brother's keeper, Am I my
A saying from the Bible's story of Cain and Abel. After Cain had murdered his brother Abel, God asked him where his brother was. Cain answered, “I know not; am I my brother's keeper?”
notes for brother's keeper, Am I my
Cain's words have come to symbolize people's unwillingness to accept responsibility for the welfare of their fellows — their “brothers” in the extended sense of the term. The tradition of
Judaism and
Christianity is that people
do have this responsibility. (
See
Good Samaritan,
Love thy neighbor as thyself,
and
Love your enemies.)