'Brother' in the Bible

Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground.

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

His brother was named Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute.

I will require the life of every animal and every man for your life and your blood. I will require the life of each man’s brother for a man’s life.

And Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had sons. Shem was the father of all the sons of Eber.

Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg, for during his days the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

One of the survivors came and told Abram the Hebrew, who lived near the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner. They were bound by a treaty with Abram.

Didn’t he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”

So when God had me wander from my father’s house, I said to her: Show your loyalty to me wherever we go and say about me: ‘He’s my brother.’”

And he said to Sarah, “Look, I am giving your brother 1,000 pieces of silver. It is a verification of your honor to all who are with you. You are fully vindicated.”

Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne sons to your brother Nahor:

Uz his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram,

And Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah—daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor—coming with a jug on her shoulder.

Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and Laban ran out to the man at the spring.

Then I bowed down, worshiped the Lord, and praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who guided me on the right way to take the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.

Then he brought out objects of silver and gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.

But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for about 10 days. Then she can go.”

After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said,

Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin.

He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.

As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from the hunt.

But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

You will live by your sword,and you will serve your brother.But when you rebel,you will break his yoke from your neck.

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart: “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you.

So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,

Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you—and he has 400 men with him.”

Please rescue me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children.

He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau:

And he told the first one: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?’

He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times until he approached his brother.

“I have enough, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what you have.”

God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

Jacob built an altar there and called the place God of Bethel because it was there that God had revealed Himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

Esau took his wives, sons, daughters, and all the people of his household, as well as his herds, all his livestock, and all the property he had acquired in Canaan; he went to a land away from his brother Jacob.

Then Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and they agreed.

Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and produce offspring for your brother.”

But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he released his semen on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother.

Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He might die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

But then he pulled his hand back, and his brother came out. Then she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.

Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread tied to his hand, came out, and was named Zerah.

But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, “Something might happen to him.”

This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

Send one from among you to get your brother. The rest of you will be imprisoned so that your words can be tested to see if they are true. If they are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this.

Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.”

The man who is the lord of the country said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go.

Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.’”

But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.”

But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us: ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’

If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.

But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’”

“Why did you cause me so much trouble?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?”

They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man.

May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”

When he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

Joseph hurried out because he was overcome with emotion for his brother, and he was about to weep. He went into an inner room to weep.

My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’

and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

Then you said to your servants, ‘If your younger brother does not come down with you, you will not see me again.’

We told him, ‘We cannot go down unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother isn’t with us, we cannot see the man.’

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt.

Look! Your eyes and my brother Benjamin’s eyes can see that it is I , Joseph, who am speaking to you.

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe, and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.”