By The Water
Agape (Greek ἀγάπη, Strong's G26) is the New Testament's characteristic word for love — a deliberate, self-giving love that seeks the good of the other regardless of merit or return. Where Greek could say eros (desire) or philia (friendship), the apostles reached for agape to describe the love God is (1 John 4:8), the love shown at the cross (John 3:16), and the love commanded of believers (John 13:34).
| Original word | ἀγάπη |
|---|---|
| Transliteration | agapē (ah-GAH-pay) |
| Strong's number | G26 |
| Part of speech | Noun, feminine |
| Short definition | love, charity, divine love |
| Occurrences | About 116 times in the New Testament |
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love [agapē] is of God… for God is love.”1 John 4:7–8 (KJV)
A common word made holy
Classical Greek had richer words for love than English does — erōs for desire, philia for friendship, storgē for family affection. Agapē was the plainest of the set, and comparatively rare in secular literature. That blankness became the apostles' opportunity: the Septuagint and then the New Testament poured meaning into it until agapē named something the pagan world had no word for — the unprovoked, covenantal, self-spending love of God. By 1 Corinthians 13 it is not an emotion being described but a way of acting: patient, kind, keeping no ledger of wrongs.
What makes agape different
- It originates in the giver, not the worthiness of the receiver. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
- It is an act of will, so it can be commanded. Feelings can't be ordered; agape can: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another” (John 13:34) — even “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44, the verb agapaō).
- It is the family likeness of God's children. “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).
- It outlasts everything. Prophecies fail, tongues cease, knowledge vanishes — “but the greatest of these is charity [agapē]” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Agape and philia, side by side
John 21 stages the two words. Jesus asks Peter, “lovest thou me?” using agapaō; Peter answers with phileō, friendship-love. Twice. The third time Jesus descends to Peter's word — “lovest thou [phileis] me?” — and Peter is grieved. Whether the alternation is emphatic or stylistic, scholars debate; that the passage rewards knowing the Greek words is beyond debate. This is exactly the kind of texture a word study recovers and a translation cannot.
Key verses to trace agape through
- John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world” — the verb at the Bible's best-known address.
- 1 Corinthians 13 — agape defined by fifteen verbs.
- Romans 8:35–39 — nothing separates us from it.
- 1 John 4:7–12 — God is it; his children inherit the trait.
- Galatians 5:22 — first fruit of the Spirit.
Open the word, not just a definition
Search “agape” in By The Water's Word Study tab and G26 opens with the definition, morphology, every New Testament occurrence, and space for your own notes — the whole lexicon works offline, free.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between agape, philia, and eros?
Eros is desiring love (the word doesn't appear in the New Testament), philia is the warm love of friendship, and agape is deliberate, self-giving love that acts for another's good regardless of merit — the word the New Testament uses for God's love and the love commanded of Christians.
Is agape only God's love, or can people show it?
Both. Agape names God's own love (Romans 5:8), and believers are commanded to practice the same kind — toward one another (John 13:34), neighbors (Matthew 22:39), and even enemies (Matthew 5:44). It is commanded precisely because it is a choice, not a mood.
Why does the King James Version translate agape as 'charity'?
The KJV follows the Latin caritas in 1 Corinthians 13 and elsewhere — in 1611 'charity' meant active, costly love, not donations. Modern translations render it 'love'; the Greek underneath is the same agapē.
How often does agape appear in the Bible?
The noun agapē about 116 times, and the verb agapaō about 143 more — concentrated in John's writings and Paul's letters, which between them turned a bland Greek word into the New Testament's theology of love.