‘Brethren’ does not translate to ‘brothers and sisters’.

Like many of my Christian friends, I am committed to an egalitarian church. Women should be given all the responsibilities and opportunities that men have. They should share identical roles. We either believe Galatians 3:28 or we don’t –   

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.

There are only two NT passages which may appear to cast women in a different role – one of silence.

For an excellent discussion of these scriptures, please see   Silencing Women 1 Tim. 2  

and   The Message of 1st Corinthians   

or   Context of Writings Silencing Women   as a You Tube.

However, sometimes, we in our enthusiasm, misinterpret the word ‘brethren’. In our eagerness to show that this word can represent both men and women, we erroneously state that the old English word ‘brethren’ translates to ‘brothers and sisters’. It does not.

Brethren is simply the old English word for brothers, and the NT Greek word use for this, adelphos, means brothers (males) only.

It is so easy to show that this is the case with a few examples.

Matthew 19:29 “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

If brethren translates to ‘brothers and sisters’, this verse would read:

Matthew 19:29 “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brothers and sisters, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

One more case (there are more),

Mark 10:30 “But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.”

If brethren translates to ‘brothers and sisters’, this verse would read:

Mark 10:30 “But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers and sisters, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.”

So, brethren, does not translate to “brothers and sisters”, but can represent brothers and sisters, depending on the context. I feel that this is an important distinction which we ought to keep in mind.

We are familiar with this in terms of the word ‘man’.

^“Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. [Romans 4:8]

Clearly man means a male person, but no one would suggest this verse excludes women. It represents men and women, so we may say ‘man’ represents men and women but the word ‘man’ does not literally translate to “men and women”.