our brothers: This shows that the Israelites saw themselves as connected to those who had died:
Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1–5),
those who died during the first plague after craving meat (Numbers 11:33),
the skeptics who died in the wilderness (14:29),
the ten unfaithful spies (14:36–37),
Korah, Abiram, and Dathan (16:32),
the 250 leaders (16:35), and
the 14,700 people who died in the second plague (16:49).