Spiritual Friendship: Learning to Be Friends with God and One Another

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Spiritual Friendship

vice versa. 12 I do not believe that the friendship of those two great men, David and Barzillai the Gileadite, owed its existence to the favors that Barzillai did when he received and supported David, and counted him as a friend, when he was fleeing his murderous son; instead, I do not doubt that such great favor came from friendship itself. For there is no one who believes that the king had any need of anything belonging to Barzillai before ( 2 Sam 17:27–29 ). 63. However, it is obvious that Barzillai, himself a man of great wealth, hoped for no gain in return for his kindness to the king, for when David eagerly offered him all the delights and riches of the state, he agreed to receive nothing, since he preferred to be content with what he already had ( 2 Sam 19:31–39 ). So also that old covenant between David and Jonathan was consecrated not by hope of future benefit but by a vision of virtue; we know that it conferred much good on each, since the efforts of the one saved the life of the other— and it was as though Jonathan did himself a favor, since thereby his posterity was not destroyed ( 1 Sam 19–20; 2 Sam 9:1–13 ). Summary of the Second Conversation (2.64−69) 64. Therefore, because among good people friendship always precedes and benefit follows, it is certainly the case that “benefits are not so much obtained through a friend as the love of a friend is itself a delight.” 13

12 Cicero, On Friendship , 9.30. 13 Ibid., 14.51.