Friends. Enemies.
Put them together and you get ...
"Frenemies."
A frenemy can be an enemy disguised as a friend. It can also be a close acquaintance who is a competitor or rival.
Think of Batman and Catwoman in DC Comics.
Susan Mayer and Edie Britt in Desperate Housewives.
Dwight Schrute and Jim Halpert in The Office.
Will Schuester and Sue Sylvester in Glee.
Frenemies.
These relationships can be mutually beneficial, but they are also highly competitive and saturated with risk and mistrust.
The Bible is filled with frenemies, starting with the book of Genesis. Think of Adam/Eve. Cain/Abel (they're brothers and - one would think, ipso facto, friends - and yet one turns out to be the enemy of the other). Abram/Lot. Sarah/Hagar. Esau/Jacob. Jacob/Laban. Now Joseph/his brothers.
Notice how often these frenemies are members of the same family. Thomas Mann, a minister in North Carolina, begins an article in a biblical journal by saying, "Genesis is a book about dysfunctional families."
Amen to that.
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