² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the other friends) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Heb “men of my confidence,” or “men of my council,” i.e., intimate friends, confidants.

¹ tc Part of the Greek tradition and the Syriac Peshitta understand this word as “friends,” probably reading the Hebrew term רֲכָמָיו (rakhamayv, “his friends”) rather than the reading of the MT חֲכָמָיו (hakhamayv, “his wise men”). Cf. NLT “all his friends”; the two readings appear to be conflated by TEV as “those wise friends of his.”

¹ tn Heb “the Lord set the sword of each one against his friend.”

¹ tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”

² tn Or “to one of your countrymen” (NIV84); NASB “to your friend.”

¹ tn The Niphal imperfect probably should be taken in the passive sense (the poor person is deserted by his “friend,” cf. NAB, NIV) rather than as a direct middle (the poor person deserted his friend).

⁴ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive, i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

⁴ tn Grk “to go to his friends to be cared for.” The scene is an indication of Christian hospitality.

³ sn The point of the rhetorical question is that a truly faithful friend is very difficult to find.

¹ tn Heb “brother,” but this is not limited to actual siblings (cf. NRSV “an ally”; CEV, NLT “friend”).

³ tn Heb “brothers,” although not limited to male siblings only. Cf. NRSV, CEV “in a family”; TEV “among friends.”

¹ sn He. This must refer to the psalmist’s former friend, who was addressed previously in vv. 12-14.

¹ sn It is you. The psalmist addresses the apparent ringleader of the opposition, an individual who was once his friend.

¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation to indicate whose friends they were.

³ tn The rest of the verse makes better sense if it is interpreted as what his friends say.

¹ tn In this context חֶסֶד (khesed) could be taken as “loyalty” (“loyalty should be shown by his friend”).

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Judah’s friend Hirah the Adullamite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.

⁴ sn It is possible that the designation friends (φίλοι, philoi) indicates that these are personal friends of Gaius who send their greetings, but if this is the case it is somewhat surprising that their names are not mentioned, especially when the author instructs Gaius, Greet the friends there by name. More likely this is an alternative to “brothers” (ἀδελφοί, adelphoi) as an early Christian self-designation, especially within the Johannine community. It may have arisen in the Johannine community from Jesus’ teaching in John 15:13-15, “you are my friends if you do what I command you.”