What the Bible says about
friendship
The Bible gives friendship a weight our culture rarely does. David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, Paul and Timothy: these are treated with the seriousness usually reserved for family ties. And the test the text applies to a true friend is uncomfortable, because it is not likability.
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
Proverbs 17:17 · read the chapter →
“The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
Proverbs 27:6 · read the chapter →
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Proverbs 27:17 · read the chapter →
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 · read the chapter →
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13 · read the chapter →
“He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”
Proverbs 13:20 · read the chapter →
The test of a friend
"Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses" (Proverbs 27:6). The biblical measure of friendship is who tells you the costly truth, not who makes you comfortable. It is the opposite of how it feels in the moment.
Friendship holds you up
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 is practical: two are better than one, because if one falls the other lifts him up. Proverbs 17:17 says a friend loves at all times and is born for adversity. Biblical friendship is measured in crisis, not in leisure.
Who you walk with
Proverbs 13:20 warns that whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, and the companion of fools suffers harm. It is not advice to exclude anyone. It is the recognition that we come to resemble the people we spend time with, whether we mean to or not.
Want to go deeper?
Ask anything about friendship. We look up the passages that answer it and cite the references. Free.
More topics