“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity”: It is not clear if “friend” in the first line and “brother” in the second are contrasted or similar. Toy argues that “friend” and “brother” are equivalents, as in Psa 35.14. The “friend”, who has no birth connections, loves “at all times”. The “brother”, who has natural ties, is faithful during times of “adversity”, that is, in misfortune, trials, or trouble. See 11.8, where Revised Standard Version renders “adversity” as “trouble.” The sense of the comparison seems to be that the friend is faithful even in times of testing, while the brother, because of family connections, is faithful in times of trials. Good News Translation expresses the similarity of “friends” and “relatives.” Contemporary English Version renders the whole saying “A friend is always a friend, and relatives are to share our troubles.” In one Pacific language it is expressed as “Good friends like us all the time. Brothers stand by to help us in times of trouble.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .