The Apostle Paul said, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13). Authors, philosophers, and poets through the centuries exclaim the supremacy of love. It is hailed as the premiere virtue of humankind. Yet, seeking to define love is a monumental task. Peck (1978) states, “Love is too large, too deep ever to be truly understood or measured or limited within the framework of words” (p. 81).
The New Testament supremely expresses the virtue of love in the Greek word “Agape”. “Agapao” is the verb form of the noun “agape” and is “a love called out of one’s heart by an awakened sense of value in the object loved that causes one to prize it” (Weust, 1997). The word is unique in the context of its day and is “practically a creation of the Christian church” as it “does not appear in classical Greek at all” (Gore, Goudge & Guillame, 1955, p. 52). Weust (1997) explains further:
Agapan ( Ἀγαπαν ) never was a common word in classical literature, although it was in use from the beginning and occupied a distinctive place of its own. In Homer it is used only ten times, in Euripedes but three. Its noun form agapesis (ἀγαπεσις) is rare. The form agape (ἀγαπε), so frequently found in the New Testament, does not occur at all. Its first appearance is in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It conveyed the ideas of astonishment, wonder, admiration, and approbation when connected with the word agamai (ἀγαμαι) which meant, “to wonder at or admire.” It was used in classical literature in the same sentence with philein ( φιλειν ) and had its distinctive sense of “a love of prizing” as contrasted to philein ( φιλειν ), “a love of liking.” But owing to the very infrequency of its use, it was an admirable word which could be put to use to convey the new and higher conception of divine love which the New Testament presents. Its relative emptiness, so far as the general knowledge of the person was concerned who spoke Greek as his second language, made it the ideal receptacle into which the new moral and ethical content of Christianity could be poured…The pagan Greeks knew nothing of the love of self-sacrifice for one’s enemy which was exhibited at Calvary. Therefore, they had no word for that kind of love. They knew nothing about the divine analysis of this love which Paul gives us in I Corinthians 13.
Part of the unique character of the word is also understood within the linguistics of the Greek language. Unlike the English dialect, the Greek vernacular describes shades of meanings between types of love. In English, we may use the single word “love” to describe affection for a person (“I love my wife”), as well as affection for an inanimate object (“I love my boat”). We inherently understand that though the same word is used, the meanings behind the words are different. In Greek, one of the primary languages of the New Testament, there are four different words used to describe love. One portrays sexual love. Another means to express an interpersonal loving or liking based upon receiving pleasure or enjoyment. Still another describes familial love. Yet in the Biblical texts, the term agapao stands out as a unique manifestation of love. It is a noble word expressing the highest form of the concept.
Weust (1997) states it eloquently:
(Agapao) speaks of a love that is awakened by a sense of value in an object that 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.Agapao is popularly termed “selfless or altruistic love.” In the New Testament it often describes the kind of love that God has for humans. Its emphasis is toward the value placed upon the object loved- regardless of whether that object is inherently valuable, worthy, or deserving of it (Gore, et al., 1955). Thus, the term also embraces the concept of unconditional love. The uniqueness of agapao across all definitions is that it flows from the character of the one giving it (Weust, 1997). This is consistent with Peck (1978) when he says that one of the major distinguishing features of love seems to be the “conscious or unconscious purpose in the mind of the lover” (p. 82).
Of course, Agapao is the love that God possesses for man that flows from His character. This was a novel and supreme concept to those in the 1st century who first heard of this characteristic within the heart of God as initially expressed by Jesus and the writings of the New Testament. The Greeks understood that man might die for God—but could hardly grasp that God would die for man.
Peck, Scott (1978). The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual growth. New York: Touchstone.
The Holy Bible, New International Version. (1973, 1978, 1984). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
Wuest, K. S. (1997, c1984). Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
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