Company

A man's company is the people he walks with, sits with, eats with, takes counsel from, draws into his confidence, and binds himself to in covenant. Scripture treats company as formative — character is shaped by the path one shares with another. The wisdom and prophetic books press a clear binary: the counsel of the wicked against the assembly of the righteous; the wrathful man, the glutton, the thief, the scoffer against the wise, the faithful friend, and the company of those who fear Yahweh. The historical books then show what company looks like on the ground — the prophets gathered around Samuel and Elisha, the four hundred who came to David at Adullam, the chief friends of Hellenistic kings — and the New Testament closes the line with the believing community summoned out from unbelievers and the great multitude before the throne.

The Two Paths

Psalm 1 frames the choice. "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked; and in the way of sinners, does not stand, and in the seat of scoffers, does not sit" (Ps 1:1). His delight is "in the law of Yahweh," meditated "day and night" (Ps 1:2). He is "like a tree planted by streams of water" (Ps 1:3). The wicked, by contrast, "are like chaff, which is blown away by the wind" (Ps 1:4); they "will not stand in the judgment; nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous" (Ps 1:5). "For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous; But the way of the wicked, will perish" (Ps 1:6).

David's vow runs in the same grain: "I have not sat with men of falsehood; Neither will I go in with dissemblers. I hate the assembly of evildoers, And will not sit with the wicked" (Ps 26:4-5). Proverbs sets the same pair as paths: "Don't enter into the path of the wicked, And don't walk in the way of evil men" (Pr 4:14); "Avoid it, don't pass by it; Turn from it, and pass on" (Pr 4:15). The wicked "don't sleep, except they do evil" (Pr 4:16); "they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence" (Pr 4:17). "But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shines more and more to the perfect day" (Pr 4:18). "The way of the wicked is as darkness: They don't know at what they stumble" (Pr 4:19).

The Sinners' Invitation

Proverbs 1 dramatizes the recruiting scene. "My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent" (Pr 1:10). They will say, "Come with us, Let us lay in wait for blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause" (Pr 1:11); "Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those who go down into the pit" (Pr 1:12); "We will find all precious substance; We will fill our houses with spoil" (Pr 1:13); "You will cast your lot among us; We will all have one bag" (Pr 1:14). The father's answer: "My son, don't walk in the way with them; Refrain your foot from their path" (Pr 1:15). The trap they lay, they fall into: "these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk secretly for their own souls" (Pr 1:18); "So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; It takes away the soul of its owners" (Pr 1:19).

Wisdom on Choosing Company

Proverbs reads company as transferable character. "Walk with wise men, and you will be wise; But the friend of fools will smart for it" (Pr 13:20). "Go into the presence of a foolish man, And you will not perceive [in him] the lips of knowledge" (Pr 14:7). The wrathful are contagious: "Make no friendship with a man who is given to anger; And with a wrathful man you will not go: Or else you will learn his ways, And get a snare to your soul" (Pr 22:24-25). The glutton drags his companions down with him: "Don't be among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty; And drowsiness will clothe [a man] with rags" (Pr 23:20-21). "Don't be envious against evil men; Neither desire to be with them" (Pr 24:1). "Whoever keeps the law is a wise son; But he who is a shepherd of gluttons shames his father" (Pr 28:7). Even silent partnership ruins: "Whoever shares with a thief hates his own soul; He hears the adjuration and utters nothing" (Pr 29:24).

The Friend Tested

Sirach develops the question of the friend at length. The opening invitation is gracious — "A sweet mouth grows a friend; And graceful lips will greet [saying], Peace" — but immediately qualified: "Let the men who greet you [saying], Peace, be many; But the owner of your secret, one among a thousand" (Sir 6:5-6). A friend has to be tested before he can be trusted: "Have you gotten a friend? Get him in trial; And do not be in a hurry to rely on him" (Sir 6:7). Many fail the test. "There is a fair-weathered friend, Who will not continue in the day of trouble" (Sir 6:8). "There is a friend who turns into an enemy, And with strife he will uncover your reproach" (Sir 6:9). "There is a friend who is company at a table, But will not be found in the day of evil" (Sir 6:10). "When things are good for you, he is like you; But when things are bad for you, he will despise you" (Sir 6:11). "If evil overtakes you, he will turn against you; And he will hide himself from your face" (Sir 6:12).

The test sorts enemies from friends: "Separate yourself from your enemies; Take heed of your friends" (Sir 6:13). What survives the sorting is rare and weighty. "A faithful friend is a solid friend; And he who finds him, finds wealth" (Sir 6:14). "For a faithful friend, there is no price; And there is no weight for his goodness" (Sir 6:15). "A faithful friend is a bundle of life; He who fears God will obtain it" (Sir 6:16). "For as much as he is, so is his fellow man; And as his name is, so is his value" (Sir 6:17).

The old friend keeps his place against any new claim: "Do not forsake an old friend; For a new one is not acquainted with you. New wine [is like a] new friend; And after it is old, then you will drink it" (Sir 9:10). The wicked man, by contrast, is no candidate for friendship at all: "Do not be jealous of a wicked man; For you do not know what his day [will be]" (Sir 9:11). The dangerous man is to be kept at distance: "Be far from a man who has the authority to kill; And you will not fear the dread of death. And if you have come near, do not be guilty; Or else he will take your breath. Know that you will be marching among snares; And you will be walking on nets" (Sir 9:13). The wise are to be the chosen confidants: "According to your ability, answer your fellow man; But with those who are wise, reveal yourself" (Sir 9:14). "Let what you think be with him who has understanding; And [let] all that is your secret [be] among them" (Sir 9:15). "Share your bread with righteous men; And let your glory be in the fear of God" (Sir 9:16).

Sirach 13 shifts to consorting with the proud and powerful. "He who touches pitch, it will stick to his hand; And he who joins with a scoffer will learn his way" (Sir 13:1). "Why would you lift what is too heavy for you? Then why join yourself with someone richer than you? Why would a [clay] pot join itself with a [metal] cauldron? When it is snared with it, then it is broken" (Sir 13:2). The flattering rich friend is for as long as it suits him: "While he needs you, he will be with you; And he will flatter you, and laugh with you, and make you promises" (Sir 13:6). The advice is to keep one's own range: "If a noble comes near, be far; And by doing so, he will bring you near" (Sir 13:9). "Do not bring yourself near, or else you will be removed; But do not remove yourself, or else you will be hated" (Sir 13:10). "Take heed and be careful; And do not walk with violent men" (Sir 13:13). The reasoning runs back to kind: "All flesh loves its kind; And all of man [loves] one who is like him" (Sir 13:15). "All flesh is beside its kind; And man will be joined to his kind" (Sir 13:16). "Why will a wolf be joined to a lamb? So it is with the wicked to the righteous" (Sir 13:17).

Friendship, once formed, is fragile and worth preserving. "A wound in the eye makes tears flow, And a wound in the heart severs friendship" (Sir 22:19). "He who throws stones at birds scares them away, And he who reproaches a friend dissolves friendship" (Sir 22:20). "Even if you draw the sword against a friend, Do not despair, for there is a way out" (Sir 22:21). "If you open your mouth against a friend, Do not fear, for there is a [way of] reconciliation; But reproach, arrogance, betrayal of a secret, and a deceitful blow, In these every friend will depart" (Sir 22:22). "Support your neighbor in poverty, That in his prosperity you may rejoice; Remain steadfast to him in time of [his] affliction, That you may be heir with him in his inheritance" (Sir 22:23). "Do not be ashamed of a friend who becomes poor, And do not hide yourself from his face" (Sir 22:25); "And if evil happens to him through you, Whoever hears it will beware of you" (Sir 22:26).

The taxonomy of companions concludes in chapter 37. "Every friend says: 'I have a friend,' But there is a friend [who is] a friend in name [only]" (Sir 37:1). "So there is a sorrow that comes near to death, A friend according to the soul turned to an enemy" (Sir 37:2). "An evil friend [is he who] looks to the table, But in time of stress stands aloof" (Sir 37:4). "A good friend [is he who] fights with the stranger, And takes hold of the shield against the adversary" (Sir 37:5). "Do not forget a friend in [the time of] conflict, And do not forsake him when you take the spoil" (Sir 37:6).

The Company of the Prophets

The prophets traveled in a recognizable group. When Saul sent agents to seize David, "they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied" (1 Sam 19:20). Around Elisha, the same body is called "the sons of the prophets" — a residential, communal order. They are at Beth-el — "the sons of the prophets who were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha" (2 Kgs 2:3); they are at Jericho — "the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha" (2 Kgs 2:5); fifty of them stood by the Jordan when Elijah was taken (2 Kgs 2:7). At Gilgal, in famine, "the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his attendant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets" (2 Kgs 4:38) — a shared table. At another seat the company outgrew its quarters: "the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Look now, the place where we dwell before you is too strait for us" (2 Kgs 6:1). Elisha himself commissions out of this body: "Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Gird up your loins, and take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead" (2 Kgs 9:1).

David's Mighty Men

David's military company forms in extremity. "David therefore departed from there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was in bitterness of soul, gathered themselves to him; and he became captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men" (1 Sam 22:1-2). That distressed company becomes the named cadre of his reign. "These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Jishbaal the Hachmonite, [of] the elite troops; the same was Adino the Eznite, against eight hundred slain at one time" (2 Sam 23:8). The Chronicler returns to the same roll: "Now these are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who showed themselves strong with him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of Yahweh concerning Israel" (1 Chr 11:10).

Companies under the Hellenistic Kings

1 Maccabees uses "friends" as a court title — the king's chosen companions and counselors. Antiochus called for his friends in his last sickness: "And he called for all his friends, and said to them: Sleep has gone from my eyes, and I have fallen away in my heart for anxiety" (1 Macc 6:10); "Then he called Philip, one of his friends, and he made him regent over all his kingdom" (1 Macc 6:14). Demetrius "chose Bacchides, one of his friends who ruled beyond the great river in the kingdom, and was faithful to the king: and he sent him" (1 Macc 7:8). The Jewish embassy to Rome works in the same vocabulary: "Judas Maccabeus, and his brothers, and the people of the Jews, have sent us to you⁺ to make an alliance and peace with you⁺, and that we may be registered your⁺ confederates and friends" (1 Macc 8:20); "Why have you made your yoke heavy on our friends and allies, the Jews?" (1 Macc 8:31). Rival kings court Jonathan in turn: "Shall we find such another man? Now therefore we will make him our friend and our confederate" (1 Macc 10:16); "We have heard of you, that you are a man of great power, and fit to be our friend" (1 Macc 10:19); "Whereas you⁺ have kept covenant with us, and have continued in our friendship, and have not joined with our enemies, we have heard of it, and are glad" (1 Macc 10:26); "the king magnified him, and enrolled him among his chief friends, and made him governor and partaker of his dominion" (1 Macc 10:65). Jonathan in turn writes to renew foreign friendships (1 Macc 12:2-3); the bronze tablets memorialize the alliance "which they had made with Judas and with Jonathan his brothers" (1 Macc 14:18); Simon's standing is the same — "he made him his friend, and glorified him with great glory" (1 Macc 14:39); "the Romans had called the Jews their friends, and allies, and brothers" (1 Macc 14:40); "the ambassadors of the Jews, our friends and allies, came to us, to renew the former friendship and alliance" (1 Macc 15:17); "he sent to him Athenobius, one of his friends, to negotiate with him" (1 Macc 15:28).

The military "mighty men" language carries through. Lysias chose "Ptolemy the [son] of Dorymenus, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, mighty men of the king's friends" (1 Macc 3:38), and "the year following Lysias gathered together chosen men, that he might subdue them" (1 Macc 4:28). Bacchides' army at the death of Judas had its own ranks of valor (1 Macc 9:11). The lament over Judas himself is that of a mighty man fallen: "How has the mighty man fallen, who saved Israel!" (1 Macc 9:21).

Evil Alliances and Wicked Companions

1 Maccabees also gives the negative case. The opening apostasy is a covenant with the wrong company: "In those days there went out of Israel wicked men, and they persuaded many, saying: Let's go, and make a covenant with the nations that are round about us: for since we departed from them, many evils have befallen us" (1 Macc 1:11). Mercenary alliance brings war: "they have hired the Arabians to help them, and they have pitched their tents beyond the torrent, ready to come to fight against you. And Judas went to meet them" (1 Macc 5:39). Apostates who refused the law gathered at Beth-zur as "a place of refuge for them" (1 Macc 10:14). King against king plot through marriage and embassy: "King Ptolemy got the dominion of the cities by the seaside, even to Seleucia, and he devised evil designs against Alexander" (1 Macc 11:8); "he sent ambassadors to Demetrius, saying: Come, let's make a covenant between us, and I will give you my daughter whom Alexander has, and you will reign in the kingdom of your father" (1 Macc 11:9). And the wicked rise as a body. "There came to him the wicked and ungodly men of Israel: and Alcimus was at the head of them, who desired to be made high priest" (1 Macc 7:5). After Judas, "the wicked began to put forth their heads in all the confines of Israel, and all the workers of iniquity rose up" (1 Macc 9:23); "Bacchides chose the wicked men, and made them lords of the country" (1 Macc 9:25). When the wicked counselors fail their patron, "he was angry with the wicked men who had given him counsel to come into their country, and he slew many of them" (1 Macc 9:69). Jonathan finally "destroyed the wicked out of Israel" (1 Macc 9:73).

The Apostolic Withdrawal

Paul carries the wisdom-tradition warning into the church. "Don't be deceived: Evil company corrupts good morals" (1 Cor 15:33). The Corinthian assembly is to refuse table-companionship with a member who lives as the world lives: "I wrote to you⁺ in my letter not to associate with whores" (1 Cor 5:9); "but as it is, I wrote to you⁺ not to associate with any man who is named a brother if he is a whore, or greedy, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; do not even eat with such a one" (1 Cor 5:11). The same withdrawal goes for the disorderly: "Now we command you⁺, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you⁺ withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly" (2 Thess 3:6); "if any man does not obey our word by this letter, note that man, that you⁺ do not associate with him, to the end that he may be ashamed" (2 Thess 3:14). And for the religious counterfeit: "holding a form of godliness, but having denied its power: from these also turn away" (2 Tim 3:5).

The principle is restated in covenantal categories. "Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? Or what communion has light with darkness?" (2 Cor 6:14). "And what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever?" (2 Cor 6:15). "And what agreement has a temple of God with idols? For we are a temple of the living God" (2 Cor 6:16). "Therefore Come⁺ out from among them, and be⁺ separate, says the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you⁺, And will be to you⁺ a Father, And you⁺ will be to me sons and daughters, says Yahweh of hosts" (2 Cor 6:17-18).

The Company of the Saints

The withdrawal has a positive face. The believing community remembers and imitates its leaders: "Remember those who had the rule over you⁺, men who spoke to you⁺ the word of God; and considering the issue of their life, imitate their faith" (Heb 13:7). And it has come into a heavenly assembly already: "you⁺ have come to mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels in a festive gathering, and to the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect" (Heb 12:22-23). The end of the line is John's vision — the company finally gathered out from every nation. "After these things I looked, and saw a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of [all] tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands" (Rev 7:9).