69 occurrences

'Brother' in the Bible

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he [lied and] said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Verse ConceptsAbel and CainExamples Of DeceitLiesSafetyMockingLying, Examples OfSelfishness, Examples OfHeartlessnessHatred Between RelativesIndividuals Who LiedWhere Are People?

Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber [including the Hebrews], the older brother of Japheth, children were born.

Verse ConceptsAncestors

Then a survivor who had escaped [from the invading forces on the other side of the Jordan] came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was living by the terebinths (oaks) of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner—they were allies of Abram.

Verse ConceptsAlliancesAbraham, Characteristics OfAllegiancesOaksOthers Who FledTelling Of Happenings

Did Abraham not tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

Verse ConceptsMisrepresentationPlea Of Innocence

When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This kindness and loyalty you can show me: at every place we stop, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

Verse ConceptsLoyaltyTentsWanderers

Then to Sarah he said, “Look, I have given this brother of yours a thousand pieces of silver; it is to compensate you [for all that has happened] and to vindicate your honor before all who are with you; before all men you are cleared and compensated.”

Verse ConceptsCoveringSilverA Thousand ThingsMan VindicatesSpecific Sums Of MoneyPeople Giving Other Things

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

Verse ConceptsAbraham, Testing And Victory

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

Verse ConceptsFirstbornFirstborn Sons

Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight [children] Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

Verse ConceptsEight People

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels, and set out, taking some of his master’s good things with him; so he got up and journeyed to Mesopotamia [between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers], to the city of Nahor [the home of Abraham’s brother].

Verse ConceptsDeparturesTen AnimalsGiving Good Things

Before Eliezer had finished speaking (praying), Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

Verse ConceptsShouldersequipping, physicalWater ContainersWhile Still SpeakingCarrying Other Loads

Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man at the well.

Verse ConceptsIndividuals Running

Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and articles of clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and her mother.

Verse ConceptsGenerosity, HumandowryBetrothalGoldMarriage, Customs ConcerningOrnamentsMarriage, The BrideCosmeticsPresentsPeople Giving ClothesJewelleryjewelry

But Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days—at least ten; then she may go.”

Verse ConceptsTen Or More DaysPeople Who Delayed

Afterward his brother came out, and his hand grasped Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob (one who grabs by the heel, supplanter). Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

Verse ConceptsHeelsGraspingPeople With Apt NamesTwin Brothers

Rebekah said to Jacob her [younger and favorite] son, “Listen carefully: I heard your father saying to Esau your brother,

Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Listen, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth [skinned] man.

Verse ConceptsSkinSmoothnessHairy PeopleSmooth

He could not recognize him [as Jacob], because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

Verse ConceptsHairy PeopleNot Recognising PeoplePeople Who Blessed Others

Now as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

Verse ConceptsGoing Outside

Isaac said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has [fraudulently] taken away your blessing [for himself].”

Verse ConceptsInjustice, Examples OfPeople BlessingThose Who Deceived

But you shall live by your sword,And serve your brother;However it shall come to pass when you break loose [from your anger and hatred],That you will tear his yoke off your neck [and you will be free of him].”

Verse ConceptsNecksRestlessnessYokesSubjectionServing IndividualsPeople Releasing Othersdominion

When these words of her elder son Esau were repeated to Rebekah, she sent for Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Listen carefully, your brother Esau is comforting himself concerning you by planning to kill you.

Verse ConceptsAttempting To Kill Specific PeopleTelling What People Said

So now, my son, listen and do what I say; go, escape to my brother Laban in Haran!

Verse ConceptsPay Attention To People!

Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take from there as a wife for yourself one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.

Verse ConceptsMarrying RelativesTaking A WifeFathers And Daughters

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

Verse ConceptsJacob, Life And Character Of

When Jacob saw [his cousin] Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and Laban’s sheep, he came up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban, his uncle.

Verse ConceptsRollingPossessing Sheep

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

Verse ConceptsMessengers Sent OutMessenger

The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.”

Verse ConceptsMessengers Sent OutFour To Five HundredMeeting PeopleFour And Five Hundred

Save me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.

Verse ConceptsRest, PhysicalKilling Whole FamiliesFear Of IndividualsPeople Attacking Their OwnMotherhood

So Jacob spent the night there. Then he selected a present for his brother Esau from the livestock he had acquired:

Verse ConceptsGrain OfferingStaying Temporarily

Then he commanded the one in front, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks to whom you belong, and where you are going, and whose are the animals in front of you?

Verse ConceptsAskingWho Is This?Where To?

Then Jacob crossed over [the stream] ahead of them and bowed himself to the ground seven times [bowing and moving forward each time], until he approached his brother.

Verse ConceptsBowingSevenSalutationsSeven TimesIn Front

But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”

Verse ConceptsNot Receiving

Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you [in a distinct manifestation] when you fled [years ago] from Esau your brother.”

Verse ConceptsFugitivesAppearances Of God In OtCommemorationSpeech, DivineWorship, Places OfBuilding AltarsGod AppearingBethel The House Of GodLiving In The Land

There he built an altar [to worship the Lord], and called the place El-bethel (God of the House of God), because there God had revealed Himself to him when he escaped from his brother.

Verse ConceptsFugitivesBuilding AltarsGod AppearingAltars

Now Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all the members of his household, and his livestock and all his cattle and all his possessions which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went to a land away from his brother Jacob.

Verse ConceptsWeights And Measures, DistancesPeople Parting

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

Verse ConceptsHiding Sins

Come, let us [instead] sell him to these Ishmaelites [and Midianites] and not lay our hands on him, because he is our brother and our flesh.” So his brothers listened to him and agreed.

Verse ConceptsCommerceSame Bone And Flesh

Then Judah told Onan, “Go in to your brother’s widow, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law [under the levirate marriage custom]; [be her husband and] raise children for [the name of] your brother.”

Verse ConceptsBrothersLoyaltyMarriage, Restrictions ConcerningWidowsBrothers in lawSocial dutiesDutysexSiblingsRaising ChildrenRelationships And DatingWifeSpilling Your Seed On The Ground

Onan knew that the child (heir) would not be his [but his dead brother’s]; so whenever he lay with his brother’s widow, he spilled his seed on the ground [to prevent conception], so that he would not give a child to his brother.

Verse ConceptsMarriage, Restrictions ConcerningSemenNot GivingPeople With General KnowledgesexSeedsSpilling Your Seed On The Ground

But he pulled back his hand, and his brother was born first. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself [to be the firstborn]!” So he was named Perez (breach, break forth).

Verse ConceptsThe Act Of OpeningOpening The WombPeople With Apt Names

Afterward his brother who had the scarlet [thread] on his hand was born and was named Zerah (brightness).

Verse ConceptsCordsRed Cords

But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s [younger] brother, with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that some harm or injury may come to him.”

Verse ConceptsPartialityFear Of Other Things

In this way you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here!

Verse ConceptsThe Youngest Child

Send one of you [back home], and let him bring your brother [here], while [the rest of] you remain confined, so that your words may be tested, [to see] whether there is any truth in you [and your story]; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, certainly you are spies.”

Verse ConceptsPrisonersSpyingPeople Sending People

but bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will be verified and you will not die.” And they did so.

Verse ConceptsThe Youngest Child

And they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty regarding our brother [Joseph], because we saw the distress and anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us [to let him go], yet we would not listen [to his cry]; so this distress and anguish has come on us.”

Verse ConceptsGuilty ConsciencesGuilt, Human Aspects OfAfflicted Saints, Examples OfFound GuiltyPeople Without MercyWhy It HappenedHuman Awareness Of Guilt

Bring your youngest brother to me; then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. Then I will return your [imprisoned] brother [back] to you, and you may trade and do business in the land.’”

Verse ConceptsTradeThe Youngest ChildSpyingReinstating People

But Jacob said, “My son shall not go down [to Egypt] with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left [of Rachel’s children]. If any harm or accident should happen to him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in sorrow.”

Verse ConceptsBereavement, Experience OfGrave, TheLove, And The WorldUnhappinessParental LoveAfflicted To DeathGreySole SurvivorsDeath Of Unnamed Individuals

But Judah said to him, “The man [representing Pharaoh] solemnly and sternly warned us, saying, ‘You will not see my face [again] unless your brother is with you.’

Verse ConceptsNot With People

If you will send our brother with us, we will go down [to Egypt] and buy you food.

Verse ConceptsGoing Together

But if you will not send him, we will not go down there; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

Verse ConceptsNot With People

And Israel (Jacob) said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man that you had another brother?”

Verse ConceptsPeople Actually Doing Evil

And they said, “The man asked us straightforward questions about ourselves and our relatives. He said, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down [here to Egypt]’?”

Verse ConceptsAsking Particular QuestionsAnswering PeopleNot Knowing The FutureLiving On

Take your brother [Benjamin] also, and get up, and go to the man;

Verse ConceptsGoing Together

and may God Almighty grant you compassion and favor before the man, so that he will release to you your other brother [Simeon] and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children [Joseph, Simeon, and Benjamin], I am bereaved.”

Verse ConceptsGod, Power OfBereavementPeople Showing MercyPeople Releasing Others

And he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s [only other] son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” And Joseph said, “God be gracious to you and show you favor, my son.”

Verse ConceptsCourteousnessDivine FavourSalutationsThe Youngest ChildSeeing PeopleMothers And Sons

Then Joseph hurried out [of the room] because his heart was deeply touched over his brother, and he sought privacy to weep; so he entered his chamber and wept there.

Verse ConceptsHousesPrivacySuffering, Emotional Aspects OfPartialityBowelsHasty ActionPrivate Rooms

My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’

Verse ConceptsAsking Particular Questions

We said to my lord, ‘We have an old father and a young [brother, Benjamin, the] child of his old age. Now his brother [Joseph] is dead, and he alone is left of [the two sons born of] his mother, and his father loves him.’

Verse ConceptsChildren, needs ofJacob, Life And Character OfPrejudiceSole SurvivorsDeath Of Unnamed IndividualsThose Who LovedExamples Of Love For Children

You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you shall not see my face again.’

Verse ConceptsNot With People

But we said, ‘We cannot go down [to Egypt]. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down [there]; for we [were sternly told that we] cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

Verse ConceptsNot With People

And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they approached him. And he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

Verse ConceptsThis Is MeIdentity

Look! Your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that I am speaking to you [personally in your language and not through an interpreter].

Verse ConceptsThis Is MeSeeing People

Then he embraced his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.

Verse ConceptsNecksSalutations

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; Manasseh also will become a people and he will be great; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

Verse ConceptsThe Youngest ChildPeople With General KnowledgeRules About Young People

Bible Theasaurus

Brother (439 instances)
Comrade (14 instances)
Kinsman (27 instances)
Match (10 instances)