Annie's "Friendship in the Bible" Page

"A friend loveth at all times,
and a brother is born
for adversity."
~Proverbs 17:17~

 

There are 49 verses with the word "FRIEND" in the Bible.

"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."
~Proverbs 27:17~

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."
~Proverbs 27:6~

"Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel."
~Proverbs 27:9~

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly:
and there is a
friend that sticketh closer than a brother."
~Proverbs 18:24~

"And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face,
as a man speaketh unto his
friend."
~Exodus 33:11~

 

Here is what Nave's Topical Bible says about FRIENDS

  • Jesus calls his disciples by this term - John 15:14,15
  • FALSE FRIENDS
    • Instances of
      • Pharaoh’s butler was false to Joseph
        Genesis 40:23
    • Delilah was false to Samson - Judges 16:1-20
    • The Ephraimite’s wife - Judges 19:1,2
    • David was false to Joab - 1 Kings 2:5,6
    • David was false to Uriah - 2 Samuel 11
    • Ahithophel was false to David - 2 Samuel 15:12
    • David’s friends were false to David
      Psalms 35:11-16; 41:9; 55:12-14,20,21; 88:8,18
    • Judas Iscariot - Matthew 26:48,49
    • Jesus’ disciples ran away - Matthew 26:56,58

Source: Nave's Topical Bible

 

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FRIENDSHIP

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."
~Philippians 1:3~

  • General scriptures concerning friendship
    Deuteronomy 13:6-9; Job 6:14,15; 16:2,20; 19:13-22; Psalms 35:13,14; 41:9; 55:12-14; 88:8,18; Proverbs 11:13; 17:9,17; 18:24; 22:24-27; 25:17,19; 27:6,9,10,14,17,19; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Amos 3:3; 2 Timothy 4:16
  • INSTANCES OF FRIENDSHIP IN THE BIBLE
    • Abraham and Lot - Genesis 14:14-16
    • Ruth and Naomi - Ruth 1:16,17
    • Samuel and Saul - 1 Samuel 15:35; 16:1
    • David and Jonathan - 1 Samuel 18:1-4; 20; 23:16-18; 2 Samuel 1:17-27; 9:1-13
    • David and Abiathar - 1 Samuel 22:23
    • David and Nahash - 2 Samuel 10:2
    • David and Hiram - 1 Kings 5:1
    • David and Hushai - 2 Samuel 15:32-37; 16; 17:1-22
    • David and Ittai - 2 Samuel 15:19-21
    • Joram and Ahaziah - 2 Kings 8:28,29; 9:16
    • Job and his three "friends," - Job 2:11-13
    • Daniel and his three companions - Daniel 2:49
    • Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, with Jesus - Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-46
    • The Marys, and Joseph of Arimathaea, for Jesus
      Matthew 27:55-61; 28:1-8; Luke 24:10; John 20:11-18
    • Luke and Theophilus - Acts 1:1
    • Paul and his nephew - Acts 23:16
    • Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila - Romans 16:3,4
    • Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus - Philippians 2:19,20,22,25

Source: Nave's Topical Bible

 


"Oh, I have roamed o'er many lands,
And many
friends I 've met;
Not one fair scene or kindly smile
Can this fond heart forget."
~Thomas Haynes Bayly. 1797-1839~

 

Friend - acquaintance; one highly esteemed

Common Nature of:

  • Interest...... 1 Samuel 18:1
  • Love...........1 Samuel 20:17
  • Sympathy.....Job 2:11
  • Sacrifice.....John 15:13
  • Value of:

  • Constructive criticism..........Proverbs 27:6
  • Helpful advice................Proverbs 27:7
  • Valuable in time of need.....Proverbs 27:10
  • Always faithful...............Proverbs 17:17
  • Dangers of:

  • May entice to sin.............Deuteronomy 13:6
  • Some are necessary...........Proverbs 14:20
  • Some are untrustworthy......Psalms 41:9
  • Examples of:

  • God and Abraham...........Isaiah 41:8
  • David and Jonathan.........1 Samuel 18:1
  • David and Hushai............2 Samuel 15:37
  • Elijah and Elisha............2 Kings 2:1-14
  • Christ and His disciples.....John 15:13-15
  • Paul and Timothy............2 Timothy 1:2
  • Source: Nelson's Three in One Bible Reference Companion

     

    Do you remember this wonderful old Hymn?

    What a friend we have in Jesus!

    What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
    What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
    O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
    All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

    Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
    We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
    Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
    Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

    Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
    Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
    Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
    In His arms He'll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

    ~Written by Joseph Medlicott Scriven, 1855~

     

    Friend's & Friendship:

    Here is what Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology says:

    Most of the Old Testament words translated "friend, " "friendship, " or "be friendly" come from two Hebrew roots, rh and hb. The most common terms for friend are reeh, [h,[er] "friend, " and oheb, [b;hoa] a participial form meaning "one who loves." In the New Testament several words appear, including philos [fivlo"], "friend, " hetairos [eJtai'ro"], "companion, comrade, " and plesion [plhsivon], "neighbor, " along with a variety of kinship terms such as "brother, " "mother, " or "child, " extended to refer to people outside one's family for whom one feels special affection. The terms used most include philos [fivlo"], "friend, " and adelphos [ajdelfov"] / adelphe [ajdelfhv], "brother/sister, " the last of which becomes a technical term for a fellow believer.

    In both Testaments the ideas of friend and friendship involve three components: association, loyalty, and affection. There are also three levels of meaning: friendship as association only; friendship as association plus loyalty; and friendship as association plus loyalty plus affection.

    At the lowest level a friend is simply an associate or "the other fellow" (Judges 7:13; Rom 15:2; James 4:12). In Jesus' parables the vineyard owner addresses a laborer (Matt 20:13) and the host speaks to a wedding guest he does not know (Matt 22:12) using the term "comrade." Jesus addresses Judas in this way in the garden: "Friend, do what you came for" (Matt 26:50).

    At a higher and theologically more interesting level the idea of friendship contains not only the component of association but also that of loyalty. The "king's friend" (2 Sam 15:37; 16:16; 1 Kings 4:5; 1 Chron 27:33) serves as a royal advisor or, in the Maccabean period, as a member of a favored class of nobles (1 Macc 2:18; 3:38; 6:10; 10:65). Hiram of Tyre's "friendship" with David (1 Kings 5:1) is actually a political alliance that may have little to do with affection but everything to do with treaty obligations. The "friend who sticks closer than a brother" (Prov 18:24) shows loyalty. When the Jews accuse Pilate of not being "a friend of Caesar" (John 19:12), they are questioning his loyalty to the emperor.

    The highest level of friendship contains the components of association and loyalty along with affection. The friendship of David and Jonathan (1 Sam 18:1-4; 20:14-17) has all three components, as does the friendship between Paul and the Philippian church (Php 4:1, 15-20).

    According to Scripture there are three possible objects of friendship: another person, God or his Son, or someone else who follows Jesus.

    The first involves human friendship based simply on common humanity with all the joys and dangers associated with it. Human friendship brings help in time of trouble (Prov 17:17; 27:10; Luke 11:5-8) and advice in perplexing situations (Prov 27:9). A friend may provide consolation in trouble, as when Barzillai the Gileadite consoles the hunted David (2 Sam 19:31-39), or when the friends of Jephthah's daughter help her mourn her early death (Judges 11:37-38). A friend may offer help at the risk of death, as Hushai the Arkite does when he spies for David in the court of Absalom the usurper (2 Sam 15:32-37; 16:16-19; 17:5-16). A friend may rebuke in love, proving more faithful than a flatterer (Prov 27:6). Ecclesiastes develops the theme of friendship in the "two are better than one" passage (4:9-12).

    One of the greatest biblical examples of the "friend who sticks closer than a brother" is the relationship between David and Jonathan. Jonathan's loyalty to David runs deeper than his loyalty to his father Saul or his own ambitions (1 Sam 18:1-4; 20:14-17). The dirge David sings when he hears of Jonathan's death marks their relationship as a high point of human friendship (2 Sam 1:17-27). Ruth's stubborn loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi stands as another display of human friendship at its highest.

    In the New Testament Paul shows a talent for gaining friends. In his letters he names many people as his special friends in Christ. In the Book of Acts Paul's friends include even the pagan officials of Asia known as Asiarchs (Acts 19:31).

    While friendship on the human level has its joys and consolations, it also has its dangers. Sometimes a friend can fail to dissuade one from an evil action, as Judah's friend Hirah the Adullamite does when he helps Judah make arrangements with a supposed prostitute (Gen 38:12-23). A friend can lead one into sin, as when Jonadab son of Shimeah persuades his cousin Amnon to rape his half sister Tamar (2 Sam 13:1-6). A friend can even lead one to worship other gods (Deut 13:6-11). Proverbs contains warnings about the dangers of bad company (1:10-19; 4:14-19).

    Even if a friend does not lead one astray, the friend may cause grief through misunderstanding. Job's three comforters, although they try to be his friends, only make his suffering worse (Job 2:11-13; 6:14-27; 19:21-22; 42:7-9).


    Friends may prove false, pretending affection and loyalty from ulterior motives (Psalm 55:12-14; Prov 14:20; 19:4, 6-7). A friend may put one into debt by asking security for a loan (Prov 6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18; 22:26-27). Friendship can break down through gossip (Prov 16:28) or holding grudges (Prov 17:9). Friends may abandon one in trouble (Psalm 38:11; cf. Eccl 9:10). The disappearance of true loyalty to friends is one of the symptoms of social and moral breakdown addressed by the prophet Micah in eighth-century Judah (Mic 7:5-6).

    As one can be a friend to another person, so one can be a friend of God or of God's Son. Abraham gains the title "friend of God" by his faith and obedience (2 Chron 20:7; Isa 41:8; James 2:23). Those who keep God's covenants are called his friends (Psalm 25:14). By contrast, one can be a friend of the world, which excludes the possibility of friendship with God (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15).

    Many show they are friends of God by becoming friends of Jesus. His open acceptance during his ministry of all kinds of people displays not simply a tendency toward human friendship but portrays the possibility of divine-human loyalty and affection. The "disciple Jesus loved" (John 19:26; 20:2; 21:7) enjoys more than a human relationship with Jesus. Their friendship is more spiritual than social, as no doubt Jesus' friendship with Lazarus was (John 11:3,5,36). Jesus shows this kind of divine-human friendship by addressing his disciples as friends (Luke 12:4), by letting them know the inner meaning of his life and ministry (John 15:15), and, most clearly, by dying on the cross as the sacrifice for sin (John 15:13). When Jesus tells his disciples, "You are my friends if you do what I command" (John 15:14), the components of association, loyalty, and affection all appear.


    If one can be a friend of God or of God's Son, this friendship can extend as well to others who are also friends of God. Christian friendship finds its basis in the friendship between each believer and God. When John refers to fellow believers simply as "the friends" (3 John 15), he implies the loyalty and affection for one another that spring from loyalty and love for God. Seven times in 1 John the writer addresses his readers as "dear children, " using the language of family to express this deep affection (1 John 2:1, 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21).

    Paul expresses this loyal and affectionate relationship when he refers to or addresses several individuals with the language of family love. He speaks to Timothy and Titus as his true children (1 Tim 1:2; Titus 1:4), and to Timothy as his "dear son" (2 Tim 1:2). Onesimus is not only Paul's "son" but his "very heart" (Philem. 10, 12). An unnamed woman in the Roman church is mother literally to a Christian named Rufus and figuratively to Paul (Rom 16:13).

    The New Testament shows a certain "in-group" mentality by making a distinction between members of the household of faith and outsiders (Gal 6:10). But the writers never press this distinction, and they often make the point that Christian friendship should not appear only within Christian circles. While Paul, for example, encourages special concern for believers, he does so in connection with encouragement to "do good to all" (Gal 6:10). Jesus encourages his followers to invite needy strangers, not friends, to their tables (Luke 14:12-14), and in the parable of the Good Samaritan he extends the concept of neighbor to include anyone in need (Luke 10:25-37).
    Source:
    Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

    The Friend of God

    Abraham was called "The FRIEND of God"
    Pretty amazing!!!!
    You can't have a better friend then Him.

    "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God."
    ~James 2:23~

    The case of the offering of Isaac was a complete outward demonstration that Abraham believed God, as the Scripture said. "He was called the friend of God." Honored as no other mortal had been.

    Isaiah 41:8 ~ "But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend."

    2 Chronicles 20:7 "Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? "

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