[ 685] The word Brother, how far extended.
AS the Circles made by a stone cast into the water,* 1.1 not onely multiply, but much enlarge themselves, The first is a narrow Circle about the stone, the next fetch∣eth a bigger compass, the third a greater and more capacious then that, the fourth so large, that it toucheth the banks of the River. In like manner the first of brethren in Scripture is confined to one house and bed, one womb, as Iacob and Esau were na∣tural brethren; the second extendeth it self to all of one family or lineage, thus Christ and Iames were brethren and kinsmen; the third to the whole Nation or Country, thus Peter and the Iews were brethren and Countrymen; the fourth and last, to all the utmost bounds of the Earth, whether spiritually as all Christians, or carnally all Men.