Zab´ud (bestowed), a son of Nathan the prophet, who held under Solomon the important place of 'king's friend,' or favorite (), which Hushai had held under David (), and which a person named Elkanah held under Ahaz (). Azariah, another son of Nathan, was 'over all the (household) officers' of King Solomon; and their advancement may doubtless be ascribed not only to the young king's respect for the venerable prophet, who had been his instructor, but to the friendship he had contracted with his sons during the course of education. The office, or rather honor, of 'friend of the king,' we find in all the despotic governments of the East. It gives high power, without the public responsibility which the holding of a regular office in the state necessarily imposes. It implies the possession of the utmost confidence of, and familiar intercourse with, the monarch, to whose person 'the friend' at all times has access, and whose influence is therefore often far greater, even in matters of state, than that of the recognized ministers of government.