not my brother's keeper

Meaning

1. 1phraseidiomliteraryfigurative

   Used to claim that you have no duty to look after or answer for another person's actions or welfare.

   Grammar: Subject can change: I am not my brother's keeper; she is not her sister's keeper.

   Patterns

   • not someone's keeper
   • be not your brother's keeper

   When asked where his friend was, he shrugged and said he was not his brother's keeper.

   I help when I can, but I'm not my brother's keeper.

   The manager felt she was not her employees' keeper outside of work hours.

Common combinations

I am not my brother's keeper

"I am not my brother's keeper," he said, refusing to explain.

am I my brother's keeper

The question am I my brother's keeper makes people think about duty.

claim to be not one's brother's keeper

Politicians sometimes claim to be not their neighbors' keeper.

feel like one's brother's keeper

Nurses often feel like their patients' keeper.

Synonyms and how they differ

not my responsibility

This plain phrase says the same but lacks the biblical, slightly dramatic tone of the idiom.

not my problem

Not my problem is blunter and more informal, while the idiom sounds more literary.

none of my business

None of my business stresses that you should not get involved, not that you lack duty.

Opposites

Word family

keeper noun

a person who looks after something

keep verb

to look after or hold

guardian noun

a person responsible for protecting another

caretaker noun

someone who looks after a place or person

Commonly confused: not my brother's keeper or goalkeeper?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “not my brother's keeper”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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