From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE):
Love
luv (אהב, 'āhēbh, אהבה, 'ahăbhāh, noun; φιλέω, philéō, ἀγαπάω, agapáō, verb; ἀγάπη, agápē, noun): Love to both God and
man is fundamental to true religion, whether as expressed in the Old Testament
or the New Testament. Jesus Himself declared that all the law and the prophets
hang upon love (Mat_22:40;
Mar_12:28-34). Paul, in his matchless ode
on love (1Co_13:1-13), makes it the greatest of the graces of the Christian life - greater
than speaking with tongues, or the gift of prophecy, or the possession of a
faith of superior excellence; for without love all these gifts and graces,
desirable and useful as they are in themselves, are as nothing, certainly of no
permanent value in the sight of God. Not that either Jesus or Paul
underestimates the faith from which all the graces proceed, for this grace is
recognized as fundamental in all God's dealings with man and man's dealings
with God (Joh_6:28
f; Heb_11:6); but both alike count that
faith as but idle and worthless belief that does not manifest itself in love to
both God and man. As love is the highest expression of God and His relation to
mankind, so it must be the highest expression of man's relation to his Maker
and to his fellow-man.
I. Definition.
While the Hebrew and Greek words for “love”
have various shades and intensities of meaning, they may be summed up in some
such definition as this: Love, whether used of God or man, is an earnest and
anxious desire for and an active and beneficent interest in the well-being of
the one loved. Different degrees and manifestations of this affection are
recognized in the Scriptures according to the circumstances and relations of
life, e.g. the expression of love as between husband and wife, parent and
child, brethren according to the flesh, and according to grace; between friend
and enemy, and, finally, between God and man. It must not be overlooked,
however, that the fundamental idea of love as expressed in the definition of it
is never absent in any one of these relations of life, even though the
manifestation thereof may differ according to the circumstances and relations.
Christ's interview with the apostle Peter on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias (Joh_21:15-18) sets before us in a most
beautiful way the different shades of meaning as found in the New Testament
words φιλέω, philéō, and ἀγαπάω, agapáō. In the question of Christ, “Lovest thou me more than these?” the Greek verb ἀαπᾶς, agapás, denotes the highest, most
perfect kind of love (Latin, diligere), implying a clear
determination of will and judgment, and belonging particularly to the sphere of
Divine revelation. In his answer Peter substitutes the word φιλῶ, philṓ, which means the natural human
affection, with its strong feeling, or sentiment, and is never used in
Scripture language to designate man's love to God. While the answer of Peter,
then, claims only an inferior kind of love, as compared to the one contained in
Christ's question, he nevertheless is confident of possessing at least such
love for his Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment