Exegetical Meaning

Agapē is love in its deepest and most meaningful sense—not the warm, fuzzy feeling of affection, but a deliberate commitment to care for someone's wellbeing, even when it costs you something. It's the kind of love that chooses to act in someone's best interest regardless of whether they deserve it or whether you feel like it in the moment. This word appears throughout the New Testament as the supreme virtue that God calls His people to practice, especially toward one another and toward enemies who oppose them. In Scripture, agapē describes God's fundamental nature and His costly sacrifice for humanity. It's the love that Jesus demonstrated by laying down His life for people who rejected Him. When Paul writes that "love covers a multitude of sins" or when Jesus commands His followers to "love your enemies," he's using this word to point toward something far greater than emotions—a sacrificial, forgiving, other-centered commitment. The word carries the idea of valuing someone as precious and worthwhile, and then acting on that valuation through kindness, patience, and genuine concern. English translations render agapē as "love," "charity," or sometimes "affection," though none of these fully captures its rich meaning. First John 4:8, which simply states "God is love," reveals the heart of this word: agapē isn't something God sometimes does—it's who He fundamentally is.

Origin

Root form

English Glosses

Canon Usage

Context Themes

• God's Essential Nature
• Redemptive Love in Action
• Love as the Supreme Ethic

Exegetical Meaning

to be a friend to (fond of (an individual or an object)), i.e. have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling; while G25 (ἀγαπάω) is wider, embracing especially the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety: the two thus stand related very much as G2309 (θέλω) and G1014 (βούλομαι), or as G2372 (θυμός) and G3563 (νοῦς) respectively; the former being chiefly of the heart and the latter of the head); specially, to kiss (as a mark of tenderness) | Etymology: from G5384 (φίλος); | KJV: kiss, love

Origin

Root form

English Glosses

Canon Usage

Context Themes

• Do You Love Me? — The Threefold Question
• The Father's Friendship with the Son and with Believers
• The Love That Must Be First