Greek · Strong's G26
ἀγάπη
agápē (ah-GAH-pay)
noun, feminine
Self-giving, covenantal love that wills the good of another.
Agápē is the great New Testament word for love. Where the Greeks had eros (desiring love) and philía (affection between friends), the apostles took this rare, almost colorless noun and filled it with theological weight. Agápē is the love that comes down — God's love for the world (John 3:16), Christ's love for the church (Ephesians 5:25), the love commanded between believers (1 John 4:7-8).
It is not primarily an emotion but an act of the will: a settled disposition that seeks the genuine good of its object, regardless of the object's worthiness. Romans 5:8 anchors it: 'God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.'
Common English renderings
- love
- charity (KJV)
- beloved (passive form)
Key verses
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life."
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"But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
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"Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
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"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
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"We love, because he first loved us."
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Related words