adelphoi (G80)

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G80 adelphoi (ad-el-FOY) — brothers and sisters; siblings. The plural includes women. 

Word: ἀδελφοί, plural of ἀδελφός (adelphos) · noun · Strong's G80

In brief

Adelphoi is the plural of the Greek word for sibling. When Paul writes to a whole church, he uses it to address everyone in it, women and men. English Bibles have often translated it "brothers" or "brethren," which makes Paul's letters sound like they were written only to men.

Where it appears

The word appears 343 times in the New Testament. Start with these:

  • Philippians 4:1–2 — Paul addresses the adelphoi, then in the next sentence names two women in the church, Euodia and Syntyche.
  • Romans 16 — the chapter where Paul greets Phoebe, Prisca, Junia, Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis, and others, then addresses the church as adelphoi (16:17).
  • Romans 16:1 — Paul calls Phoebe "our sister," adelphē. Greek has a separate word for a woman when it needs one.
  • Acts 1:14–16 — women are present in the gathering (1:14). When Peter speaks only to the men, the Greek adds andres, "men," to adelphoi (1:16). When the authors meant men only, they could say so.

What the lexicons say

The standard Greek lexicon, BDAG, notes that the plural can refer to brothers and sisters together.

Even the ESV, which keeps "brothers" in its main text, says so in its own footnote: in New Testament usage, the plural adelphoi may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters, depending on context.

The same grammar works in modern languages. Hermanos (Spanish), frères (French), and fratelli (Italian) are masculine plurals that include sisters when the group is mixed.

How translations render it

Philippians 4:1, the verse just before Euodia and Syntyche:

Translation Philippians 4:1
KJV (1611) "my brethren"
ESV "my brothers" (footnote: or brothers and sisters)
NIV (2011) "my brothers and sisters"
NRSVue "my brothers and sisters"
CEB "my brothers and sisters"

Translation history

  • 1611, King James Version: "brethren." At the time, this English word was commonly used for a whole congregation.
  • 20th century: as English changed, "brethren" and "brothers" came to sound male-only to most readers.
  • 1989, NRSV: among the first major English Bibles to translate adelphoi "brothers and sisters" where the context includes women.
  • May 1997, Colorado Springs Guidelines: a statement signed at Focus on the Family's headquarters said adelphoi should not be changed to "brothers and sisters," allowing only unusual exceptions. The guidelines were revised that September.
  • 2001, ESV: kept "brothers" in the text and moved "brothers and sisters" to a footnote.
  • 2011, NIV: "brothers and sisters" in the text, with a footnote giving the Greek.

The point is not that early translators set out to remove women. It is that a word meant to include them became exclusive in English, and some later translations chose to keep it that way.

See for yourself

  1. Read Philippians 4:1–3. Who is Paul speaking to when he says adelphoi? Who does he name next?
  2. Read Romans 16:1–17. Count the women Paul greets before he addresses the adelphoi in verse 17.
  3. Compare Acts 1:14, 1:15, and 1:16. What changes in the Greek when Peter addresses only men?

Related words

adelphē (G79, sister) · anthrōpos (G444, person) · anēr (G435, man, husband)

Sources