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Tribes may be called
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“And [the tribe of] Judah said unto [the tribe of] Simeon
his brother, Come up with me into my lot …” (Judg. 1:3). The word
is used of a
fellow tribesman: “With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our
brethren discern thou what is thine …” (Gen. 31:32). Elsewhere it describes a fellow
countryman: “And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went
out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens …” (Exod. 2:11).
In several passages, the word
connotes “companion” or “colleague”—that is, a
brother by choice. One example is found in 2 Kings 9:2: “And when thou comest thither,
look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him
arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber” (cf. Isa. 41:6;
Num. 8:26). Somewhat along this line is the covenantal use of the word as a synonym for
“ally”: “And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, and said, I
pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly” (Gen. 19:6-7). Notice this same use in Num.
20:14 and 1 Kings 9:13.
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can be a term of polite address, as it appears to be in Gen. 29:4: “And Jacob said
unto them [shepherds, whose identity he did not know], My brethren, whence be ye?”
The word
sometimes represents someone or something that simply exists
alongside a given person or thing: “And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at
the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of … every man’s brother will I
require the life of man” (Gen. 9:5-6).
TO BUILD
A. Verb.
(
, 1129), “to build, establish, construct, rebuild.” This root appears in all
the Semitic languages except Ethiopic and in all periods of Hebrew. In biblical Hebrew, it
occurs about 375 times and in biblical Aramaic 23 times.
In its basic meaning,
appears in Gen. 8:20, where Noah is said to have
“constructed” an ark. In Gen. 4:17,
means not only that Enoch built a city, but that
he “founded” or “established” it. This verb can also mean “to manufacture,” as in Ezek.
27:5: “They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees.…” Somewhat in the same sense,
we read that God “made” or “fashioned” Eve out of Adam’s rib (Gen. 2:22—the first
biblical occurrence). In like manner, Asa began with the cities of Geba and Mizpah and
“fortified” them (1 Kings 15:22). In each case, the verb suggests adding to existing
material to fashion a new object.
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can also refer to “rebuilding” something that is destroyed. Joshua cursed
anyone who would rise up and rebuild Jericho, the city that God had utterly destroyed
(Josh. 6:26).
Metaphorically or figuratively, the verb
is used to mean “building one’s
house”—i.e., having children. Sarai said to Abram, “I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it
may be that I may obtain children by her” (Gen. 16:2). It was the duty of the nearest male
relative to conceive a child with the wife of a man who had died childless (Deut. 25:9);
he thus helped “to build up the house” of his deceased relative. Used figuratively, “to
build a house” may also mean “to found a dynasty” (2 Sam. 7:27).