Brother
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
— a word properly denoting the closest blood kinship, that is, children of the male sex from one and the same parents, as for example in the following citations: Gen. 4:2; 42:13; but sometimes it denotes persons of more distant kinship, or persons descending from one and the same people (Gen. 13:8; Esther 10:3; Acts 7:25), and even those persons who are united by close love (2 Sam. 1:26). In the New Testament this word is more often applied to denote a close spiritual communion, which true followers of Christ have with the Lord and with one another (Matt. 25:40).