Friendship in
the Bible
friendship,
a relationship of mutual trust and congeniality. While many biblical writers
realized that friendship enriches human life, as a subject of serious
reflection the theme of friendship is not developed in the Bible—in sharp
contrast to the Greek and Roman traditions. Thus, although Deuteronomy
characterizes a friend as a person ‘who is as your own soul’ (13:6), the
mutual affection and devotion of David and Jonathan strike the readers of
the
ot as extraordinary (see 1
Sam. 18:1; 19:1; 20:17; 2 Sam. 1:26). Where the covenant concept prevails,
natural attraction and personal preference appear to be less important than
covenant obligations as the bases of relationships between persons.
The benefits and requirements of friendship are among the
subjects addressed by Israel’s wise men, especially in Proverbs and
Ecclesiasticus. The sage stresses loyalty and steadfastness as marks of the
true friend (Prov. 17:17; 18:24; Ecclus. 6:14-16) but warns that poverty or
adversity often reveals people to be friends in name only (Prov. 19:4, 6-7;
Ecclus. 12:9; 13:21; 37:4-5). An irony of the book of Job is that Job’s
three friends, in their frenetic attempts to effect his repentance,
intensify rather than relieve his suffering. Because they are more loyal to
their theological certainties than to Job, they are unable to attain the
genuine sympathy that marks real friendship.
The special bond between God and a person chosen as his
instrument is occasionally described as friendship. God spoke to Moses face
to face, ‘as a man speaks to his friend’ (Exod. 33:11), and Abraham is
called God’s friend (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; see also James 2:23).
In the
nt, Jesus’ effort to
mirror God’s love and mercy even to religious outcasts earns him the epithet
‘a friend of tax collectors and sinners’ (Matt. 9:11; Luke 7:34). In the
Gospel of John, two persons, Lazarus and the unnamed ‘beloved disciple,’ are
the objects of Jesus’ special affection (11:3, 36; 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,
20). Jesus says that his disciples are his friends if they do what he
commands; he calls them friends because he has revealed to them what he
heard from his Father (15:14-15). To be Jesus’ friend is to love one another
(cf. 15:12-14). In a saying highly reminiscent of the Greek tradition, Jesus
declares that the supreme manifestation of love is a person’s willingness to
give his life for his friends (15:13). S.K.W.
S.K.W.
Sam K. Williams, Ph.D.; Associate Professor
of Religion; Colorado College; Colorado Springs, Colorado
Achtemeier, Paul J. ; Harper & Row,
Publishers ; Society of Biblical Literature: Harper's Bible
Dictionary. 1st ed. San Francisco : Harper & Row, 1985, S. 322