RT Article
T1 Von der Freundschaft im Alten Testament und Alten Orient
JF Die Welt des Orients
VO 44
IS 1
SP 37
OP 56
A1 Dietrich, Jan 1974-
LA German
YR 2014
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785690108
AB As many examples from the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East show, friendship is not fenced in by lineage but goes beyond the narrow limits of kinship-ties. Its virtue lies in loyalty, reliability, and trustworthiness ('œmûnāh and comparable terms) between friends. Since friendship, as a rule, develops between equals, friendship with God is rare, but is still found in the ancient sources. The article ends with a short discussion of Ben Sira's view on friendship and with a summary of the most important threads concerning friendship in the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East.