What does Proverbs 17:17 mean?

Solomon points out the value of a true friend and a brother. He says a true friend is always loving, and a brother helps in trying times. A true friend and genuine brother exhibit true love in unfavorable circumstances as well as in favorable ones.

Interpreters debate the nuances of this verse. Some suggest Solomon means to make a contrast: "a friend…but a brother…" This would imply a difference between those who act as friends, and those who go even further in their friendship to be considered brothers. Others suggest the correct translation here should be "a brother is born [of / from] adversity." That would suggest "brotherhood" is forged through danger or hardship. This does not mean we should rush headlong into any risk, as the next verse warns (Proverbs 17:18).

Each option orbits the same basic center: that genuine love relates to practical actions. The apostle John writes, "Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling" (1 John 2:10). In 1 John 3:16 he writes, "By this we know love, that [Jesus] laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." In the following verse he decries the action of doing nothing to help a needy brother, and in verse 18 he exhorts, "Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18). A true friend or brother draws alongside a hurting person when that person experiences sickness or pain or financial distress or the loss of a loved one. It is easy to say, "I am praying for you," but genuine love only starts there (James 2:15–16).