1 Samuel 18:1

Saul Comes to Fear David

18:1 When David ¹  had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. ²  Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life. ³ 

1 Samuel 18:3

18:3 Jonathan made a covenant with David, for he loved him as much as he did his own life. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 13:6

False Prophets in the Family

13:6 Suppose your own full brother, ⁵  your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods ⁶  that neither you nor your ancestors ⁷  have previously known, ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 13:2

13:2 and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” – gods whom you have not previously known – “and let us serve them.”

Deuteronomy 1:26

Disobedience at Kadesh Barnea

1:26 You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. ⁹ 

Proverbs 18:24

18:24 A person who has friends ¹⁰  may be harmed by them, ¹¹ 

but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”

³ tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”

⁴ tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”

⁵ tn Heb “your brother, the son of your mother.” In a polygamous society it was not rare to have half brothers and sisters by way of a common father and different mothers.

⁶ tn In the Hebrew text these words are in the form of a brief quotation: “entice you secretly saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods.’”

⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 17).

⁸ tn Heb “which you have not known, you or your fathers.” (cf. KJV, ASV; on “fathers” cf. v. 18).

⁹ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God.” To include “the mouth” would make for odd English style. The mouth stands by metonymy for the Lord’s command, which in turn represents the Lord himself.

¹⁰ tc The construction is “a man of friends” (cf. NASB) meaning a man who has friends (a genitive of the thing possessed). C. H. Toy, however, suggests reading יֵשׁ (yesh) instead of אִישׁ (’ish), along with some of the Greek mss, the Syriac, and Tg. Prov 18:24. It would then say “there are friends” who are unreliable (Proverbs [ICC], 366); cf. NLT. However, the MT should be retained here.

¹¹ tn The text simply has לְהִתְרֹעֵעַ (lÿhitro’ea’), which means “for being crushed” or “to be shattered” (but not “to show oneself friendly” as in the KJV). What can be made of the sentence is that “a man who has [many] friends [may have them] for being crushed” – the infinitive giving the result (i.e., “with the result that he may be crushed by them”).