Isaiah 41:8

The Lord Encourages His People

41:8 “You, my servant Israel,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

offspring of Abraham my friend, ¹ 

John 11:11

11:11 After he said this, he added, ²  “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. ³  But I am going there to awaken him.”

John 15:15

15:15 I no longer call you slaves, ⁴  because the slave does not understand ⁵  what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything ⁶  I heard ⁷  from my Father.

James 2:23

2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,” ⁸  and he was called God’s friend. ⁹ 

¹ tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).

² tn Grk “He said these things, and after this he said to them.”

³ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for death when speaking of believers. This metaphorical usage by its very nature emphasizes the hope of resurrection: Believers will one day “wake up” out of death. Here the term refers to death, but “asleep” was used in the translation to emphasize the metaphorical, rhetorical usage of the term, especially in light of the disciples’ confusion over what Jesus actually meant (see v. 13).

⁴ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

⁵ tn Or “does not know.”

⁶ tn Grk “all things.”

⁷ tn Or “learned.”

⁸ sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

⁹ sn An allusion to 2 Chr 20:7; Isa 41:8; 51:2; Dan 3:35 (LXX), in which Abraham is called God’s “beloved.”