Greek
ἀγάπη
agapē
Self-giving love; sacrificial love
The Greek word for self-giving, sacrificial love — the love God has for humanity and the love Christians are commanded to show.
Agape (ἀγάπη) is one of four major Greek words for love — alongside eros (romantic/desiring love), philia (friendship love), and storge (familial affection). Before the New Testament, agape was used in classical Greek but was relatively rare and unmarked. The New Testament writers — particularly Paul and John — elevated agape to carry a specific theological weight: the kind of love God has for humanity and the kind of love God calls his people to. This love is not based on the lovableness of the object but on the character of the lover. Agape gives because giving is what love does, not because the recipient deserves or returns it. The verb form agapao (ἀγαπάω) and the noun agape together appear over 250 times in the New Testament. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) also uses agape for several Hebrew terms, including ahava (Hebrew love).
The New Testament's use of agape is theologically loaded. John 3:16 — perhaps the most famous Bible verse — opens with 'For God so loved (agapao) the world' — using the verb form of agape to describe what motivated the gift of the Son. 1 John 4:8 — 'God is love (agape)' — makes the term essentially identify God's character. The love is defined by what it does: 'In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him' (1 John 4:9). Paul's chapter on agape (1 Corinthians 13) describes the love by what it does and refuses to do: it is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil, rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. The love never fails. Jesus's two great commandments — love (agapao) the Lord your God and love (agapao) your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39) — use the agape verb. The new commandment of John 13:34 — 'love one another as I have loved you' — uses agape three times. After his resurrection, Jesus's threefold question to Peter (John 21:15-17) uses agape twice — and Peter responds with the warmer philia, leading to nuanced interpretation about what kind of love Christ requires. Famously, the King James Version translates agape as 'charity' (from the Latin caritas) in 1 Corinthians 13 — preserving a distinction between this love and lesser kinds.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.”
The most famous agape statement
“God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Agape directed at the undeserving
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not...”
The love chapter — agape defined by actions
Agape is not primarily a feeling — it is a commitment that produces actions. The Christian command to 'love your enemies' (Matthew 5:44) would be impossible if love meant warm affection, but it is possible if love means agape: choosing the good of the other regardless of how you feel. This is the kind of love that sustains marriages through difficult seasons, holds families through conflict, and forgives what cannot be forgotten. It is also the love we cannot manufacture — it grows in us as we receive it from God and the Holy Spirit pours it into our hearts (Romans 5:5).
Agape (Greek: ἀγάπη) is the New Testament's word for self-giving, sacrificial love — the love God has for humanity and the love Christians are commanded to show. Unlike eros (romantic love) or philia (friendship love), agape is not based on the lovableness or response of the object. It gives because giving is what love does. 1 Corinthians 13 defines it by what it does: patient, kind, not envious, keeps no record of wrongs, never fails.
Greek has four main words for love: (1) agape (ἀγάπη) — self-giving, sacrificial love; (2) philia (φιλία) — friendship, brotherly affection; (3) eros (ἔρως) — romantic, desiring love (does not appear in the NT but is well known from classical Greek); (4) storge (στοργή) — familial affection between parents and children. Each names a different shape of love. The New Testament primarily uses agape and philia, with agape carrying the theologically loaded sense.
Agape is self-giving, sacrificial love — committed action for the good of another regardless of feeling. Phileo (or philia) is friendship love — warm affection rooted in shared experience and mutual liking. Both are good; the New Testament uses both for Christian love. The famous exchange in John 21:15-17, where Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him, uses agape twice and phileo once in Jesus's questions, with Peter responding with phileo each time — a nuance many scholars read as Peter humbly claiming the warmer affectionate love while Jesus calls him to the higher commitment.