'Brothers' in the Bible

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).

Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then he called them.

And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Even the Gentiles do the same, don't they?

While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers came and stood outside, asking to speak to him.

Someone told him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you."

To the one who had said this, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?"

And pointing toward his disciples he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother named Mary? And aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

And whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

Now when the other ten heard this, they were angry with the two brothers.

Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother.

But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers.

And the king will answer them, 'I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.'

Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. They will see me there."

Then Jesus' mother and his brothers came. Standing outside, they sent word to him, to summon him.

A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you."

He answered them and said, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"

And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel

who will not receive in this age a hundred times as much -- homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life.

There were seven brothers. The first one married, and when he died he had no children.

Now Jesus' mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not get near him because of the crowd.

So he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you."

But he replied to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."

He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you host a dinner or a banquet, don't invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors so you can be invited by them in return and get repaid.

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

(for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don't come into this place of torment.'

Then Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of God's kingdom

Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died without children.

You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will have some of you put to death.

but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.

So Jesus' brothers advised him, "Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing.

(For not even his own brothers believed in him.)

But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus himself also went up, not openly but in secret.

Jesus replied, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

So the saying circulated among the brothers and sisters that this disciple was not going to die. But Jesus did not say to him that he was not going to die, but rather, "If I want him to live until I come back, what concern is that of yours?"

All these continued together in prayer with one mind, together with the women, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

"Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through David concerning Judas -- who became the guide for those who arrested Jesus --

"Brothers, I can speak confidently to you about our forefather David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Now when they heard this, they were acutely distressed and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "What should we do, brothers?"

And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance, as your rulers did too.

Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey him in everything he tells you.

But carefully select from among you, brothers, seven men who are well-attested, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this necessary task.

So he replied, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers again, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh.

The next day Moses saw two men fighting, and tried to make peace between them, saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why are you hurting one another?'

This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, 'God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.'

When the brothers found out about this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

So Peter invited them in and entertained them as guests. On the next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.

The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house.

So the disciples, each in accordance with his financial ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.

He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and then related how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, "Tell James and the brothers these things," and then he left and went to another place.

After the reading from the law and the prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, "Brothers, if you have any message of exhortation for the people, speak it."

Brothers, descendants of Abraham's family, and those Gentiles among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us.

Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

Now some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."

So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they were relating at length the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers.

After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that some time ago God chose me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message of the gospel and believe.

After they stopped speaking, James replied, "Brothers, listen to me.

Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to send men chosen from among them, Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leaders among the brothers, to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

They sent this letter with them: From the apostles and elders, your brothers, to the Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, greetings!

Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with a long speech.

After they had spent some time there, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.

After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's return and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord to see how they are doing."

but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters.

The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.

When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia's house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then departed.

When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, screaming, "These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too,

The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once, during the night. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.

Paul, after staying many more days in Corinth, said farewell to the brothers and sailed away to Syria accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because he had made a vow.

When Apollos wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he assisted greatly those who had believed by grace,

We continued the voyage from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais, and when we had greeted the brothers, we stayed with them for one day.

When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us gladly.

"Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense that I now make to you."

as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to make arrests there and bring the prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

Paul looked directly at the council and said, "Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God to this day."

Paul replied, "I did not realize, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, 'You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.'"

Then when Paul noticed that part of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, he shouted out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead!"

There we found some brothers and were invited to stay with them seven days. And in this way we came to Rome.

The brothers from there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. When he saw them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

After three days Paul called the local Jewish leaders together. When they had assembled, he said to them, "Brothers, although I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, from Jerusalem I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans.

They replied, "We have received no letters from Judea about you, nor have any of the brothers come from there and reported or said anything bad about you.

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles.

Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person as long as he lives?

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God.

So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh

because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation.

For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice -- alive, holy, and pleasing to God -- which is your reasonable service.

But I myself am fully convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to join fervently with me in prayer to God on my behalf.

Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters with them.

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them!