Proverbs Chapter 18 verse 24 Holy Bible
He that maketh many friends `doeth it' to his own destruction; But there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
read chapter 18 in ASV
There are friends who may be a man's destruction, but there is a lover who keeps nearer than a brother.
read chapter 18 in BBE
A man of [many] friends will come to ruin but there is a friend [that] sticketh closer than a brother.
read chapter 18 in DARBY
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
read chapter 18 in KJV
read chapter 18 in WBT
A man of many companions may be ruined, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
read chapter 18 in WEB
A man with friends `is' to show himself friendly, And there is a lover adhering more than a brother!
read chapter 18 in YLT
Proverbs 18 : 24 Bible Verse Songs
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 24. - A man that hath friends must show himself friendly. The Authorized Version is certainly not correct. The Hebrew is literally, a man of friends will come to destruction. The word הִתְרועֵעַ (hithroea) is the hithp, infinitive of רעע, "to break or destroy" (comp. Isaiah 24:19); and the maxim means that the man of many friends, who lays himself out to make friends of bad and good alike, does so to his own ruin. They will feed upon him, and exhaust his resources, but will not stand by him in the day of calamity, nay, rather will give a helping hand to his downfall. It is not the number of so called friends that is really useful and precious. But there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother (Proverbs 17:17; Proverbs 27:10). Νόμιζ ἀδελφοὺς τοὺς ἀληθινοὺς φίλους. "Thy true friends hold as very brethren." The Vulgate has, Vir amabilis ad societatem magis amicus erit quam frater, "A man amiable in intercourse will be more of a friend than even a brother." . . .
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(24) A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly.--Rather, a man of many friends will suffer loss, for he will impoverish himself by constant hospitality, and in trouble they will desert him (Psalm 41:9); but "there is a friend," one in a thousand, "that sticketh closer than a brother." (Comp. Proverbs 17:17.)