The deep affection by which one person feels closely drawn to another and impelled to give up much, or do much, for him without regard of self.
While the word אהבה, like the Greek ἀγάπη, denotes also sensual love (Hosea 2:7, 9, 12; Ezekiel 23:5, 9; Judges 16:4; 2 Samuel 13:15), it becomes, owing to the higher ethical spirit pervading Judaism, more and more expressive of the purer sentiment so exquisitely characterized in Song of Solomon 8:6-7: “Love is strong as death. . . . Many waters can not quench love,neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.” Besides love of man for woman, “ahabah” denotes parental love (Genesis 25:28, 37:3), and it is transferred to that love of man for man which is better termed friendship, and which is exemplified in the love of David and Jonathan and characterized by the former in the words, “My brother Jonathan, very dear [A. V. “pleasant”] hast thou been unto me; thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women” (2 Samuel 1:26, Hebr.). Hence “lover” becomes identical with “friend” (Proverbs 18:24; Psalms 38:12 [A. V. 11], 88:19 [A. V. 18]). Gradually the entire system of life is permeated by the principle of love, and the relation between God and man as well as between man and man is based upon it.
It is the prophet Hosea who, chastened by his experience in his own life, gives to love a deeper and purer meaning, while finding that God loves Israel notwithstanding its backslidings (Hosea 11:1). It is a love of free will (ib. 14:5 [A.V. 4]). Upon love Deuteronomy builds its entire system. God loved the fathers (Deuteronomy 10:15), and because He transferred this love to their descendants, the entire people of Israel, He chose them, though not on account of their own merit, to be His own peculiar (missionary) nation and shielded them against their foes (ib. 7:6-8, 23:6). He therefore demands their love in return (ib. 6:5; 10:12; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:4; 19:9; 30:6, 16, 20). He loves also the stranger, and demands love for the stranger in return (ib. 10:18-19). The love of God for Israel is declared by Jeremiah to be “an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3), and both the exilic seer and the last of the prophets accentuate this love of God (Isaiah 63:9; Malachi 1:2).
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Author: Jewish Encyclopedia
Keywords: Love, lover, loved, sex, sexual, sexual love, sex and love, Ahavah, agape, philio, brotherly love
Bible reference(s): Gen 25:28, Gen 29:20, Gen 37:3, Lev 19:18, Deu 30:20, Deu 4:37, Deu 5:10, Deu 6:5, Deu 7:7-9, Deu 10:12, Deut. 10:15, Deu 10:19, Deu 11:1, Deu 11:13, Deu 13:3, Deu 19:9, Deu 30:6, Deu 30:16, Jer 31:3, Hos 3:1, Hos 11:1, Hos 14:4, Mar 12:30-31, John 3:16, 1 John 4:19, Ezek. 23:5, Ezek 23:9, Judges 16:4, 2 Sam. 13:15, Cant. 8:6-7, 2 Samuel 1:26, Isaiah 63:9, Malachi 1:2
Source: Isidore Singer (editor), The Jewish Encyclopedia (12 Volumes), (1906).
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.