The English word Love has no deep 21st century meaning. We love our spouses, God, Jesus, golf, football, beaches, mountains, cars, and peanut butter.
In English translations of the Bible, love is a very common word. It occurs about 500 times in the Old Testament and about 200 times in the New Testament depending on the version. A barrier to understanding the Bible passages containing that word is that there are different Hebrew and Greek words with different meanings, all translated to love, noun or verb, in English versions.
Three Hebrew Words
Ahavah
At Chabad.org there is a helpful detailed Jewish explanation of this word usually translated to love in English. The several paragraphs are worth reading but I offer only this which the author labels The Big Idea: True love is not about how you feel in someone else’s presence: it’s about how you make them feel in yours.
Chesed
There is an excellent two-minute Jewish explanation of Chesed by Jewish Teachings for All on YouTube. It is worth our time to listen to it. Here is their punch line: Chesed represents a profound expression of love and selfless action central to Jewish values and tradition.” In Psalm 136, chesed describes God’s “steadfast love”
Racham
Another place to look for the meanings of Hebrew words is Bible Hub which has Strong’s Lexical Summary. That site says the meaning of racham is compassion, mercy, tender love. In Isaiah 49:15, racham is used to describe God’s love for Israel as like a mother’s love for her child.
Three Greek Words
Agape
Christianity.com offers this explanation of the meaning of agape in the Bible: “When the word “agape” is used in the Bible, it refers to a pure, willful, sacrificial love that intentionally desires another’s highest good.
Philéō
According to Bible Hub, phileo is a Greek term that expresses a warm, sincere affection. It conveys the idea of heartfelt friendship, closeness, and the fondness shared between dear companions or family members.
Storge
According to Bible Hub, Storge in Biblical Greek refers to a natural, familial affection or fondness. This appears only twice in the New Testament, Romans 1:31 and 2 Timothy 3:3, both using the negative form referring to absence of such natural affection.
Summary So Far
Of the definitions above, one refers to mutual love between friends and one to mutual love within the family. The other four refer to God’s love for us which we are to share to the best of our abilities. They have nothing to do with us and how we feel but are about what we do to promote the good for others, even our enemies.
The Catholic View
No Catholic sources were used in the above comments so it’s probably a good idea to see what Catholic AI site magisterium.com has to say about the Catholic view of the Biblical meaning of the word love. Here is is in italics below:
The Catholic understanding of love in the Bible is multifaceted, encompassing divine love, human love, and the relationship between the two. It is rooted in the belief that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 4:16). This divine love is the source and model for all human love.
Divine Love (Agape)
The Bible reveals God’s love as a steadfast, generous, and self-sacrificial love, often referred to by the Greek term agape. This love is not merely an emotion but an active concern for the good of the other, even to the point of renunciation and self-sacrifice.
- Origin and Nature: God’s love is infused into human hearts by the Holy Spirit. It is a love that is freely given, not earned, as expressed in 1 John 4:10: “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins”.
- Revealed in Christ: The fullness of God’s love for humanity is revealed in the Incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ is considered the true starting point of the Christian definition of love, demonstrating “love in its most radical form” 5. By contemplating Christ’s pierced side, Christians learn that “God is love”.
- Forgiving Love: God’s love is also characterized by forgiveness, overcoming human infidelity by forgiving sins. This is evident in God’s reconciliation of sinners to Himself, transforming them into believers justified in Christ.
- Universal Embrace: The Old Testament already expresses God’s love for all peoples, gathering them into a single universal family, a plan that culminates in the Paschal Mystery in the New Testament.
Human Love and its Relationship to Divine Love
Human love is understood as a participation in God’s love. It is both a gift from God and a sign of His presence.
- Charity (Caritas): In Catholic theology, the theological virtue of love is often called charity (caritas). It is a divinely infused habit that inclines the human will to cherish God for His own sake above all things, and to love others for the sake of God.
- Seat and Act: Charity properly resides in the rational will and involves wishing God all honor and glory and endeavoring to obtain it for Him. It also emphasizes reciprocity, making it a friendship between humanity and God.
- Motive: The motive for charity is God’s absolute goodness and amiability, recognized as infinitely worthy of love for its own sake.
- Range: Charity extends to both God and humanity. While God alone is entirely lovable, all people are capable of sharing in the Divine goodness, thus supernatural love includes them.
- Love for Neighbor: The commandment to love God is intrinsically linked to the commandment to love one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:39, Luke 10:27). Those who claim to love God but hate their brothers or sisters are considered liars, as love for the unseen God cannot exist without love for the visible neighbor (1 John 4:20).
- Characteristics: Love for neighbor is selfless and sacrificial, not insisting on its own way (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). It manifests in the capacity to love even enemies (Matthew 5:44-45).
- Practical Expressions: Romans 12:9-21 outlines various ways love is to be lived out, including genuine affection, showing honor, zeal in service, patience in suffering, perseverance in prayer, contributing to the needs of saints, extending hospitality, blessing persecutors, rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep, living in harmony, and overcoming evil with good.
- Eros and Agape: The Church recognizes different forms of love, including eros (romantic love) and agape (self-sacrificial love). While seemingly opposite, Benedict XVI teaches that there is a single reality underlying all loves, and that human eros is called to grow ever more deeply agapic in character. Marriage, in particular, is seen as a unique way for human eros to reflect and participate in God’s generous and forgiving love, becoming a visible sign of God’s permanent and faithful love for His people.
The Primacy of Love
St. Paul emphasizes the supreme importance of love, stating that even if one possesses prophetic powers, understanding of mysteries, all knowledge, or faith to move mountains, without love, one is nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2). He concludes that “faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Love is described as patient, kind, not envious or boastful, not arrogant or rude, not insisting on its own way, not irritable or resentful, not rejoicing in wrongdoing but rejoicing in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends.
Conclusion
Maybe we should start liking peanut butter and being crazy about football and reserve loving for God, neighbors, friends, family, and enemies, always meaning desiring the other’s highest good.
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