Context No. 3003 of 4322 · Sirach

Sirach 6:1-16: in context

1Don’t become an enemy instead of a friend; for an evil name will inherit shame and reproach. So it is with the sinner who has a double tongue. 2Don’t exalt yourself in the counsel of your soul, that your soul not be torn in pieces like a bull. 3You will eat up your leaves, destroy your fruit, and leave yourself like a dry tree. 4A wicked soul will destroy him who has it, and will make him a laughing stock to his enemies. 5Sweet words will multiply a man’s friends. A gracious tongue will multiply courtesies. 6Let those that are at peace with you be many, but your advisers one of a thousand. 7If you want to gain a friend, get him in a time of testing, and don’t be in a hurry to trust him. 8For there is a friend just for an occasion. He won’t continue in the day of your affliction. 9And there is a friend who turns into an enemy. He will discover strife to your reproach. 10And there is a friend who is a companion at the table, but he won’t continue in the day of your affliction. 11In your prosperity he will be as yourself, and will be bold over your servants. 12If you are brought low, he will be against you, and will hide himself from your face. 13Separate yourself from your enemies, and beware of your friends. 14A faithful friend is a strong defense. He who has found him has found a treasure. 15There is nothing that can be taken in exchange for a faithful friend. His excellency is beyond price. 16A faithful friend is a life-saving medicine. Those who fear the Lord will find him.

Ben Sira gives a clear-eyed lesson on friendship. Sweet words multiply friends, he says, but do not trust in a hurry. Test a friend before you rely on him, for many are friends only for a season, companions at your table who vanish in the day of trouble, and some even turn into enemies. Do not lean on friendship that has not been proven.

But then he names the treasure. A faithful friend is a strong shelter; whoever finds one has found a treasure. There is nothing you could trade for a faithful friend; such a friend is a life-saving medicine, beyond all price. And notice where this rare friendship is found: those who fear the Lord will find it, because reverence for God shapes people into exactly the kind of faithful, steady friends worth having. The world is full of fair-weather company; a friend who stays through adversity is one of God's great gifts.

Am I the kind of faithful friend Ben Sira calls a treasure, tested and loyal in adversity, and do I seek such friendship among those who fear the Lord?

Sources

Sirach 6:14: "A faithful friend is a strong defense. He who has found him has found a treasure."
Proverbs 17:17: "A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity."
Proverbs 18:24: "There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."