Johann
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Love (verb)-agapao (Greek Word Study)
To love (25) (agapao - see related study of noun agape) means to love unconditionally and sacrificially as God Himself loves sinful men (John 3:16), the way He loves the Son (John 3:35, 15:9, 17:23, 24).
Note that agapao is a verb and by its verbal nature calls for action. This quality of love is not an emotion but is an action initiated by a volitional choice.
MacArthur writes that agapao "expresses the purest, noblest form of love, which is volitionally driven, not motivated by superficial appearance, emotional attraction, or sentimental relationship. (MacArthur, John: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Moody Press) In his commentary on 1 Peter MacArthur says it this way "agapaō expresses the ideal kind of love, that which is exercised by the will rather than emotion, not determined by the beauty or desirability of the object, but by the noble intention of the one who loves."
Wuest - Agapao speaks of a love which is awakened by a sense of value in an object which causes one to prize it. It springs from an apprehension of the preciousness of an object. It is a love of esteem and approbation. The quality of this love is determined by the character of the one who loves, and that of the object loved. (Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament) (See more from Wuest below)
Vine - Love can be known only from the actions it prompts. God’s love is seen in the gift of His Son, 1 John 4:9, 10. But obviously this is not the love of complacency, or affection, that is, it was not drawn out by any excellency in its objects, Ro 5:8 (note). It was an exercise of the divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself, cp. Deuteronomy 7:7, 8. Love had its perfect expression among men in the Lord Jesus Christ, 2Co 5:14; Ep 2:4 (note); Ep 3:19 (note); Ep 5:2 (note); Christian love is the fruit of His Spirit in the Christian, Galatians 5:22 (note). Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments, John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10; 1Jn 2:5; 5:3; 2Jn 6. Self-will, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
Gene Getz says "agapao love—doing what is right and best for someone, even if it involves negative feelings." Just try to do that in your natural strength.
Expositor's Bible Commentary - Agapaō does not denote affection or romantic attachment; it rather denotes caring love, a deliberate attitude of mind that concerns itself with the well-being of the one loved. Self-devotion, not self-satisfaction, is its dominant trait....Paul chooses the verb agapaō to insist that the love of a Christian man for his wife must be a response to and an expression of the love of God in Christ extended to the church.
John Phillips - agapaō, the highest kind of love-spontaneous love, love irrespective of rights. The word carries the idea of "making much of a person." When a wife knows that her husband loves her with this highest kind of love-love irrespective of rights, love that makes so much of her-she feels no resentment over her responsibility to render loyal submission to him. "Husbands, love your wives" is a command (Eph 5:25). We tend to think of love primarily in terms of emotions. That is natural because we are most conscious of love in the realm of emotions. God, however, relates love to the will rather than to emotions. He commands us to love. He commands us to love Him: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength" (Mark 12:30). He commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. He commands us to love one another. That is because God is love. Love is the greatest revelation of God. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Obviously if love can be commanded, it does not belong solely to the realm of emotions. The emotions we associate with falling in love sometimes fluctuate. Sometimes they fade away altogether. Emotions need to be cultivated. The word agapē refers to love as a principle. The New Testament reserves another word, phileō, for love as a feeling. Phileō is distinct from love as a fact and is associated instead with the ideas of kissing and fondness. Agapē, not phileō, is always used to describe man's love for God. God does not tell us to be fond of Him; He commands us to love (agapaō) Him. (Exploring Ephesians)
College Press (1 Thessalonians) - agapaō used in the New Testament for self-sacrificial love regardless of the unworthiness of the object.
Wayne Detzler says "The secret of agape love is not what I can get, but rather what I can give." Woe! The pressures on!
Detzler adds that "An early critical commentator on the Christian church was Statius Caecilius, who said of believers: “They know one another by secret marks and signs, and they love one another almost before they know one another.”
Puritan Thomas Watson declared: “Love is the queen of graces. It outshines the others as the sun the … planets.”
Agapao in the perfect tense is translated "beloved" some 7 times (eg two times in Romans 9:25, Ephesians 1:6 of the Son, Colossians 3:12, 1Thessalonians 1:2, 2Thes 2:13 of believers, Revelation 20:9 of the "beloved city", Jerusalem.)
Agapao is love that is…
… commanded of believers (John 13:34, 15:12, 15:17)
… empowered by the Holy Spirit in the heart of the surrendered saint (Gal 5:13, 14, 15, 16, 22)
… commanded of Spirit filled husbands for their wives even as Jesus demonstrated for His bride, the church, giving Himself up for her (Ep 5:25-note) As mysterious as it seems, we simply cannot love our wives like God loves unless we allow God's Spirit to love through us. Remember that the charge to both husband and wife in Ephesians 5 follows after and is intimately related to Paul's command to continually be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18). Simply stated, if husbands are not filled with the Spirit, they cannot demonstate agape love to their wives! They might be able to demonstrate phileo love which is more akin to love of friends, but cannot love with an agapo type love.
… to be given in the same way Spirit filled husbands love their own bodies (Ep 5:28-note)
… the love with which the Father loved the Son and which may be in believers (Jn 17:26)
… a debt we are to always seek to repay but can never fully discharge (Ro 13:8-note)
… taught by God (1Th 4:9-note)
… manifested by specific actions and attitudes (1Cor 13:4, 5, 6, 7, 8 -see notes 13:4 5 6 7 8)
… shown not just by words but by deeds (1Jn 3:17, cf such love in action as a manifestation of genuine faith in James 2:15, 16- note)
… manifested by keeping God's commandments (Jn 14:15, 21, 23, 24)
… the response Jesus called for one to demonstrate to his or her enemies (Mt 5:44-note)
… love calls for one to love one's neighbor as one's self (Mt 19:19)
… love that seeks the recipient's highest good, not activated by virtue in the recipient (undeserved) (Jn 3:16)
… not based on affection, sentiment or emotion but upon a decision of the will
… given or offered even if the love is not received or reciprocated
… love differs from phileo which is based on affection
… love that finds its perfect expression in Jesus Christ and the Cross (Jn 3:16, cp 1Jn 3:16)
… the love of the overcomers in Revelation who did not love their life even to death (Re 12:10-note)
...can have a negative connotation as with Demas who loved this present world (2Ti 4:10) Does that suggest that Demas who actually traveled with Paul was never saved? We can't be absolutely sure but since no one loves the world (1Jn 2:15-16) can love the Father, it is very likely Demas was not genuinely born again.
… love that cannot be manifested by unregenerate individuals in its true Biblical sense of being Spirit enabled. Agapao when used in the context of the unregenerate means generally to have a high esteem for or to take pleasure in something. This type of agapao love is based on one showing a high regard for the object's perceived value or importance as shown in the following passages…
Luke 7:5 of a Roman centurion who loved Israel
Luke 11:43 of Pharisees who loved the front seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places
John 3:19 of unregenerate men who loved the darkness rather than the light
John 12:43 of the men who loved the approval of men rather than the approval God
2 Timothy 4:10 (note) of Demas who loved this present world and as a result deserted Paul and went to Thessalonica
1John 2:15 of those who love the world which indicates they do not possess the love of the Father within them (Compare uses in LXX translation of Ps 4:2, 11:5, 52:3, 4)
2 Peter 2:15 (note) of the false teachers who forsook and went astray from the right way because they like Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness
Agapao is found 143 times in 110 NT verses in the NAS - See all uses below.
Agapao is found 198 times in the Septuagint (LXX) - See all uses below.
The first use of agapao in the LXX corresponds to the first mention of love in the Bible in the context of Abraham's call to sacrifice Isaac…
And He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love (LXX = agapao) , Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." (Genesis 22:2)
Here are some other representative uses of agapao in the LXX…
You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love (LXX = agapao) your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18) (Cited in at least 8 NT passages - Matthew 5:43; Matthew 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8)
O love (Lxx = agapao in the aorist imperative) the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful, And fully recompenses the proud doer. (Psalm 31:23)
And the descendants of His servants will inherit it, and those who love His name will dwell in it (Zion). (Psalm 69:36)
Let all who seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee; and let those who love Thy salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified." (Psalm 70:4)
O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day. (Psalm 119:97)
Peter emphasized the primacy of Christian love writing that…
1 Peter 1:22 (note) Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere (unhypocritical, unfeigned, lacking pretense or show and thus genuine) love of the brethren, fervently (ektenes = an athletic term = “striving with all of one’s energy” - used to describe a runner who is moving at maximum output with taut muscles straining and stretching to the limit) love one another from the heart (not just head knowledge, not just with words but with deeds) (Philadelphia is the fruit of the new birth into the family of God.)
www.preceptaustin.org
Shalom
Johann
To love (25) (agapao - see related study of noun agape) means to love unconditionally and sacrificially as God Himself loves sinful men (John 3:16), the way He loves the Son (John 3:35, 15:9, 17:23, 24).
Note that agapao is a verb and by its verbal nature calls for action. This quality of love is not an emotion but is an action initiated by a volitional choice.
MacArthur writes that agapao "expresses the purest, noblest form of love, which is volitionally driven, not motivated by superficial appearance, emotional attraction, or sentimental relationship. (MacArthur, John: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Moody Press) In his commentary on 1 Peter MacArthur says it this way "agapaō expresses the ideal kind of love, that which is exercised by the will rather than emotion, not determined by the beauty or desirability of the object, but by the noble intention of the one who loves."
Wuest - Agapao speaks of a love which is awakened by a sense of value in an object which causes one to prize it. It springs from an apprehension of the preciousness of an object. It is a love of esteem and approbation. The quality of this love is determined by the character of the one who loves, and that of the object loved. (Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament) (See more from Wuest below)
Vine - Love can be known only from the actions it prompts. God’s love is seen in the gift of His Son, 1 John 4:9, 10. But obviously this is not the love of complacency, or affection, that is, it was not drawn out by any excellency in its objects, Ro 5:8 (note). It was an exercise of the divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself, cp. Deuteronomy 7:7, 8. Love had its perfect expression among men in the Lord Jesus Christ, 2Co 5:14; Ep 2:4 (note); Ep 3:19 (note); Ep 5:2 (note); Christian love is the fruit of His Spirit in the Christian, Galatians 5:22 (note). Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments, John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10; 1Jn 2:5; 5:3; 2Jn 6. Self-will, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
Gene Getz says "agapao love—doing what is right and best for someone, even if it involves negative feelings." Just try to do that in your natural strength.
Expositor's Bible Commentary - Agapaō does not denote affection or romantic attachment; it rather denotes caring love, a deliberate attitude of mind that concerns itself with the well-being of the one loved. Self-devotion, not self-satisfaction, is its dominant trait....Paul chooses the verb agapaō to insist that the love of a Christian man for his wife must be a response to and an expression of the love of God in Christ extended to the church.
John Phillips - agapaō, the highest kind of love-spontaneous love, love irrespective of rights. The word carries the idea of "making much of a person." When a wife knows that her husband loves her with this highest kind of love-love irrespective of rights, love that makes so much of her-she feels no resentment over her responsibility to render loyal submission to him. "Husbands, love your wives" is a command (Eph 5:25). We tend to think of love primarily in terms of emotions. That is natural because we are most conscious of love in the realm of emotions. God, however, relates love to the will rather than to emotions. He commands us to love. He commands us to love Him: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength" (Mark 12:30). He commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. He commands us to love one another. That is because God is love. Love is the greatest revelation of God. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Obviously if love can be commanded, it does not belong solely to the realm of emotions. The emotions we associate with falling in love sometimes fluctuate. Sometimes they fade away altogether. Emotions need to be cultivated. The word agapē refers to love as a principle. The New Testament reserves another word, phileō, for love as a feeling. Phileō is distinct from love as a fact and is associated instead with the ideas of kissing and fondness. Agapē, not phileō, is always used to describe man's love for God. God does not tell us to be fond of Him; He commands us to love (agapaō) Him. (Exploring Ephesians)
College Press (1 Thessalonians) - agapaō used in the New Testament for self-sacrificial love regardless of the unworthiness of the object.
Wayne Detzler says "The secret of agape love is not what I can get, but rather what I can give." Woe! The pressures on!
Detzler adds that "An early critical commentator on the Christian church was Statius Caecilius, who said of believers: “They know one another by secret marks and signs, and they love one another almost before they know one another.”
Puritan Thomas Watson declared: “Love is the queen of graces. It outshines the others as the sun the … planets.”
Agapao in the perfect tense is translated "beloved" some 7 times (eg two times in Romans 9:25, Ephesians 1:6 of the Son, Colossians 3:12, 1Thessalonians 1:2, 2Thes 2:13 of believers, Revelation 20:9 of the "beloved city", Jerusalem.)
Agapao is love that is…
… commanded of believers (John 13:34, 15:12, 15:17)
… empowered by the Holy Spirit in the heart of the surrendered saint (Gal 5:13, 14, 15, 16, 22)
… commanded of Spirit filled husbands for their wives even as Jesus demonstrated for His bride, the church, giving Himself up for her (Ep 5:25-note) As mysterious as it seems, we simply cannot love our wives like God loves unless we allow God's Spirit to love through us. Remember that the charge to both husband and wife in Ephesians 5 follows after and is intimately related to Paul's command to continually be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18). Simply stated, if husbands are not filled with the Spirit, they cannot demonstate agape love to their wives! They might be able to demonstrate phileo love which is more akin to love of friends, but cannot love with an agapo type love.
… to be given in the same way Spirit filled husbands love their own bodies (Ep 5:28-note)
… the love with which the Father loved the Son and which may be in believers (Jn 17:26)
… a debt we are to always seek to repay but can never fully discharge (Ro 13:8-note)
… taught by God (1Th 4:9-note)
… manifested by specific actions and attitudes (1Cor 13:4, 5, 6, 7, 8 -see notes 13:4 5 6 7 8)
… shown not just by words but by deeds (1Jn 3:17, cf such love in action as a manifestation of genuine faith in James 2:15, 16- note)
… manifested by keeping God's commandments (Jn 14:15, 21, 23, 24)
… the response Jesus called for one to demonstrate to his or her enemies (Mt 5:44-note)
… love calls for one to love one's neighbor as one's self (Mt 19:19)
… love that seeks the recipient's highest good, not activated by virtue in the recipient (undeserved) (Jn 3:16)
… not based on affection, sentiment or emotion but upon a decision of the will
… given or offered even if the love is not received or reciprocated
… love differs from phileo which is based on affection
… love that finds its perfect expression in Jesus Christ and the Cross (Jn 3:16, cp 1Jn 3:16)
… the love of the overcomers in Revelation who did not love their life even to death (Re 12:10-note)
...can have a negative connotation as with Demas who loved this present world (2Ti 4:10) Does that suggest that Demas who actually traveled with Paul was never saved? We can't be absolutely sure but since no one loves the world (1Jn 2:15-16) can love the Father, it is very likely Demas was not genuinely born again.
… love that cannot be manifested by unregenerate individuals in its true Biblical sense of being Spirit enabled. Agapao when used in the context of the unregenerate means generally to have a high esteem for or to take pleasure in something. This type of agapao love is based on one showing a high regard for the object's perceived value or importance as shown in the following passages…
Luke 7:5 of a Roman centurion who loved Israel
Luke 11:43 of Pharisees who loved the front seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places
John 3:19 of unregenerate men who loved the darkness rather than the light
John 12:43 of the men who loved the approval of men rather than the approval God
2 Timothy 4:10 (note) of Demas who loved this present world and as a result deserted Paul and went to Thessalonica
1John 2:15 of those who love the world which indicates they do not possess the love of the Father within them (Compare uses in LXX translation of Ps 4:2, 11:5, 52:3, 4)
2 Peter 2:15 (note) of the false teachers who forsook and went astray from the right way because they like Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness
Agapao is found 143 times in 110 NT verses in the NAS - See all uses below.
Agapao is found 198 times in the Septuagint (LXX) - See all uses below.
The first use of agapao in the LXX corresponds to the first mention of love in the Bible in the context of Abraham's call to sacrifice Isaac…
And He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love (LXX = agapao) , Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." (Genesis 22:2)
Here are some other representative uses of agapao in the LXX…
You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love (LXX = agapao) your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18) (Cited in at least 8 NT passages - Matthew 5:43; Matthew 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8)
O love (Lxx = agapao in the aorist imperative) the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful, And fully recompenses the proud doer. (Psalm 31:23)
And the descendants of His servants will inherit it, and those who love His name will dwell in it (Zion). (Psalm 69:36)
Let all who seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee; and let those who love Thy salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified." (Psalm 70:4)
O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day. (Psalm 119:97)
Peter emphasized the primacy of Christian love writing that…
1 Peter 1:22 (note) Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere (unhypocritical, unfeigned, lacking pretense or show and thus genuine) love of the brethren, fervently (ektenes = an athletic term = “striving with all of one’s energy” - used to describe a runner who is moving at maximum output with taut muscles straining and stretching to the limit) love one another from the heart (not just head knowledge, not just with words but with deeds) (Philadelphia is the fruit of the new birth into the family of God.)
Love (verb)-agapao (Greek Word Study) | Precept Austin
Shalom
Johann
