(οἱ φίλοι πρῶτοι , hoı̀ phı́loi prō̇toi ): Expressions used in 1 and 2 Macc to designate the favored courtiers of the Antiochi. Mattathias is promised enrollment among the king's Friends, to tempt him to apostatize (1 Macc 2:18); Alexander Balas writes Jonathan among his Chief Friends (1 Macc 10:65). Compare also 1 Macc 3:38; 6:10, 14; 10:60; 11:26, 27; 2 Macc 8:9.
Source
- part_of
source-manifest/isbe— ISBE (PD)