'Brothers' in the Bible

Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.

he said:Canaan will be cursed.He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers.

This man will be like a wild donkey.His hand will be against everyone,and everyone’s hand will be against him;he will live at odds with all his brothers.

He said, “Don’t do this evil, my brothers.

And they settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He lived in opposition to all his brothers.

May peoples serve youand nations bow down to you.Be master over your brothers;may your mother’s sons bow down to you.Those who curse you will be cursed,and those who bless you will be blessed.

Jacob asked the men at the well, “My brothers! Where are you from?”“We’re from Haran,” they answered.

When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his brothers also pitched their tents in the hill country of Gilead.

Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor, and I’ll give you whatever you say.

On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male.

These are the family records of Jacob.At 17 years of age, Joseph tended sheep with his brothers. The young man was working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought a bad report about them to their father.

When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him.

Then Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

“Are you really going to reign over us?” his brothers asked him. “Are you really going to rule us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he had said.

Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and 11 stars were bowing down to me.”

He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him. “What kind of dream is this that you have had?” he said. “Are your mother and brothers and I going to come and bow down to the ground before you?”

His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem.

Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers, you know, are pasturing the flocks at Shechem. Get ready. I’m sending you to them.”“I’m ready,” Joseph replied.

Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

“I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph said. “Can you tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?”

“They’ve moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off his robe, the robe of many colors that he had on.

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.

He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

At that time Judah left his brothers and settled near an Adullamite named Hirah.

So 10 of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

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

Joseph was in charge of the country; he sold grain to all its people. His brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.“Where do you come from?” he asked.“From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

But they replied, “We, your servants, were 12 brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no longer living.”

He said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! It’s here in my bag.” Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

We were 12 brothers, sons of the same father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.

They served him by himself, his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is abhorrent to them.

When Judah and his brothers reached Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell to the ground before him.

Now please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers.

Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers.

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But they could not answer him because they were terrified in his presence.

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.

Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept, and afterward his brothers talked with him.

When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” Pharaoh and his servants were pleased.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and go on back to the land of Canaan.

He gave each of the brothers changes of clothes, but he gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and five changes of clothes.

So Joseph sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving, he said to them, “Don’t argue on the way.”

Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and inform Pharaoh, telling him: My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.

So Joseph went and informed Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their sheep and cattle and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.”

He took five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

Then Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation?”And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants, both we and our fathers, are shepherds.”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you,

the land of Egypt is open before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They can live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

Then Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food for their dependents.

Children born to you after them will be yours and will be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance.

Over and above what I am giving your brothers, I am giving you the one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

Simeon and Levi are brothers;their knives are vicious weapons.

Judah, your brothers will praise you.Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies;your father’s sons will bow down to you.

The blessings of your father excelthe blessings of my ancestorsand the bounty of the eternal hills.May they rest on the head of Joseph,on the crown of the prince of his brothers.

along with all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their sheep, and their cattle were left in the land of Goshen.

After Joseph buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him to bury his father.

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said to one another, “If Joseph is holding a grudge against us, he will certainly repay us for all the suffering we caused him.”

‘Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers’ transgression and their sin—the suffering they caused you.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when their message came to him.

Then his brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!”

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”