground so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh, so he killed him also. Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Stay a widow in your father's house until Shelah my son grows up," for {he feared he would also die} like his brother. So Tamar went and stayed in the house of her father.

Now I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is also a servant of the church in Cenchrea,

If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking food for the day, and one of you should say to them, "Go in peace, keep warm and {eat well}," but does not give them what is necessary for the body, what [is] the benefit? Thus also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

If I hope [for] Sheol [as] my house, [if] I spread my couch in the darkness, [if] I call to the pit, 'You [are] my father,' to the maggot, '[You are] my mother or my sister,' where then [is] my hope? And {who will see my hope}?read more.
Will they go down [to] the bars of Sheol? Or shall we descend together into the dust?"

My child, guard my sayings; store my commandments with you. Keep my commands and live, and my teaching like [the] {apple of your eye}. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.read more.
Say to wisdom, "you are my sister," and you shall call insight, "{intimate friend}." [In order] to guard yourself from {an adulteress}, from the foreigner who {makes her words smooth}.

Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, "Have you seen what apostate Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted [herself] there. And I thought, 'After her doing all these [things] to me she will return,' but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw [it]. And I saw that {for this very reason, that} on account of apostate Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted [herself] also.read more.
And it was because of the frivolity of her fornication that she defiled the land and committed adultery with the stone and with the tree. Yet even in all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, {but only} in pretense," {declares} Yahweh.

Look! Everyone quoting a proverb against you, he will quote, {saying}, 'Like her mother [is] her daughter!' You [are] a daughter of your mother [who] abhorred her husband and her children, and you [are] a sister of your sisters who abhorred their husbands and their children. Your mother [was] a Hittite, and your father [was] an Amorite. And your elder sister, she [is] Samaria, and her daughters, [who are] dwelling on your north, and your younger sister [is] the one dwelling on your south; [she] [is] Sodom and her daughters.read more.
And you have not [only] gone in their ways, but you [also] did according to their detestable things. {In such a short time} you behaved [more] corruptly than they in all of your ways. {As surely as I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, 'surely your sister Sodom and her daughters did not [do] as you and your daughters did. Look! This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: Pride, abundance of food, and {prosperous ease} was to her and to her daughters, and {she did not sustain the needy and the poor}. And they were proud, and they did a detestable thing {before me}, and I removed them {because} I saw [it]. And Samaria did not sin {according to even half of your sins}, and you caused your detestable things to increase more than they, and you made your sister righteous [in comparison] with all of your detestable things that you did. Also, you bear your disgrace, [by] which you furnished justification to your sisters through your sins [by] which you acted more abominably than they; they were more righteous than you, and also, you be ashamed and bear your disgrace through your making your sister righteous. And I will restore their fortune, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and [even] the fortunes of your captivity in the midst of them, in order that you may bear your disgrace and you may be put to shame because of all that you did at your consoling them. And [as for] your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state. And was not Sodom, your sister, a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride {before} your evil was uncovered? [It was] like the time of the scorn of the daughters of Aram and all [those] around her, and of the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who [are] despising you. Your wickedness and your detestable things, you, you must bear them,' {declares} Yahweh. 'For thus says the Lord Yahweh: And I will do it to you {according to what you have done}, who despised [the] oath to break covenant. And I, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you {an everlasting covenant}. And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, {both the older and the younger}, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant. And I, I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh, in order that you will remember, and you will be ashamed, and {you will not open your mouth again} {because of} your disgrace when I forgive you for all that you have done!'" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

And [while] he was still speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and brothers were standing there outside, desiring to speak to him. And someone told him, "Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing there outside desiring to speak to you." But he answered [and] said to the one who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"read more.
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Behold my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father [who is] in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother."

And his mother and his brothers arrived, and standing outside, they sent [word] to him to summon him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Behold, your mother and your brothers [are] outside looking for you." And he answered them [and] said, "Who is my mother or my brothers?"read more.
And looking around at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, "Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, this person is my brother and sister and mother."

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and furthermore, even his own life, {he cannot be} my disciple.

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields on account of my name will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields on account of me and on account of the gospel {who will not} receive a hundred times as much now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, together with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life.