James 2:23 - Exposition

And he was called the Friend of God. The expression comes from Isaiah 41:8 ; 2 Chronicles 20:7 (in the Hebrew, א ; LXX ., ὅν ἠγάπησα τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ σου ) . The same title, φίλος θεοῦ , is given to Abraham by Clement of Rome ('Ad Corinthians,' 10.; 17), and was evidently a standing one among the Jews. Philo actually in one instance quotas Genesis 18:17 as ἀβραὰμ τοῦ φίλου μου instead of ποῦ παιδός μου . Illustrations from later rabbinical writers may be found in Wetstein, and cf. Bishop Lightfoot on 'Clement of Rome,' p. 61. To this day it is said that Abraham is known among the Arabs as El Khalil , equivalent to "the Friend."