אָח

From the study of Leviticus 25:35

Range of meaning

A brother by blood. It extends to a kinsman, a member of the same clan or tribe, a fellow Israelite, and also an ally. In Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy it is the standard term for a fellow member of the covenant people.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'brother' is literal. BSB 'countryman' and NIV's plural 'them' (as I understand its rendering) give the referent but drop the family obligation the word carries.

How it drifted

Readers today may hear 'brother' as a biological sibling only, or in church settings as 'fellow believer'. Here it means fellow Israelite, framed as family.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy's laws about the poor (Deut 15:2–12; 23:19–20 [20–21]) use the same 'brother' language. Deut 23:20 [21] explicitly contrasts the 'brother', from whom no interest may be taken, with the nokrî, from whom interest may be taken.

From the study of Proverbs 17:17

Range of meaning

Full or half brother; relative or kinsman (Gen 13:8, Abram calls his nephew Lot "brothers"); fellow Israelite (Deut 15:2–3, 7); an ally in a treaty (1 Kgs 9:13; 20:32–33); a close friend addressed as "my brother" (2 Sam 1:26, David of Jonathan).

Against the English

"Brother" is accurate but can sound narrower than the Hebrew. The NET's "relative" widens it to all kin. Most versions keep "brother", which keeps the picture of a sibling.

Used elsewhere in the period

Israelite law gave kin, "brothers", specific duties in a crisis: buying back a relative's land (Lev 25:25), buying a relative out of debt slavery (Lev 25:47–49), avenging a killing (Num 35:19). Proverbs is also frank about brothers who fail: "All the brothers of the poor hate him" (19:7); "better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away" (27:10); "there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" (18:24).

From the study of Isaiah 19:2

Range of meaning

ʾāḥ: a full brother, half-brother, kinsman, fellow tribesman or fellow countryman, and in treaty language an ally. rēaʿ: neighbor, friend, companion, any fellow member of the community (e.g. Lev 19:18).

Against the English

"Brother" and "neighbor" are fine glosses. "Brother" can sound like a narrow sibling relationship, while ʾāḥ covers kin and countrymen generally. BSB's compact "brother against brother" drops "each man," which shows how widespread it is.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same pair appears in Jer 9:4 and Mic 7:5–6 as a sign of a society coming apart. Egypt's own literature uses the theme: the Prophecy of Neferti says "I show you a son as enemy, a brother as foe, a man killing his father," and the Admonitions of Ipuwer describe the same social collapse.