φιλία

From the study of James 4:4

Range of meaning

Friendship, affection, alliance. In Greek and Roman thought friendship was a serious bond. Friends shared possessions ("friends have all things in common"), outlook and loyalty. Friendship could be personal or political: a treaty of "friendship and alliance". A philos was a loyal ally. A "friend of Caesar" was a political client.

Against the English

Modern "friendship" usually means casual liking or companionship. Every English version rightly says "friendship", but the modern reader hears something much lighter than the ancient bond of shared allegiance.

How it drifted

Over time "friend" in English has softened into a word for people we enjoy, and it no longer carries the sense of sworn alliance and shared enemies.

Used elsewhere in the period

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics books 8–9 (a friend is "another self"). Greek alliance treaties bound partners "to have the same friends and enemies" (e.g. Thucydides 1.44). 1 Maccabees 8:17–20 describes Judas seeking "friendship and alliance" with Rome. Abraham is God's "friend" (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). Luke 23:12: Herod and Pilate "became friends" after earlier "enmity" (ἔχθρα), the same pair of opposites as here.

From the study of 1 Maccabees 12:3

Range of meaning

In ordinary Greek: friendship, affection, attachment between persons. In the political and diplomatic Greek of the Hellenistic and Roman period, philia is a formal relationship between states or rulers. It covers mutual recognition, goodwill, a promise not to support each other's enemies, and often privileges for envoys and traders. It is the Greek counterpart of the Roman term amicitia. A people in this relationship were amici populi Romani, 'friends of the Roman people', and Rome kept an official list of them.

Against the English

Every English version says 'friendship', which is accurate as a word but misleading as a picture. A modern reader hears warmth between people. The first readers heard treaty language, comparable to 'diplomatic recognition' or 'friendly-nation status'.

How it drifted

Modern English 'friendship' has become almost entirely private and emotional. Political uses of 'friend' (allies as 'friends', 'friendly powers') survive only faintly.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Maccabees 8:17–32 is the founding document: Judas sends envoys 'to establish friendship and alliance' (φιλίαν καὶ συμμαχίαν), and the Senate replies by letter. The same pair recurs at 1 Macc 10:54 (Seleucid diplomacy), 12:8–10 (Sparta), 14:18 and 14:22 (renewal under Simon), and 15:17. Josephus, Antiquities 12.414–419 and 13.163–165, retells these embassies in the same terms. Greek inscriptions and Polybius use 'friendship and alliance' as a fixed formula in treaties with Rome.

From the study of 1 Maccabees 8:17

Range of meaning

Friendship, affection, and goodwill between persons. In politics it was a formal relationship between states or between a state and a ruler: recognised peaceful relations, open diplomatic access, and an expectation of goodwill and favourable treatment.

Against the English

"Friendship" (WEB, NRSV-type versions) is accurate, but modern readers hear something personal and emotional. KJV's "amity" is closer to the diplomatic sense but archaic.

How it drifted

Modern English keeps "friendship" mostly for private relationships. The ancient diplomatic use survives only in phrases like "treaty of friendship".

Used elsewhere in the period

In Hellenistic and Roman diplomacy, "friendship and alliance" (philia kai symmachia) is the standard Greek rendering of the Roman amicitia et societas. The phrase appears in Greek inscriptions recording Senate decrees and in Polybius. 2 Maccabees 4:11 independently describes Eupolemus's mission with the same words. In the New Testament, James 4:4 ("friendship with the world") also uses philia for a relationship of allegiance.