'Brothers' in the Bible

Ham, the father of Canaan, saw [by accident] the nakedness of his father, and [to his father’s shame] told his two brothers outside.

and said, “Please, my brothers, do not do something so wicked.

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

Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.”

Shechem also said to Dinah’s father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and I will give you whatever you ask of me.

Now on the third day [after the circumcision], when all the men were [terribly] sore and in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s [full] brothers, took their swords, boldly entered the city [without anyone suspecting them of evil intent], and they killed every male.

These are the generations of Jacob.Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers [Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher]; the boy was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s [secondary] wives; and Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

His brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than all of his brothers; so they hated him and could not [find it within themselves to] speak to him on friendly terms.

Now Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him even more.

we [brothers] were binding sheaves [of grain stalks] in the field, and lo, my sheaf [suddenly] got up and stood upright and remained standing; and behold, your sheaves stood all around my sheaf and bowed down [in respect].”

His brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Are you really going to rule and govern us as your subjects?” So they hated him even more for [telling them about] his dreams and for his [arrogant] words.

But Joseph dreamed still another dream, and told it to his brothers [as well]. He said, “See here, I have again dreamed a dream, and lo, [this time I saw] eleven stars and the sun and the moon bowed down [in respect] to me!”

He told it to his father as well as to his brothers; but his father rebuked him and said to him [in disbelief], “What is [the meaning of] this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow down to the ground [in respect] before you?”

Joseph’s brothers were envious and jealous of him, but his father kept the words [of Joseph] in mind [wondering about their meaning].

Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem.

Israel (Jacob) said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing [the flock] at Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said, “Here I am [ready to obey you].”

Then Jacob said to him, “Please go and see whether everything is all right with your brothers and all right with the flock; then bring word [back] to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem.

He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are pasturing our flocks.”

Then the man said, “[They were here, but] they have moved on from this place. I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

Now when Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the [distinctive] multicolored tunic which he was wearing;

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

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.

Then as the Midianite [and Ishmaelite] traders were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And so they took Joseph [as a captive] into Egypt.

Now Reuben [unaware of what had happened] returned to the pit, and [to his great alarm found that] Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his clothes [in deep sorrow].

He rejoined his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where shall I go [to hide from my father]?”

Now at that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to [stay with] a certain Adullamite named Hirah.

Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow at your father’s house until Shelah my [youngest] son is grown”; [but he was deceiving her] for he thought that [if Shelah should marry her] he too might die like his brothers did. So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

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.”

Now Joseph was the ruler over the land, and he was the one who sold [grain] to all the people of the land; and Joseph’s [half] brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers [in all], the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; please listen: the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive.”

if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your [place here in] prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine in your households,

And he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! Here it is in my sack!” And their hearts sank, and they were afraid and turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’

And the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this [test] I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers here with me and take grain for your starving households and go.

So the servants served Joseph by himself [in honor of his rank], and his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because [according to custom] the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to the Egyptians.

Now Joseph’s brothers were seated [by the steward] before him [in the order of their birth]—the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at one another in astonishment [because so much was known about them].

Now, therefore, please let your servant (Judah) remain here instead of the youth [to be] a slave to my lord, and let the young man go home with his brothers.

Then Joseph could not control himself [any longer] in front of all those who attended him, and he called out, “Have everyone leave me.” So no man stood there when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless, for they were stunned and dismayed by [the fact that they were in] Joseph’s presence.

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.

He kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.

When the news was heard in Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: load your animals and return to the land of Canaan [without delay],

So he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “See that you do not quarrel on the journey [about how to explain this to our father].”

Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me;

Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and their herds and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan, and they are in the land of Goshen.”

He took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.

And Pharaoh said to his brothers [as Joseph expected], “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers [before us].”

Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know of any men of ability among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

But other sons who were born to you after them shall be your own; they shall be called by the names of their [two] brothers in their inheritance.

“Simeon and Levi are brothers [equally headstrong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel];Their swords are weapons of violence and revenge.

“Judah, you are the one whom your brothers shall praise;Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

‘You are to say to Joseph, “I beg you, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.”’ Now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

Then his brothers went and fell down before him [in confession]; then they said, “Behold, we are your servants (slaves).”

Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation,

Then Moses said to Aaron and to his [younger] sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not uncover your heads nor let your hair hang loose nor tear your clothes [as expressions of mourning], so that you will not die [also] and so that He will not express His wrath and anger toward all the congregation. But your relatives, the whole house of Israel, may mourn the burning which the Lord has brought about.

For Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers.

“If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, the widow of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall be intimate with her after taking her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.

Who said of his father and mother,‘I did not consider them’;Nor did he acknowledge his brothers,Nor did he regard his own sons,For the priests observed Your word,And kept Your covenant.

With the precious things of the earth and its fullness,And the favor and goodwill of Him who dwelt in the bush.Let these blessings come upon the head of Joseph,And upon the crown of the head of him who was distinguished [as a prince] among his brothers.

Of Asher he said,“More blessed than sons is Asher;May he be favored by his brothers,And may he dip his foot in oil.

and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, along with everyone who belongs to them, and let us all live.”

unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and bring into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household [so that they will be safe].

He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and murdered his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, [in a public execution] on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left alive, because he had hidden himself.

so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal (Gideon) might come [on the guilty], and that their [innocent] blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who had killed them, and on the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands (encouraged him) to kill his brothers.

In this way God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father [Jerubbaal] by killing his seventy brothers.

Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless and unprincipled men gathered around Jephthah, and went out [on raids] with him.

When their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, ‘Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take a wife for each man of Benjamin in battle, nor did you give wives to them, for that would have made you guilty [of breaking your oath].’”

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

Then Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread and run quickly to the camp to your brothers.

Also take these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of the unit. See how your brothers are doing and bring back news of them.

Now they are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”

Then David left his provisions in the care of the supply keeper, and ran to the ranks and came and greeted his brothers.

He said, ‘Please let me go because our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to attend. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s house heard about it, they went down there to him.

But Joab and Abishai [Asahel’s brothers] pursued Abner. When the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

Then Abner was very angry at the words of Ish-bosheth, and he said, “Am I a dog’s head [a despicable traitor] that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty and kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and his friends, by not having you handed over to David; and yet you charge me today with guilt concerning this woman.

Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened steers by the Stone of Zoheleth, which is beside [the well] En-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants [to this feast].

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; but his mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I gave birth to him in pain.”

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, neither did all their family multiply like the sons of Judah.

of Judah, Elihu, one of David’s brothers; of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael;

He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful [to God] as the house of Ahab was unfaithful, and you have also murdered your brothers, your father’s house (your own family), who were better than you,

It came about that when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the leaders of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s [murdered] brothers ministering to Ahaziah, and he killed them.

Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, contributed to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 from the flocks [of lambs and young goats], and 500 bulls.

Then all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him over all the [distressing] adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him a piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

In all the land there were found no women so fair as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

Until the time that his word [of prophecy regarding his brothers] came true,The word of the Lord tested and refined him.

A wise servant will rule over the [unworthy] son who acts shamefully and brings disgrace [to the family]And [the worthy servant] will share in the inheritance among the brothers.

All the brothers of a poor man hate him;How much more do his friends abandon him!He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites,

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers [who became the twelve tribes of Israel].

Josiah became the father of Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] and his brothers, at the time of the deportation (exile) to Babylon.

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He noticed two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

And going on [further] from there He noticed two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them [to follow Him as His disciples].

While He was still talking to the crowds, it happened that His mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him.

Someone said to Him, “Look! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside asking to speak to You.”

But Jesus replied to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”