Proverbs 18:24

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

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
man	אִ֣ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct
friends	רֵ֭עִים Re.'im	H7453	an associate (more or less close) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
friendly	לְהִתְרֹעֵ֑עַ le.hit.ro.'E.a'	H7489	properly · preposition + verb, hithpael infinitive construct
is	וְיֵ֥שׁ ve.Yesh	H3426	there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be · conjunction + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
friend	אֹ֝הֵ֗ב 'o.Hev	H157	to have affection for (sexually or otherwise) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
closer	דָּבֵ֥ק da.Vek	H1695	adhering · adjective, masculine singular absolute
brother	מֵאָֽח me.'Ach	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
John 15:13-15 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Proverbs 27:9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
2 Samuel 1:26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women…
1 Samuel 19:4-5 And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because h…
2 Samuel 9:1-13 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?
2 Samuel 21:7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and J…
2 Samuel 16:17 And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 18:24–end

Solomon here recommends friendship to us, and shows, 1. What we must do that we may contract and cultivate friendship; we must show ourselves friendly. Would we have friends and keep them, we must not only not affront them, or quarrel with them, but we must love them, and make it appear that we do so by all expressions that are endearing, by being free with them, pleasing to them, visiting them and bidding them welcome, and especially by doing all the good offices we can and serving them in every thing that lies in our power; that is showing ourselves friendly. Si vis amari, ama - If you wish to gain affection, bestow it. - Sen. Ut ameris, amabilis esto - The way to be beloved is to be lov…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 18:24

A man . . . friendly--better, "A man . . . (is) to, or, may triumph (Psa 108:9), or, shout for joy (Psa 5:11), that is, may congratulate himself." Indeed, there is a Friend who is better than a brother; such is the "Friend of sinners" [Mat 11:19; Luk 7:34], who may have been before the writer's mind. Next: Proverbs Chapter 19

John Gill on Proverbs 18:24

A man that hath friends must show himself friendly,.... Friendship ought to be mutual and reciprocal, as between David and Jonathan; a man that receives friendship ought to return it, or otherwise he is guilty of great ingratitude. This may be spiritually applied; a believer is "a man of friends" (b), as it may be rendered; he has many friends: God is his friend, as appears by his early love to him, his choice of him, and provisions of grace for him; by sending his son to save him; by visiting him, not only in a way of providence, but of grace; by disclosing his secrets, showing his covenant to him, and by making him his heir, and a joint heir with Christ. Christ is his friend, as is evident…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 18:20–end

With Pro 18:19, the series of proverbs which began with that of the flatterer closes. The catchword אח, which occurred at its commencement, 9b, is repeated at its close, and serves also as a landmark of the group following Pro 18:20-24. The proverb of the breach of friendship and of contentions is followed by one of the reaction of the use of the tongue on the man himself. Pro 18:20 20 Of the fruit which a man's mouth bringeth is his heart satisfied; By the revenue of his lips is he filled. He will taste in rich measure of the consequences not merely of the good (Pro 12:14, cf. Pro 13:2), but of whatever he has spoken. This is an oxymoron like Mat 15:11, that not that which goeth into the mo…

The Church Fathers

A lovable man to society, etc. The believing people from the Gentiles are more loved by the Lord than the Jewish people continuing in unbelief, among whom he was born according to the flesh. It can also be understood of the apostles born from Jews, that they loved the believers from the Gentiles more than the unbelievers of their own people.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Brother · Love of — Love of
Friendship · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 18:24

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 18:24–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 18:24

John Gill on Proverbs 18:24

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 18:20–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 18:24

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 18:24–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 18:24

John Gill on Proverbs 18:24

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 18:20–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 18:24

Rashi on Proverbs 18:24