Friendship stands as one of life's great goods—unless it becomes friendship with the world. James 4:4 employs this term in a startling declaration: φιλία with the world means enmity with God. Classical Greek celebrated friendship as the bond uniting souls, distinguishing it from eros and family affection (στοργή). The New Testament doesn't depreciate friendship itself but interrogates its object: what world are we befriending? When our affections align with systems opposed to God, friendship becomes betrayal. The singular biblical occurrence transforms a positive relational term into a diagnostic question about allegiance.