Love - Agape

Good morning, Five Minute Families. Many years ago, Kim and I had the opportunity to listen to a Bible study about the loves of the Bible, no not marriages of the Bible, though we are working through preparing a study on those. We were studying the different original Greek words that were translated into the English word for love. I love apple pie. I love my children. I love my husband. I love my parents. I love my job. I love hosting guests in our home. I love dancing. I love… I love… I love… All of those loves cannot possibly mean the same thing in their core. Do I really hold an apple pie on the same emotional and commitment level as my spouse? (Well, maybe on some days… ) The ancient Greeks had many words for the one we all lump together in English as “love.” If you do an internet search, you will find folks writing about the three Greek loves, the four, the six, or the seven. I didn’t find any lists with more than seven though they might be out there. And, if you add in Hebrew, some sites say there are two, three, or four words in Hebrew to properly convey love and its richness. We actually found six different Hebrew words listed among the articles. It is interesting that the Hebrew language breaks its words for love into separate components of love a bit differently than the Greek does. Hebrew marks love by devotion, protection, and choice, which can be applied to every relationship while the four Greek words that are typically referenced as being used in the Bible are labeled as God’s unconditional love, family love, brotherly love, and marital physical (or passionate) love. Now, I enjoy etymology, but I am not a “linguaphile” so we will limit our devotions to only four of the Hebrew and Greek words to give us a better understanding of loving one another and five-minute applications for our families. If you have further training or more in-depth knowledge in the study of the words used in the Bible that are translated ‘love,’ please contact us and share your knowledge! We are going to start with ag