LOVE Explained By International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

With the exception of the word “life,” love is the most important abstract term in the Bible. God’s love, the basis for His dealing with humans in the Old Testament, climaxes in the New Testament in the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ. It is the key word in the Christian summary of biblical revelation (cf. Matthew 22:37; John 3:16; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8).

I. In the Old Testament

A. Vocabulary. The most important Hebrew term for love is ahab. It has the same varied meanings as the corresponding term in English, including romantic, fraternal, and divine love. It occurs about 250 times in the Old Testament in varied forms, the verb far more frequently than the noun.

It describes spontaneous and out flowing love, in contrast to love arising from deliberate choice. It is used both for human and for divine-human relations.

The second most important word for love is hesed, denoting a deliberate choice of affection and kindness. The AV usually translates hesed as “mercy.” “Kindness” frequently describes King David’s attitude toward his friends (2 Samuel).

Hesed is less spontaneous than ahab and emphasizes the idea of loyalty. The term occurs most often in Genesis (human love), Deuteronomy (divine love), Psalms, and Proverbs. Various terms — “loving-kindness,” “reciprocal love” (N. Glueck), “covenant love” (N. H. Snaith), “unfailing love,” and “steadfast love” (RSV) — are all good translations, for hesed cannot be pressed into any one formula (cf. the various NEB renderings). The threefold meaning of kindness, mercy, and love is perhaps best conveyed in the “loving-kindness” of the AV and RV.

Another synonym is raham, meaning “love,” “be merciful,” and “have compassion.” It appears more than twenty-six times and comes from a root meaning “born from the same womb,” hence “brotherly feeling.” Typical is Deuteronomy 30:3, “God will … have compassion.” The other synonyms for love occur less frequently and usually refer to love or affection among people (but see Deuteronomy 7:7; 33:12; Psalm 91:14; Isaiah 38:17).

B. Human Love. Basic to all these meanings is the love relationship between man and woman. It has sexual connotations but usually includes affection, loyalty, and admiration. Jacob’s love for Rachel indicates the spontaneous nature of this love (Genesis 29:18). The sexual meaning of the term is emphasized most in Ezekiel but is also prominent in Hosea and Jeremiah (Ezekiel 16:33,36; 23:5,9,22; Jeremiah 2:25; Hosea 3:1; cf. Ezekiel 16:8). Canticles shows sexual love in its more inclusive and wholesome aspect; the term occurs both as a noun and as a verb (1:9; 3:1). Song 8:6 eloquently describes this impulse’s power: “Love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave” (cf. 2 Samuel 13:1,4,15).

The Old Testament much more frequently refers to the love of one person for another or brotherly love. This love characterizes a wide variety of person-to-person relationships: between man and man (1 Samuel 18:1; 2 Samuel 1:26; 1 Kings 5:1), woman and woman (Ruth 4:15), man and woman (Genesis 29:20; 1 Samuel 18:20; Proverbs 5:19; Ecclesiastes 9:9), and parents and children (Genesis 22:2; 25:28; 37:3). It is difficult to see the basis for Smith’s generalization that ahab particularly “is used of the attitude of a superior to an inferior” (p. 169). Instances of love between persons who are equal in status include Shechem and Dinah (Genesis 34:3), David and Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:26), Isaac and Rebecca (Genesis 24:67), bride and groom (Song 3:4), friends (Proverbs 17:17), and neighbours (Leviticus 19:18).

Although in most contexts love involves relationships between persons, human and divine, the Old Testament does mention love of food (Genesis 27:4,9,14), God’s law (Psalm 119:97), sleep (Proverbs 20:13; Isaiah 56:10), silver (Ecclesiastes 5:20), bribes (Isaiah 1:23; Hosea 9:1), and instruction (Proverbs 12:1).

C. Divine Love. Several terms express God’s love for humans. The basic one is ahab (Deuteronomy 7:8; 2 Samuel 12:24; Proverbs 3:12; Isaiah 43:4; Hosea 11:1). The second synonym (hesed) emphasizes the covenant relationship (Psalm 36:7 [MT 8]; Isaiah 63:7; Genesis 19:19; 2 Chronicles 1:8). Raham frequently expresses God’s solicitude for humans, as in Psalm 103:13, “The Lord pities those who fear him” (cf. Genesis 43:14; Exodus 33:19; Psalm 51:1 [MT 3]). Often hen denotes God’s love and favour, e.g., Proverbs 8:35, “obtains favour from the Lord” (cf. Psalm 102:13 [MT 14]; 1 Samuel 2:26).

The noblest expression of divine love is in Hosea, whose prophecy throbs with the pathos of this love shown even to those who are unlovely, unresponsive, and antagonistic. The divine love in Isaiah 43:25 may be the highest expression of grace in the Old Testament.

D. Human Love for God. The Psalms most frequently express human love for God. The psalmist loved God because of gratitude for past mercies (Psalm 116:1). Israelites are exhorted to love God with their total personality in a dynamic, growing relationship (Deuteronomy 6:5; 30:6; Psalm 31:23 [MT 24]; 145:20). This love is a reaction to the divine initiative: God manifests His love, and people either accept or reject Him.

The most distinctive element in the Old Testament revelation of God is that His basic attitude toward people is one of love, good will, and willingness to act on their behalf. The Old Testament God differs from the gods of other religions because He loves, seeks, and suffers for the welfare of mankind. Gradually the particularistic emphasis in Old Testament religion widened to embrace all peoples (Isaiah 60-66). Emphasis also shifted from the group to the individual (Ezekiel 18).

II. Inter-Testamental Development. —

A. Greek Emphasis. The most common word for love in Classical Greek is eros, which is sexual love — sensual, impulsive, and spontaneous — caused in mythology by the love-god Eros. “The sexual union of gods and men narrated in mythology finds current actualization in the cultus” (Quell, p. 35). From the grosser ideas and practices of eroticism the concept arose in Plato and his successors of a purely contemplative aspiration for the divine (Plato Symposium). Indeed, the Platonic concept of eros as the basis of human aspiration for God played an important role in the preparation of the world for Christianity (Nygren). Even the higher Platonic treatment of eros, however, contrasts to love in the Bible, for in the latter God’s love pursues humans, while Platonism (and paganism generally) emphasizes the human quest for God.

The derivation of agape is uncertain; it was a colourless word, seldom used by the Greeks, signifying desire for someone or something. Eros denoted satisfaction sought wherever it could be found, but agape was selective. It often denoted the divine love specifically sought by human beings.

B. Influence of the LXX. Those who translated the OT into Greek ignored the common Greek term for love (eros) because of its sensual associations and chose instead the obscure term agape to translate Hebr. ahab and its synonyms. Eras passed from the scene as the Judeo-Christian influence became dominant; it appears only once in the LXX (Proverbs 7:18), never in the New Testament, and only once in the early fathers (Ign. Romans 7 :2; cf. Galatians 6:14). In contrast to eros with its inclusiveness, Hebr. ahab and its Greek counterpart agape stress exclusiveness, specifically God’s love for His chosen people. The LXX uses agapao (more than three hundred occurrences) to translate seventeen different Hebrew synonyms, but by far the greatest number of occurrences render ahab (HR).

Fraternal love (Gk. Philadelphia) appears in the LXX only six times (2 Macc 15:14; 4 Macc 13:21,23,26; 14:1; 15:10). In ancient Greek it meant the love of gods for people or the love of people for each other. Philadelphia indicated nobility and sense of duty, in contrast to the subjectivistic nature of eros. The noun philos in classical Greek means “friend,” “loved one,” “favourite (of the gods),” “friend of the king” (sometimes when no affection is intended). The noun philia means “love, affection,” especially for a spouse.

C. Extra-biblical Jewish Literature. The covenantal aspect of agape is stressed in inter-testamental literature as in the Old Testament. God’s love for Israel received grateful acknowledgment (Psalm Sol 18:4). The faithful are assured of God’s love and final deliverance from all adversaries (Wisdom 3:9; 4 Macc 15:2; 16:19 ‘other books’). The love for one’s neighbour is often emphasized (T. Gad 5 :2; Shep. Herm. Sim. 4 :7 ‘other books’) but lacks the universal scope of divine love found in the New Testament.

In the hymns of the Dead Sea Scrolls the Qumrân community frequently expressed gratitude for God’s covenant love, loving-kindness, and compassion (see 1 QH 5, 10, 11, 13). These hymns, like the Old Testament, show little awareness of God’s love for the world as a whole but instead emphasize gratitude for God’s mercy and grace to the covenant people in contrast to the wicked. The emphasis differs from the Old Testament in being highly personal rather than national, resembling some of the canonical Psalms. The Qumrân hymns, however, like many of the Psalms, anticipate the New Testament emphasis of God’s grace consciously experienced. Unlike the New Testament, their concern is almost entirely with individual salvation rather than evangelism.

D. Rabbinic Emphasis. Rabbinic literature stresses God’s love for humans because they are made in God’s image; Israel is loved because of the covenant with the patriarchs. Love for neighbour is limited to one’s countrymen. God should be loved for His own sake. The supreme expression of human love for God is being willing to die for one’s faith. “By three things is the world sustained,” said Simon the Just (ca. 220 B.C.), “by the Law, by the [Temple-] service, and by deeds of loving-kindness” (Mish. Aboth i.2). The rabbis were confident that the person most certain to inherit the world to come is the one known for disinterested acts of benevolence.

III. In the New Testament. A. Vocabulary. The word for erotic love (eros) never appears in the New Testament and seldom in the church fathers, reflecting the LXX precedent. The noun philos occurs thirty times in the New Testament (eighteen in Luke-Acts), usually designating a close personal friendship (e.g., Luke 14:12; John 11:11; Acts 19:31). It is the term used in the expression “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). The disciples are called philoi of Jesus (Luke 12:4; John 15:13-15). Abraham is called “friend of God” (James 2:23; cf. John 8:34-40). In contrast to the LXX, the New Testament uses philos only once in a political context, the Jews’ challenge to Pilate to prove he was a philos of Caesar (John 19:12). In post-biblical

Christian writings philos (in contrast to forms of agape and agapao) was used infrequently.

The verb phileo occurs in the New Testament about twenty-five times. It is used for parental love (Matthew 10:37), Jesus’ love for Lazarus (John 11:3,36), the disciples’ love for Jesus (21:15-17; 1 Corinthians 16:22), God’s love for His Son (John. 5:50 ) and for His people (16:27; Revelation 3:19; but never human love for God). Once it is used for the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (John 20:2); otherwise agapao is the verb in this expression (13:23; 19:26; 21:7,20). As in early Greek literature it also means “to kiss” (Matthew 26:48; Mark 14:44; Luke 22:47).

The main New Testament word for love, agapao, occurs 137 times as a verb and 116 times as a noun. Both noun and verb are usually translated “love” (in the AV 29 times as “charity”). Like its Hebrew equivalent it expresses desire, leading to quest (“they loved the praise of men,” John 12:43), or it may mean a discriminating choice, whether of the world (“Demas, in love with this present world,” 2 Tim 4:10), of God (“You shall love the Lord your God,” Matt 22:37), or of men (“Love your enemies,” 5:44). The cognate term agapetos — occurring 62 times — is usually translated “beloved.” Besides frequent use as a designation for the Christian brethren, it also designates the Father’s attitude toward the Son (Matthew 12:18; Mark 1:11; 2 Peter 1:17) and toward His people (e.g., Romans 11:28).

B. Synoptic Gospels and Acts. Love, as set forth by Jesus, is the keynote of the new kingdom. It is also the epitome of the Old Testament ethic. The rabbis often discussed how the Torah could be condensed and reduced to its essential elements. When a lawyer asked Him which is the law’s great commandment, Jesus responded, “You shall love the Lord your God… and your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-40; cf. Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:5). This obligation to love is really one “law” and the foundation of the entire Torah.

But Jesus went further than the Old Testament. While love in the Old Testament was selective and nationalistic, the Christian “Torah” is supranationalistic: the obligation to love extends not only to one’s relatives (the primitive meaning of the term), not only to one’s neighbour (the characteristic Hebrew emphasis), but even to one’s enemies (Christ’s unique contribution). The kinship of this concept with compassion, mercy, or pity, as noted in the word studies, is implicit in the Master’s announcement. After stating that God the Father treats His enemies better than they deserve by sending them sunshine and rain (Matthew 5:45), Jesus declared that disciples must love even their enemies. This is more than passive resistance (Matthew 5:38-42); it is the positive reaction of love expressed in deeds (vv. 44-48; cf. Romans 12:20). Jesus’ own example on the cross — His prayer for His executioners (Luke 23:34) — continued this emphasis. The best test of the revolutionary new ethic is Stephen’s praying for his murderers, one of the noblest expressions of divine grace ever recorded (Acts 7:60). Acts shows the new dynamic of Christian love in the community of believers after the effusion of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (2:42). As H. B. Swete has noted (The Holy Spirit in the New Testament [1910], p. 80), this dynamic fellowship (koinonia) among the believers was a greater miracle than the phenomena of Pentecost. The result of the new release of love and energy was aptly termed a “new race” (A. Harnack). The new impetus to brother-love led to pioneering efforts in social responsibility. Thus gentile converts sent gifts to the poorer brethren in Judea, both as a spontaneous expression of God’s love and as a fulfilment of a recognized social obligation (Acts 11:29; cf. Galatians 2:10; Romans 15:25-27).

C. Pauline Emphasis. As already indicated, Paul, like his Master, placed central emphasis on the manifestation of God as love. Paul also developed the idea that God’s love in giving His Son is the supreme expression of His love for mankind (Romans 5:8; cf. Mark 10:45; 2 Corinthians 5:14). This supreme demonstration of divine love not only calls for a grateful response (2 Corinthians 5:15; Romans 10:10) but results in the divine love flowing into and through the life of the believer (Romans 5:5). Although the source of love remains in God, believers become not only its recipients but also the channels by which it affects others. In such love is the law fulfilled, its purpose fully expressed (13:8-10).

Paul singled out love for special emphasis and, by a series of contrasts, raised it to the pinnacle of Christian graces. In addition to placing it first in the list of effects of the Spirit-filled life (Galatians 5:22), he contrasted it to the relatively inferior gifts of the Spirit such as wisdom, prophecy, and tongues (1 Corinthians 12-14). After noting the supremacy of love (13:1-4) and before emphasizing its permanence (vv. 8-13) he presented the most effective analysis of its nature found in Scripture (vv. 4-8). He described love (agape) as freedom from jealousy, conceit, ostentation, arrogance, self-centeredness, and resentment; love’s characteristics are patience, kindness, truth, righteousness, hope, benevolence, and endurance. It even exceeds in value faith and hope, although usually it is classed with them (v. 13; cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:3; Galatians 5:6; Colossians 1:5).

D. Johannine Emphasis. The Gospel and First Epistle of John stress love as much as or more than Paul’s Epistles do. John’s Gospel contains the “Golden Text of the Bible” — that God loved the world to the extent that He gave up His only Son (3:16) — and a distinctive emphasis on the love of the Father for His Son (3:35; 5:20 [phieo]; 10:17). This emphasis on divine love embraces believers: the same love that the Father has for the Son is given also to the disciples (17:26; 1 John 3:1).

No less remarkable is the emphasis on brother-love; it is the supreme badge of discipleship (John 13:35). Without it no one can pretend to be a child of God (1 John 3:14). Divine love means the difference between life and death. It is expressed by word but especially by deed (vv. 17; cf. James 2:15). The central thesis of 1 John is that since God is love, this quality characterizes His children, who by faith partake of His nature (4:7; cf. 2 Peter 1:4).

Although phileo and agapao appear to be used inter-changeably in several passages (Proverbs 8:17, LXX; John 13:23; cf. 20:2; 12:25; cf. 1 John 2:15; Revelations 1:5; cf. 3:19), their meanings are not necessarily identical. For example, agapao never means “to kiss,” but phileo does (Genesis 27:26, LXX; Mark 14:44; Luke 22:47). The Vulgate translates agapao by diligere, a love that is discriminating and involves choice, while phileo is rendered amo, a term that, like eros, means spontaneous affection. Phieo is linked with philos, meaning a friend, and is the normal term for expressing friendship (Matthew 10:37). Origen (comm. on Lamentation 1:2) concluded, “Agapao is the more divine and, so to speak, the more spiritual meaning, but philein is bodily and savours of men” (cited in E. A. Abbott, Johannine Grammar [1906], p. 431). Many scholars, however, including J. H. Bernard, J. Moffatt, C. K. Barrett, L. Morris, and G. Stahlin, have doubted whether any distinction is intended in such places as John 21:15-17, where Jesus used both terms while questioning Peter about his loyalty. Morris demonstrated convincingly that such variation is a consistent feature of John’s style (Studies in the Fourth Gospel [1969], pp. 293-319).

E. Related Concepts.

1. In Other Epistles. In the Epistle to the Hebrews hope and faith receive greater emphasis than love. The author, however, commended the readers for their brother-love expressed in deeds (6:10; 10:24; 13:1). James emphasized that the Old Testament law is fulfilled when one shows love to a neighbour (James 2:8; cf. Jesus’ statement in Matthew 22:37-40; Paul’s in Rom 13:8) and called believers in God “those who love Him” (1:12; 2:5). Christian love is presented not as a merit to be earned but as a characteristic of the new nature that results from a new birth (1 Peter 1:23; 2:2; 3:8; 2 Peter 1:4,7). Love is said to be the climax of the Christian graces — “above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8; cf. Proverbs 10:12). The relationship of the Christian to the Lord and to other Christians is best expressed in terms of love (1 Peter 1:8,22; 2 Peter 1:7). Christ’s love for His church and the believer’s love for his Lord are voiced in the book of Revelation (1:5; 3:9,19), but the emphasis is more upon heroic qualities of loyalty.

2. Charity. The English term “charity” derives from Lat. caritas. To translate Gk. agape in the Vulgate Jerome chose caritas, which means “affection,” “love,” “esteem,” with a connotation of sacrifice, and dilectio, which means “prize,” “choice,” “love,” “high esteem.” The difficulty of finding a Latin equivalent of agape and the similarity of these terms explain Jerome’s inconsistent usage. In the AV New Testament “charity” likewise translates agape in twenty-eight of its 116 occurrences. It occurs in English versions prior to 1881 due to the Vulgate’s influence; English, like Latin, lacks an exact equivalent of agape as used in the New Testament. During the past two centuries the term “charity” has changed in meaning to connote benevolence or almsgiving (“bestowing one’s goods to feed the poor”), which Paul placed in contrast to agape (1 Corinthians 13:3). The other contemporary meaning of tolerance of those with whom one differs also diverges considerably from the original meaning.

Due to the influence of the Vulgate, “charity” appears eighty-two times in the New Testament of the Douay (Douai) Version, though only thrice in the Old Testament. The revisers wisely decided in 1881 and 1901 to drop this term in favour of “love,” a precedent since followed in all English translations. “Charity” occurs only once in the RSV (Acts 9:36) and ten times in the NEB New Testament, in places where “alms” is the usual translation.

By G. A. TURNER