Quick Definition
ἀγαπάω v. I love
Strong's Definition
to love (in a social or moral sense)
Derivation: perhaps from (much) (or compare G5689);
KJV Usage: (be-)love(-ed)
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
verb | ἀγάπη · ἀγαπητός
25.43 · Attitudes and Emotions · Love, Affection, Compassion
to love, to regard with affection, loving concern, love to have love for someone or something, based on sincere appreciation and high regard Though some persons have tried to assign certain significant differences of meaning between ἀγαπάω[a], ἀγάπη[a] and φιλέω[a], φιλία (25.33), it does not seem possible to insist upon a contrast of meaning in any and all contexts. For example, the usage in JHN 21:15 JHN 21:16 JHN 21:17 JHN 21:17 JHN 21:17 seems to reflect simply a rhetorical alternation designed to avoid undue repetition. There is, however, one significant clue to possible meaningful differences in at least some contexts, namely, the fact that people are never commanded to love one another with φιλέω or φιλία, but only with ἀγαπάω and ἀγάπη. Though the meanings of these terms overlap considerably in many contexts, there are probably some significant differences in certain contexts; that is to say, φιλέω and φιλία are likely to focus upon love or affection based upon interpersonal association, while ἀγαπάω and ἀγάπη focus upon love and affection based on deep appreciation and high regard. On the basis of this type of distinction, one can understand some of the reasons for the use of ἀγαπάω and ἀγάπη in commands to Christians to love one another. It would, however, be quite wrong to assume that φιλέω and φιλία refer only to human love, while ἀγαπάω and ἀγάπη refer to divine love. Both sets of terms are used for the total range of loving relations between people, between people and God, and between God and Jesus Christ.
MAT 5:43 · MAT 5:44 · MAT 5:46 · MAT 5:46 · MAT 6:24 · MAT 19:19 · MAT 22:37 · MAT 22:39 · MRK 10:21 · MRK 12:30 · MRK 12:31 · MRK 12:33 · MRK 12:33 · LUK 6:27 · LUK 6:32 · LUK 6:32 · LUK 6:32 · LUK 6:32 · LUK 6:35 · LUK 7:5 · LUK 7:42 · LUK 7:47 · LUK 7:47 · LUK 10:27 · LUK 16:13 · JHN 3:16 · JHN 3:35 · JHN 8:42 · JHN 10:17 · JHN 11:5 · JHN 13:1 · JHN 13:1 · JHN 13:23 · JHN 13:34 · JHN 13:34 · JHN 13:34 · JHN 14:15 · JHN 14:21 · JHN 14:21 · JHN 14:21 · JHN 14:21 · JHN 14:23 · JHN 14:23 · JHN 14:24 · JHN 14:28 · JHN 14:31 · JHN 15:9 · JHN 15:9 · JHN 15:12 · JHN 15:12 · JHN 15:17 · JHN 17:23 · JHN 17:23 · JHN 17:24 · JHN 17:26 · JHN 19:26 · JHN 21:7 · JHN 21:15 · JHN 21:16 · JHN 21:20 · ROM 8:28 · ROM 8:37 · ROM 9:13 · ROM 9:25 · ROM 9:25 · ROM 13:8 · ROM 13:8 · ROM 13:9 · 1CO 2:9 · 1CO 8:3 · 2CO 9:7 · 2CO 11:11 · 2CO 12:15 · 2CO 12:15 · GAL 2:20 · GAL 5:14 · EPH 1:6 · EPH 2:4 · EPH 5:2 · EPH 5:25 · EPH 5:25 · EPH 5:28 · EPH 5:28 · EPH 5:28 · EPH 5:33 · EPH 6:24 · COL 3:12 · COL 3:19 · 1TH 1:4 · 2TH 2:13 · HEB 12:6 · JAS 1:12 · JAS 2:5 · JAS 2:8 · 1PE 1:8 · 1PE 1:22 · 1JN 2:10 · 1JN 3:10 · 1JN 3:11 · 1JN 3:14 · 1JN 3:14 · 1JN 3:23 · 1JN 4:7 · 1JN 4:7 · 1JN 4:8 · 1JN 4:10 · 1JN 4:10 · 1JN 4:11 · 1JN 4:11 · 1JN 4:12 · 1JN 4:19 · 1JN 4:19 · 1JN 4:20 · 1JN 4:20 · 1JN 4:20 · 1JN 4:21 · 1JN 4:21 · 1JN 5:1 · 1JN 5:1 · 1JN 5:2 · 1JN 5:2 · 2JN 1:1 · 2JN 1:5 · 3JN 1:1 · JUD 1:1 · REV 1:5 · REV 3:9
25.44 · Attitudes and Emotions · Love, Affection, Compassion
to show one’s love, to demonstrate one’s love to demonstrate or show one’s love
25.104 · Attitudes and Emotions · Enjoy, Take Pleasure In, Be Fond of Doing
to love to, to like to, to take pleasure in to like or love something on the basis of a high regard for its value or importance
LUK 11:43 · JHN 3:19 · JHN 12:43 · 2TI 4:8 · 2TI 4:10 · HEB 1:9 · 1PE 3:10 · 2PE 2:15 · 1JN 2:15 · 1JN 2:15 · REV 12:11 · REV 20:9
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
ἀγαπάω, -&; [impf. ἠγάπων] ; fut.dyarjow; 1 aor. ἦγάmoa; pé. act. [1 pers. plur. 7yampxapev 1 Jn. iv. 10 WH txt.], ptep. ἠγαπηκώς (2 Tim. iv. 8); Pass., [pres. dyaπῶμαι]; pf. ptep. ἤγαπημένος ; 1 fut. ἀγαπηθήσομαι; (akin to ἄγαμαι [Fick, Pt. iv. 12; see ἀγαθός, init.]); to love, to be full of good-will and exhibit the same: LK. vii. 47; 1 Jn. iv. 7 sq.; with ace. of the person, to have a preference for, wish well to, regard the welfare of: Mt. ν. 43 sqq-; xix. 19; Lk. vii. 5; Jn. xi. 5; Ro. xiii. 8; 2 Co. xi. 11; xii.15; Gal. v.14; Eph. v. 25, 28; 1 Pet. i. 22, and elsewhere; often in 1 Ep. of Jn. of the love of Christians towards one another; of the benevolence which God, in providing salvation for men, has exhibited by sending his Son to them and giving him up to death, dn. iii. 16; Ro. viii. 87; 2 Th. ii. 16; 1 Jn. iv. 11, 19; [noteworthy is Jude 1 L T Tr WH τοῖς ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ ἠγαπημένοις ; see ev, I. 4, and ef. Bp. Lghtft. on Col. iii. 12]; of the love which led Christ, in procurmg human salvation, to undergo sufferings and death, Gal. ii. 20; Eph. v. 2; οὗ the love with which God regards Christ, Jn. iii. 35; [v. 20 L mrg.]; x. 17; xv. 9; Eph. i. 6 When used of love to a master, God or Christ, the word involves the idea of affectionate reverence, prompt obedience, grateful recognition of benefits received: Mt. vi. 24; xxii.37; Ro. viii. 28; 1 Co. ii. 9; viii. 3; Jas. i. 12; 1 Pet. i. 8; 1 Jn. iv. 10, 20, and elsewhere. With an ace. of the thing ἀγαπάω denotes fo take pleasure in the thing, prize it above other things, be unwilling to abandon it or do without it: δικαιοσύνην, Heb. i. 9 (i. 6. steadfastly to cleave to); τὴν δόξαν, Jn. xii. 43; ty πρωτοκαθεδρίαν, LK. xi. 43; τὸ σκότος and τὸ φῶς, In. ili. 19; τὸν κόσμον, 1 Jn. ii. 155 τὸν νῦν αἰῶνα, 2 Tim. iv. 10, — both which last phrases signify to set the heart on earthly advantages and joys; τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν, Rev. xii. 11; ζωήν, 1 Pet. iii. 10 (to derive pleasure from life, render it agreeable to himself); to welcome with desire, long for : τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν αὐτοῦ, 2 Tim. iv. 8 (Sap.i.1; vi. 13; Sir. iv. 12, etc.; so of a person: ἤγαπήθη, Sap. iv. 10, cf. Grimm ad loc.). Concerning the unique proof of love which Jesus gave the apostles by washing their feet, it is said ἠγάπησεν αὐτούς, Jn. xiii. 1, cf. Liicke or Meyer ad loc. [but al. take ἠγάπ. here more comprehensively, see Weiss’s Mey., Godet, Westcott, Keil]. The combination ἀγάπην ἀγαπᾶν twa occurs, when a relative intervenes, in Jn. xvii. 26; Eph. ii. 4, (2 S. xiii. 15 where τὸ μῖσος ὃ ἐμίσησεν αὐτήν is contrasted; cf. Gen. xlix. 25 εὐλόγησέ σε εὐλογίαν ; Ps. Sal. xvii. 35 [in cod. Pseudepig. Vet. Test. ed. Fabric. i. p. 966; Libri Apocr. ete., ed. Fritzsche, p. 588] δόξαν ἣν ἐδόξασεν αὐτήν) ; cf. W. § 82, 2; [B. 148 sq. (129)]; Grimm on 1 Mace. ii. 54. On the difference betw. ἀγαπάω and φιλέω, see φιλέω. Cf. ἀγάπη, 1 fin.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
ἀγαπάω agapaō 143x
to love, value, esteem, feel or manifest generous concern for, be faithful towards; to delight in, to set store upon, Rev. 12:11
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
ἀγαπάω, -ῶ,
[in LXX chiefly for אהב;]
to love, to feel and exhibit esteem and goodwill to a person, to prize and delight in a thing. Of human affection, to men: τ. πλησίον, Mt 5:43; τ. ἐχθρούς, ib. 44; to Christ, Jo 8:42; to God, Mt 22:37; c. acc. rei, Lk 11:43, Jo 12:43, Eph 5:25, II Tim 4:8, 10, He 1:9, I Pe 2:17, 3:10, II Pe 2:15, I Jo 2:15, Re 12:11.
Of divine love; God's love: to men, Ro 8:37; to Christ, Jo 3:35;
Christ's love: to men, Mk 10:21; to God, Jo 14:31; c. cogn. acc., Jo 17:26, Eph 2:4.
SYN.: φιλέω. From its supposed etymology (Thayer, LS; but v. also Boisacq) ἀ. is commonly understood properly to denote love based on esteem (diligo), as distinct from that expressed by φιλέω (amo), spontaneous natural affection, emotional and unreasoning. If this distinction holds, ἀ. is fitly used in NT of Christian love to God and man, the spiritual affection which follows the direction of the will, and which, therefore, unlike that feeling which is instinctive and unreasoned, can be commanded as a duty. (Cf. ἀγάπη, and v. Tr., Syn. §xii; Cremer, 9, 592; and esp. MM, VGT, s.v.)
Trench — Synonyms of the New Testament
We have made no attempt to discriminate between these words in our English Version. And yet there is often a difference between them, well worthy to have been noted and reproduced, if this had lain within the compass of our language; being very nearly equivalent to that between ‘diligo’ and ‘amo’ in the Latin. To understand the exact distinction between these, will help us to understand that between those other which are the more immediate object of our inquiry. For this we possess abundant material in Cicero, who often sets the words in instructive antithesis to one another. Thus, writing to one friend of the affection in which he holds another (Hp. Fam. xiii. 47) : *Ut scires illum a-me non diligt solum, verum etiam amart;? and again (Ad Brut. 1): ‘L. Clodius valde me diligit, vel, ut ἐμφατικώτερον dicam, valde me amat.’? From these and other like passages (there is an ample collection of them in Déderlein’s Latein. Synon. vol. iv. pp. 98 seq.), we might conclude that ‘ amare,’ which answers to φιλεῖν, is stronger than ‘ diligere,’ which, as we shall see, corresponds to ἀγαπᾶν. This is true, but not all the truth. Ernesti has successfully seized the law of their several uses, when he says: ‘ Diligere magis ad judicium, amare vero ad intimum aniii sensum pertinet.’ So that, in fact, Cicero in the passage first quoted is saying,—‘I do not esteem the man merely, but I love him; there is something of the passionate warmth of affection in the feeling with which I regard him.’ It will follow, that while a friend may desire rather ‘amari’ than ‘diligi’ by his friend, there are aspects in which the ‘diligi’ is more than the ‘amari,’ the ayardoOa: than the φιλεῖσθαι. The first expresses a more reasoning attachment, of choice and _ selection (‘ diligere ’=‘ deligere’), from a seeing in the object upon 42. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § ΧΙ. whom it is bestowed that which is worthy of regard; or else from a sense that such is due toward the person so regarded, as being a benefactor, or the like; while the second, without being necessarily an unreasoning attachment, does yet give less account of itself to itself; is more instinctive, is more of the feelings or natural affections, implies more passion; thus Antonius, in the funeral discourse addressed to the Roman people over the body of Cesar: ἐφιλήσατε αὐτὸν ws πατέρα, καὶ ἠγαπήσατε ὡς εὐεργέτην (Dion Cassius, xliv. 48). And see in Xenophon (Mem. ii. 7. 9, 12) two passages throwing much light on the relation between the words, and showing how the notions of respect and reverence are continually implied in the ἀγαπᾶν, which, though not excluded by, are still not involved in, the φιλεῖν. Thus in the second of these, ai μὲν ὡς κηδεμόνα ἐφίλουν, ὁ δὲ ὡς ὠφελίμους ἠγάπα. Out of this it may be explained, that while men are continually bidden ἀγαπᾶν τὸν Θεόν (Matt. xxii. 37; Luke x. 27; 1 Cor. viii. 3), and good men declared so to do (Rom. viii. 28 ; 1 Pet. i.8; 1 Johniv. 21), the φιλεῖν τὸν Θεόν is commanded to them never. The Father, indeed, both ἀγαπᾷ τὸν Tidv (John iii. 35), and also φιλεῖ τὸν Tidv (John v. 20); with the first of which statements such passages as Matt. iii. 17, with the second such as John i. 18; Prov. viii. 22, 30, may be brought into connexion. In almost all these passages of the N. T., the Vulgate, by the help of ‘diligo’ and ‘amo,’ has preserved a distinction which we have let go. This is especially to be regrétted at John xxi. 15-17; for the passing there of the original from one word to the other is singularly instructive, and should by no means escape us unnoticed. In that threefold “ Lovest thou Me? ” which the risen Lord addresses to Peter, He asks him first, ἀγαπᾷς we; At this moment, when all the pulses in the heart of the now penitent Apostle are beating with a passionate affection toward §xu. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 43 his Lord, this word on that Lord’s lips sounds far too cold ; to very imperfectly express the warmth of his affection toward Him. The question in any form would have been grievous enough (ver. 17); the language in which it is clothed makes it more grievous still.! He therefore in his answer substitutes for the ἀγαπᾷς of Christ the word of a more personal love, φιλῶ σε (ver. 15). And this he does not on the first occasion only, but again upon a second. And now at length he has triumphed; for when his Lord puts the question to him a third time, it is not ἀγαπᾷς any more, but φιλεῖς. All this subtle and delicate play of feeling disappears perforce, in a translation which either does not care, or is not able, to reproduce the variation in the words as it exists in the original. I observe in conclusion that ἔρως, ἐρᾶν, ἐραστής, never occur in the N. T., but the two latter occasionally in the Septuagint ; thus ἐρᾶν, Esth. ii. 17; Prov. iv. 6; ἐραστής generally in a dishonorable sense as ‘ paramour’ (Ezek. xvi. 33; Hos. ii. 5); yet once or twice (as Wisd. viii. 2) more honorably, not as =‘ amasius,’ but ‘amator.’ Their absence is significant. It is in part no doubt to be explained from the fact that, by the corrupt use of the world, they had become so steeped in sensual passion, carried such an atmosphere of unholiness about them (see Origen, Prol. in Cant. Opp. tom. 111. pp. 28-30), that the truth of God abstained from the defiling contact with them; yea, devised a new word rather than betake itself to one of these. For it should not be forgotten that ἀγάπη is a word born within the bosom of revealed religion: it occurs in the Septuagint (2 Sam. xiii. 15; Cant. ii. 4; Jer. ii. 2), and in the Apocrypha (Wisd. iii. 9); but there is no trace of it in any heathen writer whatever, and as little in Philo 1 Bengel generally has the honour ‘rem acu tetigisse ;’ here he has singularly missed the point, and is wholly astray: ‘dyanay, amare, est necessitudinis et affectiis ; φιλεῖν, diligere, judicii.’ 44 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § xu. or Josephus; the utmost they attain to here is φιλανθρωπία and φιλαδελιφία, and the last never in any sense but as the love between brethren in blood (cf. Cremer, Wérterbuch d. N. T. Gracitdt, p.12). But the reason may lie deeper still. “Epos might have fared as so many other words have fared, might have been consecrated anew, despite of the deep degradation of its past history;' and there were tendencies already working for this in the Platonist use of it, namely, as the longing and yearning desire after that unseen but eternal Beauty, the faint vestiges of which may here be everywhere traced ;? οὐράνιος ἔρως, Philo in this sense has called it (De Vit. Cont. 2; De Vit. Mos. iii. 1). But in the very fact that ἔρως (=o δεινὸς ἵμερος, Sophocles, Trach. 476), did express this yearning desire (Euripides, Ion, 67; Alcestis, 1101); this longing after the unpossessed (in Plato’s exquisite mythus, Symp. 203 ὃ, "Ἔρως is the offspring of Πενία), lay its deeper unfitness to set forth that Christian love, which is not merely the sense of need, of emptiness, of poverty, with the longing after fulness, not the yearning after an unattained and in this world unattainable Beauty ; but a love to God and to man, which is the consequence of God’s love already shed abroad in the hearts of his people. The mere longing and yearning, and ἔρως at the best is no more, has given place, since the Incarnation, to the love which is not in desire only, but also in possession. That ἔρως is no more is well 1 On the attempt which some Christian writers had made to distinguish between ‘ amor’ and ‘ dilectio’ or ‘ caritas, see Augustine, De Civ. Det, xiv. 7: ‘ Nonnulli arbitrantur aliud esse dilectionem sive caritatem, aliud amorem. Dicunt enim dilectionem accipiendam esse in bono, amorem in malo.’ He shows, by many examples of ‘ dilectio’ and ‘diligo’ used in an ill sense in the Latin Scriptures, of ‘amor’ and ‘ amo’ in a good, the impossibility of maintaining any such distinction. . 2 I cannot regard as an evidence of such reconsecration the wellknown words of Ignatius, dd Rom. 7: 6 ἐμὸς ἔρως ἐσταύρωται. It is far more consistent with the genius of these Ignatian Epistles to take ἔρως subjectively here, ‘My love of the world is crucified,’ te. with Christ ; rather than objectively, ‘ Christ, the object of my love, is crucified.’ expressed in the lines of Gregory Nazianzene (Carm. ii. 34, 150, 151): Πόθος δ᾽ ὄρεξις ἢ κωλῶν ἢ μὴ καλῶν, Ἔρως δὲ θερμὸς δυοσκαθεκτός τε πόθος." § ΧΙ, θάλασσα, πέλαγος.
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
ἀγαπάω. The Pauline phrase in 1 Th 14 ἀδελφοὶ ἠγαπημένοι ὑπὸ [rod] θεοῦ, which in this exact form is not found elsewhere in the NT (cf. in the LXX Sir 45! ἠγαπημένον ὑπὸ (ἀπὸ N) θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων), is well illustrated by a similar
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
ἀγαπάω (agapaō) — to love. ἀγαπάω (Doric dialect ἀγαπ-έω [Refs 4th c.BC+], Epic dialect aorist ἀγάπησα[Refs 8th c.BC+]: perfect ἠγάπηκα[Refs 5th c.BC+]
I. greet with affection (compare {ἀγαπάζω}), once in [Refs 8th c.BC+], Od.[same place]:—in Trag. only show affection for the dead, ὅτ᾽ ἠγάπα νεκρούς[Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, to be regarded with affection, ξένων εὐεργεσίαις ἀγαπᾶται[Refs 5th c.BC+]:— generally, love, ὥσπερ.. οἱ ποιηταὶ τὰ αὑτῶν ποιήματα καὶ οἱ πατέρες τοὺς παῖδας ἀγαπῶσι[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὡς λύκοι ἄρν᾽ ἀγαπῶσ᾽ poetical cited in [Refs]; ἐπιστήμην, τὰ χρήματα, etc., [Refs 4th c.BC+]; especially of children, αὐτὸν ἐτιθηνούμην ἀγαπῶσα[Refs]:—passive, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so in LXX of the love of God for man and of man for God, [LXX+NT] implying regard rather than affection, but the two are interchanged,[Refs 5th c.BC+]; φιλεῖσθαι defined as ἀγαπᾶσθαι αὐτὸν δι᾽ αὑτόν[Refs 4th c.BC+] to be fond of them, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐρωτικὴν μέμψιν ἡ ἀγαπωμένη λύει uncertain in [NT+3rd c.AD+]
I.2. persuade, entreat, [LXX]
I.3. caress, pet, [Refs 1st c.AD+]
II. of things, to be fond of, prize, desire, [NT+5th c.BC+]; prefer, τὰ Φιλίππου δῶρα ἀντὶ τῶν κοινῇ τοῖς Ἕλλησι συμφερόντων[Refs 4th c.BC+]:—passive, λιθίδια τὰ ἀγαπώμενα highly prized, precious stones, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III. to be well pleased, contented, once in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; frequently in Attic dialect, ἀγαπᾶν ὅτι.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; more commonly, ἀ. εἰ.. to be well content if.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐὰν[Refs 5th c.BC+]
III.2. with participle, ἀ. τιμώμενος[Refs 5th c.BC+]: with infinitive, οὐκ ἀ. τῶν ἴσων τυγχάνειν τοῖς ἄλλοις[Refs 5th c.BC+]
III.3. with dative of things, to be contented with, ἀ. τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν ἀγαθοῖς[Refs 5th c.BC+]
III.4. with accusative of things, tolerate, put up with, μηκέτι τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]
III.5. rarely with genitive, ἵνα.. τῆς ἀξίας ἀγαπῶσιν may be content with the proper price, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
III.6. absolutely, to be content, ἀγαπήσαντες[Refs 4th c.BC+]
III.7. with infinitive, to be fond of doing, wont to do, like{φιλέω}, τοὺς Λυκίους ἀγαπῶντας τὸ τρίχωμα φορεῖν [LXX+4th c.BC+]
STEPBible — Tyndale Abridged Greek Lexicon
Bible Occurrences (110)
📖 Greek Word Study — In-Depth Study from Precept Austin
Love (verb) (25) agapao