רֵעַ

From the study of Proverbs 17:17

Range of meaning

Fellow, neighbor, companion, friend, lover (Song 5:16), and even "the other one" in idioms like "each to his fellow". It covers anyone you share life with outside your blood family: the neighbor across the field as well as the intimate companion. At court, "the king's friend" was an official title (2 Sam 15:37; 1 Kgs 4:5).

Against the English

English versions split this one word between "friend" (17:17) and "neighbor" (17:18; Lev 19:18). That is reasonable in each place, but English readers cannot see that the same person-word ties the two verses together.

How it drifted

English "friend" names a relationship you chose and feel close to. "Neighbor" names someone who just lives nearby. Rēaʿ covers both and everything in between. The English choice decides how close the relationship is before the verse says so.

Used elsewhere in the period

Leviticus 19:18, "love (ʾāhaḇtā) your neighbor (rēaʿ) as yourself", puts the same two words together, verb and noun. Proverbs uses rēaʿ for both the true friend (27:10, "do not forsake your friend") and the fickle crowd of hangers-on (19:4, "wealth adds many friends"; 14:20).

From the study of Proverbs 14:21

Range of meaning

Fellow, companion, friend, neighbor, the other person. It covers anyone you have dealings with in the community, from close friends to the other side in a lawsuit (Exod 20:16, 'false witness against your rēaʿ').

Against the English

'Neighbor' in modern English usually means someone living nearby. Rēaʿ is broader and more relational: your fellow community member, someone you have obligations to.

How it drifted

English 'neighbor' narrowed to a location; rēaʿ is about relationship.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 19:18: 'love your rēaʿ as yourself.' Prov 14:20 uses the same form, lerēʿēhû: the poor man is hated 'even by his fellow'. Prov 19:4, 7 say that wealth adds many friends (rēʿîm) while the poor man's friends desert him.

From the study of Leviticus 19:18

Range of meaning

Friend, companion, fellow, the other party in a dealing, 'another person' in general. In legal texts it is often simply 'the other man' (Exod 21:14, 18; 22:7–14). In idiom 'each man to his rea' means 'to one another' (Gen 11:3). It can mean an intimate friend (Deut 13:6) or a lover (Song 5:16).

Against the English

English 'neighbor' suggests the person living next door. Rea is not about where someone lives. It means the fellow person you deal with: friend, neighbour, rival, the man in the lawsuit with you.

How it drifted

Through the Latin and older English tradition 'neighbour' (Old English nēahgebūr, 'near-dweller') came to mean someone living nearby. The Greek plēsion ('the one near') used in the LXX and the New Testament contributed to the spatial picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Holiness Code uses a cluster of near-synonyms in vv. 11–18: amit ('fellow', vv. 11, 15, 17), ach ('brother', v. 17), rea (vv. 13, 16, 18), and benei ammekha ('sons of your people', v. 18). The LXX renders rea with ho plēsion. The Vulgate reads amicum tuum, 'your friend'.