Praise And Worship Bible Study

Definition of Love and Word Origin

LOVE (luhv)

Meaning for LOVE

Random House Unabridged Dictionary

(noun)

a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
sexual passion or desire.
a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.
(used in direct address as a term of endearment, affection, or the like):
Would you like to see a movie, love?
a love affair; an intensely amorous incident; amour.
sexual intercourse; copulation.
(initial capital letter) a personification of sexual affection, as Eros or Cupid.
affectionate concern for the well-being of others:
the love of one’s neighbor.
strong predilection, enthusiasm, or liking for anything:
her love of books.
the object or thing so liked:
The theater was her great love.
the benevolent affection of God for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.
Chiefly Tennis. a score of zero; nothing.
a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter L.

verb (used with object), loved, lov·ing.

to have love or affection for:
All her pupils love her.
to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in:
to love music.
to need or require; benefit greatly from:
Plants love sunlight.
to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.
to have sexual intercourse with.

verb (used without object), loved, lov·ing.

to have love or affection for another person; be in love.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

Love

This word seems to require explanation only in the case of its use by our Lord in his interview with “Simon, the son of Jonas,” after his resurrection (John 21:16, 17). When our Lord says, “Lovest thou me?” he uses the Greek word agapas; and when Simon answers, he uses the Greek word philo, i.e., “I love.” This is the usage in the first and second questions put by our Lord; but in the third our Lord uses Simon’s word. The distinction between these two Greek words is thus fitly described by Trench:, “Agapan has more of judgment and deliberate choice; philein has more of attachment and peculiar personal affection. Thus the ‘Lovest thou’ (Gr. agapas) on the lips of the Lord seems to Peter at this moment too cold a word, as though his Lord were keeping him at a distance, or at least not inviting him to draw near, as in the passionate yearning of his heart he desired now to do. Therefore he puts by the word and substitutes his own stronger ‘I love’ (Gr. philo) in its room. A second time he does the same. And now he has conquered; for when the Lord demands a third time whether he loves him, he does it in the word which alone will satisfy Peter (‘Lovest thou,’ Gr. phileis), which alone claims from him that personal attachment and affection with which indeed he knows that his heart is full.”

In 1 Cor. 13 the apostle sets forth the excellency of love, as the word “charity” there is rendered in the Revised Version.

Smith’s Bible Dictionary

Love Feasts

(Agape), (2 Peter 2:13; Jude 1:12) an entertainment in which the poorer members of the church partook, furnished from the contributions of Christians resorting to the eucharistic celebration, but whether before or after may be doubted. The true account of the matter is probably that given by Chrysostom, who says that after the early community of goods had ceased the richer members brought to the church contributions of food and drink, of which, after the conclusion of the services and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, all partook together, by this means helping to promote the principle of love among Christians. The intimate connection especially in early times, between the Eucharist itself and the love feasts has led some to speak of them as identical. The love feasts were forbidden to be held in churches by the Council of Laudicea, A.D. 320; but in some form or other they continued to a much later period.

LOVE

Origin before 900

noun

Middle English from Old English lufu; cognate with Old Frisian luve, Old High German luba, Gothic lubo

verb

Middle English lov(i)en from Old English lufian; cognate with Old Frisian luvia, Old High German lubon to love, Latin lubere (later libere) to be pleasing; akin to lief

Source:

The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, better known as Easton’s Bible Dictionary, is a reference work on topics related to the Christian Bible compiled by Matthew George Easton in 1893.

Smith’s Bible Dictionary, originally named A Dictionary of the Bible, is a 19th-century Bible dictionary containing upwards of four thousand entries that became named after its editor, William Smith in 1863.

Subscribe to My Blog!