Happy Valentine’s Day! Love quotes abound and one of the more popular is 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
In the early Greek versions of the Bible, the word used in place of the word love above is agape. Greek has several words for love:
- storge – means “affection”, like that felt by parents for offspring.
- philia – a general type of love, used for love between family, between friends, a desire or enjoyment of an activity, as well as between lovers.
- eros – can be interpreted as a love for someone whom you love more than the philia
- agape – refers to a general affection or deeper sense of “true love” rather than the attraction suggested by “eros“.
Being the deepest form, agape was used by the earliest Christians for use to express the the deep unconditional love of God or Christ for mankind, the reciprocal love for God, and to the love for others.
Interestingly, agape is also used in ancient Greek texts to denote feelings for a spouse.