Brood

In English, brood often refers to young animals, particularly bird hatchlings. The biblical term translated "brood," however, is used more broadly.

In the Old Testament, it typically refers to a group of people sharing a common character. For example:

• a "brood of sinners" (Numbers 32:14),

• a "senseless and nameless brood" (Job 30:8), and

• a "brood of evildoers" (Isaiah 1:4).

There is one instance where it refers to actual bird hatchlings (Isaiah 34:15), but this involves a different Hebrew term.

In the New Testament, the Greek word gennēma is consistently translated "brood" in the phrase "brood of vipers" (Matthew 3:7; 12:34; 23:33; Luke 3:7), where it means offspring or young (again with no connection to birds).