Why does the Bible say that a man with many companions leads to ruin, but also there is wisdom in the counsel of many?

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Thank you for the question!

It looks like you're referencing the following passages: and .

If we take a look at the intent behind the first passage, it describes "a man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother". The inference here is that just having a lot of "friends" is not as good as having a friend who is closer to one, even though they are not related by blood. A good example would be where Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself.

In , Jonathan tells David that whatever David's soul asks of Jonathan, that he will do. It seems that in David's view, he most likely saw Jonathan as a person who stuck closer than a brother.

As for the second verse , the context is that where there is no guidance, a person falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. This context is different from the first as it is describing that if a person has absolutely no one around them, this is also not a great place to be in because there will be no wisdom or positive influence to surround that person and protect them from getting into trouble.

Hope this helps!

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