'Sister' in the Bible

As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”

Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go.”

Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

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

Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife;

When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.

Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men.

They blessed Rebekah and said to her,“May you, our sister,Become thousands of ten thousands,And may your descendants possessThe gate of those who hate them.”

and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.

When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.”

Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’”

and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.”

So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.

But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with deceit, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.

They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.

Jacob’s sons came upon the slain and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister.

But they said, “Should he treat our sister as a harlot?”

also Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.

The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna.

The sons of Asher: Imnah and Ishvah and Ishvi and Beriah and their sister Serah. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.

His sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?”

Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years.

Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing.

The nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover.

The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, she is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative.

You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

‘If there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt.

You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has made naked his blood relative; they will bear their guilt.

also for his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.

He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head.

for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the affair of Peor and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor.”

The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram: Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.

‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Her father said, “I really thought that you hated her intensely; so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please let her be yours instead.”

Now it was after this that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon the son of David loved her.

Amnon was so frustrated because of his sister Tamar that he made himself ill, for she was a virgin, and it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her.

He said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Then Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.”

Jonadab then said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill; when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me some food to eat, and let her prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat from her hand.’”

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”

When she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”

Then Absalom her brother said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now keep silent, my sister, he is your brother; do not take this matter to heart.” So Tamar remained and was desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.

But Absalom did not speak to Amnon either good or bad; for Absalom hated Amnon because he had violated his sister Tamar.

Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, responded, “Do not let my lord suppose they have put to death all the young men, the king’s sons, for Amnon alone is dead; because by the intent of Absalom this has been determined since the day that he violated his sister Tamar.

Absalom set Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

Now Hadad found great favor before Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

The sister of Tahpenes bore his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.

But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death.

The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna.

All these were the sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.

The sons of Pedaiah were Zerubbabel and Shimei. And the sons of Zerubbabel were Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith was their sister;

These were the sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi.

The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.

His sister Hammolecheth bore Ishhod and Abiezer and Mahlah.

The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah, and Serah their sister.

Heber became the father of Japhlet, Shomer and Hotham, and Shua their sister.

But Jehoshabeath the king’s daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death.

If I call to the pit, ‘You are my father’;To the worm, ‘my mother and my sister’;

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”And call understanding your intimate friend;

“You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride;You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes,With a single strand of your necklace.

“How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!How much better is your love than wine,And the fragrance of your oilsThan all kinds of spices!

“A garden locked is my sister, my bride,A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.

“I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam.I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;I have drunk my wine and my milk.Eat, friends;Drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers.”

“I was asleep but my heart was awake.A voice! My beloved was knocking:‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,My dove, my perfect one!For my head is drenched with dew,My locks with the damp of the night.’

“We have a little sister,And she has no breasts;What shall we do for our sisterOn the day when she is spoken for?

I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.

Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the Lord.

Therefore thus says the Lord in regard to Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah,“They will not lament for him:‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister!’They will not lament for him:‘Alas for the master!’ or, ‘Alas for his splendor!’

You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You are also the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

Now your older sister is Samaria, who lives north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lives south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.

As I live,” declares the Lord God, “Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.

As the name of your sister Sodom was not heard from your lips in your day of pride,

One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. And another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.

Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

“Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her harlotries were more than the harlotries of her sister.

She uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then I became disgusted with her, as I had become disgusted with her sister.

You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.’

‘You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,The cup of horror and desolation,The cup of your sister Samaria.

They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves.

For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.

But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

Therefore the soldiers did these things.But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, and he came and entered the barracks and told Paul.

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea;

Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.

and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: