Verster, Empowering the poor: The Bible and the poor in informal settlements ...in narrow relation with God but also with their compatriots. They were
the people of God and had to look after fellow Israelites with compassion
and love. In evaluating the implications of brotherhood and sisterhood,
the role of the actors in the Biblical stories are important. How the peo-
ple interact with one another is important in establishing the implica-
tions of the story for the theme under discussion.
In the story of Cain and Abel, it is made clear that God wishes brother-
hood and sisterhood to be complete in honouring the relation among
people. Van Wolde (1991:39) is of the opinion that God called the broth-
ers to live in harmony, especially in the sense that the needs of the
struggling one should be attended to: “YHWH does give attention to this
so-called worthless one: he looks at his offering and he repeatedly con-
fronts Cain with his failing to be a (good) brother. In this way, he implic-
itly expresses the value that Abel has for him. In this way, he also con-
fronts the reader with the value of the human being who is written off by
fellow human beings as being worthless. YHWH, in his autonomous
acting, looks at the weak brother but not at the strong brother who fails
to be a brother. He is very consistent in this, because, at the very end of
the story, when Cain himself has become an underdog and a fugitive,
YHWH offers Cain, too, his support in the shape of a mark of protec-
tion”. It may well be that Van Wolde stretches the implications too far
and that the relation of the two brothers must rather be evaluated from
their relationship to God, but essentially the fact that God expects broth-
erhood, should be emphasized. Wenham (1987:117) emphasises the
relation with God as the main aspect. He is of the opinion that the blood
of the innocent victim pollutes the land (see his references to Gen. 6:11-
12;18:20 1 Kings 21, Ex. 20:13, Num. 35:9-34, Ps. 37, Is. 5:7 Luk. 18:7-8 &
Rom. 6:9-10). The sacrifice towards God is, according to him, the main
issue, but brotherhood also needed to honour God in this regard.
The story of Joseph relates how brotherhood is reaffirmed after a time of
serious strain on relations. Joseph is rejected by his brothers, not in the
least because of his own actions. However, they do the unspeakable to
their own brother by wanting to kill him and then selling him as slave.
The turning point comes when Joseph in Genesis 45 by the grace of God
forgives his brothers and turns the relation around to one of brother-
hood and compassion. This new relation teaches us that the community