This noun denotes brotherhood—the community of believers bound together as spiritual siblings in Christ. In 1 Peter, it appears twice with ethical implications: 'love the brotherhood' (2:17) as a distinct command alongside fearing God and honoring the emperor, and 'your brotherhood throughout the world' experiences the same sufferings (5:9). The term emphasizes familial bonds among Christians—not mere association but kinship, siblings who share common parentage in God. It's the church conceived as family, a network of brothers and sisters bound by spiritual birth rather than blood.