3. A considerable “core of ideals” was understood to be inherent in such friendship, most of which appear in some way or another in Philippians. Absolutely basic to everyone’s understanding of friendship and crucial to the passage in hand was the matter of social reciprocity, in which, using the language of commerce metaphorically, they spoke of mutually “giving and receiving benefits.” This matter of “benefits” called for some of the lengthiest philosophical discussions, because friendship could
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