Love, Lover, Lovely, Beloved
Love, Lover, Lovely, Beloved
LOVE, LOVER, LOVELY, BELOVED
1. Love (noun and verb, native Eng.) represents a single Heb. word, which ranged, like the Eng. term, from (1) sensuous, and often (though not necessarily) evil, desire (as in Gen 25:28, 2Sa 13:4, Jer 2:33), through (2) family affection and natural friendship (Gen 22:2, Exo 21:5, 1Sa 18:16, 2Sa 1:26), up to (3) the highest spiritual passion. Under (3) comes (a) J [Note: Jahweh.] s love to Israel, to the righteous, etc. (Deu 4:37; Deu 7:7 f., 1Ki 10:9, Hos 3:1; Hos 9:5; Hos 11:4; Hos 14:4, Zep 3:17, Jer 2:2, Isa 43:4; Isa 48:14; Isa 63:9, Mal 1:2, Psa 11:1; Psa 47:4; Psa 78:68; Psa 87:2; Psa 146:8, Pro 3:12; Pro 8:17, 2Ch 2:11; 2Ch 9:8); and (b) Israels love to J [Note: Jahweh.] , His name, word, ways, etc. (e.g. in Exo 20:6, Deu 6:5 etc., Neh 1:5; 1Ki 3:3same verb as in 1Ki 11:1; Psa 5:11; Psa 31:23; Psa 116:1; Psa 119:97 etc.; Mic 6:8). Under a strong synonym meaning to cleave to or hang upon J [Note: Jahweh.] is said (Deu 7:7) to have set his love upon Israel, and the saint (Psa 91:14) to have set his love upon J [Note: Jahweh.] . Passages coming under (b) are relatively numerous, and date from the redemption of the Exodus. The instances of (a) we have enumerated in full; none of these is certainly earlier than Hosea, who first represented the covenant of Jehovah as a spousal contract. In similar connexion, J [Note: Jahweh.] s love to His people is poetically expressed by a word, of twofold form, signifying darling (beloved, etc.), in Deu 33:12, Isa 5:1, Psa 60:5; Psa 127:2; this term figures much in Canticles. Love does not appear with this association in Gn.; but the phrass walked with God, of Gen 5:22; Gen 5:24; Gen 6:9 (also Mic 6:8, Mal 2:6), conveys the idea of companionship. Several other Heb. synonyms occur, of limited use and slight significance. Lover (OT) is used in the evil meaning of (1) = paramour, and in sense (2) abovea derivative (in Heb.) from the main stem first referred to. Lovely in 2Sa 1:23 = lovable. For greatly beloved in Dan 9:23 etc., see RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] .
Love, like joy (wh. see), holds a unique place in the Israelite as compared with other religions, as it signifies the reciprocal affection of God and people. According to Greek philosophy, the gods are as much above human affection as inanimate things are below it: for friendship demands reciprocity; but relationship with God admits of no return of love, and therefore of no love in the proper sense, for it would be preposterous if any one said that he loves Zeus! (Magna Moralia). The sentiment of the OT is just the opposite of this; J [Note: Jahweh.] calls Israel the seed of Abraham, my friend (Isa 41:8; cf. Psa 91:1-16; Psa 116:1-19 etc.). In several of the texts referred to under (3) above, usages (a) and (b) are correlative; the peoples love to J [Note: Jahweh.] presupposes and grows out of J [Note: Jahweh.] s love to it. The fact that the word denoting this affection comes from the sphere of conjugal love and of friendship imports reciprocity; see, in illustration, Exo 33:11, Hos 2:14-23; Hos 11:1-4, Isa 62:3-5; Isa 63:7-10. The Divine Wisdom says, in Pro 8:17, I love them that love me, conditioning J [Note: Jahweh.] s affection on the return made to it (cf. Joh 14:28; Joh 15:4; Joh 15:10). Yet it was not because of the greatness or the worth of this people that J [Note: Jahweh.] chose themthe case was quite otherwisebut out of His unmerited goodness and His faithful regard for their forefathers (Deu 7:7 ff; Deu 9:4 ff., Eze 16:3-4; cf. Rom 5:7 f.; the characteristic saying of 1Jn 4:19, We love, because he first loved us, equally applies to the OT redemption. The union of affection between J [Note: Jahweh.] and Israel, grounded on the covenant with the fathers and the redemption from Egypt, is the distinctive and vital element in the OT doctrine of love. Love becomes increasingly prominent in the prophetic speech as the relations between God and people become increasingly strained, during the national downfall and exile; see esp. Hosea and Deutero-Isaiah.
The character of J [Note: Jahweh.] , the Holy One of Israel, gives to His love its qualitiespurity, intensity, selflessness, fidelity; reciprocal love calls forth like qualities in His people (see the relevant expressions of love to J [Note: Jahweh.] in the Psalms). Israels sin is the base requital it has rendered; see Deu 32:4-6, Isa 5:1-4; Isa 63:7-10, Mic 6:3 f., Jer 2:5; Jer 2:31, Mal 1:2; Mal 1:6, Neh 9:7-17. Gods love is kindness, lovingkindness (see artt.: very frequent); to those in any degree worthy and approved, becoming delight, joy, in special cases, it is mercy (wh. see) toward the weak, sinful, needymercy is more conspicuous than love in the OT, and looks beyond the covenant-bond. Gods love breaks into grief, anger, wrath, threatening (the reaction of affronted love) against the faithless and wanton (Deu 7:7-11, Psa 78:40, Isa 63:9 f., Amo 3:1 f. etc.); it burns with jealousy, when its chosen are seduced into idolatry and viceJ [Note: Jahweh.] s loathing of Israels corruption reveals at once the purity of His nature and the zeal of His affection (Exo 20:5, Num 25:11, Deu 29:18-21, Zep 1:18, Jer 44:4 etc.). For the same reason, there is in Him a jealousy over Zion, etc., when His beloved is injured or wronged (Joe 2:18, Zec 1:14 etc.). Isa 19:25; Isa 42:1-5 etc., adumbrate the inclusion of the nations in the covenant; and Psa 100:1-5; Psa 103:13-15; Psa 145:8-12, Jon 4:11 reveal a universal and truly humane love in J [Note: Jahweh.] (cf. Luk 2:29-32, Tit 3:4).
2. The Greek language discriminated in expressing love: it distinguished (1) sexual love. ers; (2) family love, natural affection, storg; (3) social love, friendship, philia; (4) sometimes, in a broader ethical sense, philanthropia, humanity, kindness. The LXX [Note: Septuagint.] translators, though not consistent in their usage, enlisted (5) agap to denote religious love, the love of God to man or man to God, or of man to man under Gods covenant (Lev 19:18)i.e. love suffused with religion. The lower kinds of love, (1) and (2), they express by philiaers is avoided; agap, however, encroaches here upon philia. The verb agapa (or -az; noun agap rare outside of Scripture) was used in all periods of Greek synonymously with phile, implying in distinction therefrom affection rather than passion, and practical affection, love shown by signs, rather than sentiment. The AV [Note: Authorized Version.] , after the Latin caritas (charitas), rendered agap in NT 30 times by charity, which RV [Note: Revised Version.] has corrected to love. Being a term of the heart, free from debasing and narrow associations, agap was suitable for Biblical use. In the NT vocabulary of love, (1) never occurslust represents the evil ers; agap and philia are the prevailing synonyms (verbs agapa and phile), the latter sometimes replacing the former in application to the higher love, with the connotation of endearment or intimacy; see Joh 5:20; Joh_Joh 16:27, (a quasi-family affection), Joh 11:3; Joh 11:36spoken about Jesus (agapa in Joh 11:5), Joh 20:2 (agapa, in parallels), Joh 21:15 ff. (no idle variation); and in 1Co 16:22, where the negative coalesces with the verb (If any one is no friend of the Lord), storg (2) is found in its negative in Rom 1:31, 2Ti 3:3; and in the peculiar compound of Rom 12:10, the adjective tenderly-affectioned. In Tit 3:4 Paul speaks of the philanthropy (4) of God. Beloved (well-. dearly-) represents a derivative of agapa, used of Christ, or Christians as dear to God; and of Christians, as dear to fellow-believers. It is synonymous with brethren; this usage is frequent in salutations and apostrophes. Lovely in Php 4:8 reproduces an adjective akin to philia (3) = amiable or affectionate. There are several NT Gr. compounds of phil-, rendered love of and lover(s) of.
agap (agapa), signifying primarily a voluntary, active affection, has brought from the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] into the NT the deeper sense of spiritual affection, the love that links God and man and unites soul and soul in the Divine communion. Like philia, it implies reciprocity, fellowship,if not existing, then desired and sought.
The Apostle John gives the final and complete NT doctrine of love. (a) The love of God John sees perfected in those who love one another and thus keep Gods commands, from whose souls accordingly fear is cast out, who abide wholly in the realm of love that is constituted by the one Spirit dwelling in their hearts (1Jn 2:5; 1Jn 3:24; 1Jn 4:11 f., 1Jn 4:15-21); by such love men are perfected into one, even as Christ is one with the Father by virtue of the love subsisting eternally between them (Joh 17:21-26 : cf. Mat 3:17; Mat 17:5)there is loves prime fountain. Gradually, almost timidly, OT saints had learned to speak of J [Note: Jahweh.] s love to men; Christ builds everything upon this. Coming from His bosom (Joh 1:18), He knows the Fathers love, and seeks to convey it to and share it with His brethren. His mission is to show the Father,to declare how much, and to what effect, God loves the world (Joh 3:16 f., Joh 17:25 f. etc.), thankless and evil though it is (Luk 6:35). In love which heaps kindness on the worst and seeks out the most alienated, lies the perfection of God in His character of Father (Mat 5:48, Luk 15:1-32 etc.; cf. Rom 2:4, Col 1:21 f.). The bestowment of the Son of his love, the only begotten, on our race, and the sacrifice of that Sons life for mans redemption, display with infinite force and effect the love of the Father towards His unworthy children; see Joh 1:14; Joh 3:14-19, Rom 5:5-8 (love of God, or of Christ, means always in Paul Gods, or Christs, love to man) Joh 8:32, 1Jn 4:9 f., 1Jn 4:14, Col 1:13. The love which God thus commends subsisted in Him apart from and anterior to this proof; it actuates all Gods dealings with mankind,in creation, providence, and moral discipline (Mat 5:45; Mat 6:26-33; Mat 10:29 ff., Jam 1:17 f., 1Pe 4:18). Love is of God, since God is love; it comes from Him, being absolutely in Him; love gives the best conception we can form of Gods nature. Since its objects are pitiable, Gods redeeming love is mercy (Luk 1:50, Eph 2:4, Tit 3:6, 1Pe 1:3love predominates in the NT, as mercy in the OT); and as men are sinful and undeserving, love wears the form of grace (wh. see: Pauls favourite term, as love is Johns). Gods good-will (or pleasure) is His love taking determinate expression (Luk 2:14; Luk 12:32, 1Co 1:21, Eph 1:5 ff. etc.); His kindness is love in its considerateness or bounty (Luk 6:35, Rom 2:4); His long-suffering is love in its patience. restraining anger and delaying chastisement (Rom 2:4; Rom 9:22, 1Ti 1:16, 1Pe 3:20). Jesus Christ is not the mere channel of the Fathers good-will; He shares in it infinitelythe love of God is seen in the love of Christ (Rom 8:35; Rom 8:39, 2Co 5:14, Gal 2:20, Eph 3:19; cf. Joh 10:11-15; Joh 13:1; Joh 13:34; Joh 14:21, Rev 1:5 etc.). Jam 4:5 testifies to a jealous yearning in the Holy Spirit, over Christians infected with love of the world; cf. Eph 4:13, Isa 63:10.
(b) The love of Christians towards God and Christ is the hearts response to the Fathers love exhibited in Christ (1Jn 4:18). This is not spontaneous on mans part, but comes by knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge (Eph 3:19, Rom 5:17 f., Eph 2:3-5; Eph 3:17-19, Joh 15:16; Joh 17:23). Grateful and obedient love to God results from faith (wh. see: faith and love, also faith, hope, love, are companions; 1Co 13:13, 1Th 1:3, 1Ti 1:14, Phm 1:5 etc.) in Jesus ChristHis mission and sacrifice for sin, His Person recognized as the full representation of the mind of God (2Co 4:4-6, Gal 5:5, Eph 5:1 f.; cf. Eph 2:8, 1Pe 1:8 f., 1Jn 4:16; 1Jn 4:19); it is the fruit and evidence of the Holy Spirits indwelling, who is the Fathers gift of love to His reconciled children (Gal 5:22, 1Co 2:12, Rom 5:5, 1Jn 4:13 f.). Abba, Father! was the cry of this new-horn filial love (Rom 8:15, Gal 4:5). Its antithesis is found in the love of the world, of self, pleasure, money (1Jn 2:15 ff., Jam 4:4, 2Ti 3:2-5, Luk 16:13 f., Joh 15:19-24). Love towards God is the fundamental law of mans nature, broken by his transgressiona law proclaimed in comprehensive terms in the OT, recalled by Jesus and recognized by the true Israelite (Mat 22:37); the false professors of Judaism had not the love of God in them, for indeed they had not known Him or they would have received His messenger, they would have loved His Son (Luk 11:42, Joh 5:33; Joh 5:42 f., Joh 8:42; Joh 8:55). The worlds radical hostility towards God shows itself in unbelief towards Christ, and consequent persecution of Christians (Joh 15:19 to Joh 16:3, Rom 8:7; Rom 8:38, Gal 4:29, 1Jn 3:12 f.). Love towards God (and Christ) renovates and purifies the heart, inspires a constant self-devotion, and makes the perfect vision of God the object of fervent anticipation (1Pe 1:3-9; 1Pe 1:18-23, Eph 4:31; Eph 5:5, Col 3:12-15, 1Jn 3:1-3; 1Jn 4:11, Rev 21:7; Rev 22:3 f., Joh 14:23; Joh 17:24). To cherish this love to the Father is to live as one who has learnt Christ; it is to follow in His steps, with the certainty of arriving where He is (Joh 17:24 ff; Joh 15:8 ff; Joh 14:2 ff., Eph 4:20-24). Thus one wins the crown of life (Jam 1:12, Rev 2:10, Rom 8:28-30); hence the coupling of love and hope (wh. see).
(c) If love to God is rekindled by the knowledge of Gods love to man in Christ, this holds no less of mans love to man, to which most NT instances of the word refer. This was the matter of the second commandment of Jesus, which is like unto the first and great commandment, and is grounded equally with it upon creation and the true order of the world (Mat 22:38 ff.). Sin, brought in by the wicked one, confounded this order, planting hate, lust, deceit, the destroyers of love and life, in human nature (Joh 8:44, 1Jn 3:12, Jam 1:14 f., Jam 4:1 f., Jam 4:11); this whole evil brood Paul traces to wilful ignorance of God (Rom 1:19-32, Eph 4:17-19). In laying down his life for us Jesus Christ has laid the foundation of a new empire of love, a regime and fashion of life the opposite of that inaugurated by Cain (1Jn 3:12; cf. 1Pe 2:21 ff., 2Co 5:15 f., Eph 4:31 to Eph 5:5, Col 1:13, Tit 3:3-7). The new commandment is, after all, the old commandment which men had from the beginning (1Jn 2:7 f.); Gods Fatherly love manifest in the unstinted bounties of nature, which visit just and unjust every day, dictates to His children love to enemies and kindness to the evil (Mat 5:43-48). The love of Christ, reaffirming and immensely reinforcing the primeval law, constrains us to live no longer to ourselves but to him (2Co 5:14-19); in living to Him one lives for His Church and for humanity (Eph 5:25 ff., Mat 25:34-45, 1Co 8:11 f., Rom 1:14 f., 1Jn 3:16, Eph 3:3-9, Col 1:24-29). If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar (1Jn 2:9; 1Jn 4:20 f.; cf. Tit 1:15); true love ever speaks in beneficent deed (Jam 1:27; Jam 2:15 f., 1Jn 3:17 ff.). The terms of Christs redemption bind His redeemed to human service; they have become both witnesses and engaged parties to Gods covenant of grace in Christ made with mankind (Joh 1:29; Joh 6:33; Joh 6:51, Mat 10:8; Mat 26:28, Mar 16:15, Luk 24:45 ff., Act 1:8, Rom 5:12-21, Col 1:23, 1Jn 2:2, Rev 5:9, etc.). The gift of the Spirit is bestowed expressly with this world-aim in view; the salvation of each sinner is a step towards and an earnest of the worlds salvation (Mat 5:13 f., Mat 13:33, Jam 1:18, 1Pe 2:9, Eph 3:7 ff., Gal 3:14). The love of God must reach the world and rule the world through those who know it in knowing the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
G. G. Findlay.