be shielded from harm by the addressee even though they deserve to die in the view of the author. The text seems to be suggesting that one’s feelings toward one’s intimates have the potential to get in the way of “just” punishment and cannot be allowed to do so. Though no love idiom is used in this verse, the emotional commitment of the addressee to relatives and the close friend is in focus. Similarly, Exod 32:27 suggests that the friend, along with the brother and relative (qārōb), are among the