Word study
Love
7 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word
In brief
Four words carry most of what English Bibles call love. In Hebrew, ahav is love in the ordinary sense, between people and between God and his people, while hesed is loyal, covenant-keeping love, often translated "loving devotion" or "steadfast love." In Greek, agapē and its verb agapaō are the New Testament's main words for love, used of God's love and the love he commands; phileō speaks of affection and friendship. The verses, not the words alone, show what each love looks like.
Written and reviewed by our editorial team.
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: love, loving, loved, loves. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “love” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- חֶסֶד chesedgoodness, kindnesstranslated this way 191 times of its 247 uses · Strong’s H2617Noun · Translated: loving devotion 175, kindness 31, according to your loving devotion 6, favor 4Full study and all 241 verses →
Exodus 15:13 With loving devotion You will lead the people You have redeemed; with Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling.
Numbers 14:18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
- אָהַב âhablovetranslated this way 167 times of its 210 uses · Strong’s H157Verb · Translated: love 87, loved 36, loves 30, lovers 16Full study and all 197 verses →
Genesis 22:2 “Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
Exodus 20:6 but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
- אַהֲבָה ahăbâhlovetranslated this way 38 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H160Noun · Translated: love 33, loved 3, surpassing the love 1, loves 1Full study and all 35 verses →
Genesis 29:20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet it seemed but a few days because of his love for her.
Deuteronomy 7:8 But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
- דּוֹד dôdbeloved, lovetranslated this way 8 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H1730Noun · Translated: beloved 27, uncle 11, love 8, belong to my beloved 2Full study and all 50 verses →
Proverbs 7:18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight in loving caresses!
Song of Solomon 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is more delightful than wine.
- רָחַם râchamlovetranslated this way 2 times of its 45 uses · Strong’s H7355Verb · Translated: compassion 29, show you compassion 2, mercy 2, merciless 2Full study and all 42 verses →
Psalm 18:1 For the choirmaster. Of David the servant of the LORD, who sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love You, O LORD, my strength.
Hosea 2:1 “Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’
- חָשַׁק châshaqbe attached to, lovetranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H2836Verb · Translated: set his affection 2Full study and all 10 verses →
Psalm 91:14 “Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.
Isaiah 38:17 Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
- עֶגֶב egeb(sensuous) lovetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H5690Noun · Translated: love 1, like a singer of love 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Ezekiel 33:31 So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.
Ezekiel 33:32 Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀγαπάω agapáōI lovetranslated this way 133 times of its 141 uses · Strong’s G25Verb · Translated: love 78, loved 35, loves 20, beloved 6Full study and all 108 verses →
Matthew 5:43 You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’
Mark 10:21 Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
- ἀγάπη agápēlovetranslated this way 113 times of its 115 uses · Strong’s G26Noun · Translated: love 112, beloved 1, love feasts 1Full study and all 106 verses →
Matthew 24:12 Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
Luke 11:42 Woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.
- φιλέω philéōI love, kisstranslated this way 22 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s G5368Verb · Translated: love 13, loves 6, kiss 3, loved 3Full study and all 21 verses →
Matthew 6:5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.
Luke 20:46 “Beware of the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.
- φιλαδελφία philadelphíabrotherly lovetranslated this way 4 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G5360Noun · Translated: brotherly love 3, brotherly kindness 2, genuine love for your brothers 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.
1 Thessalonians 4:9 Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.
- ἀγαπητός agapētósloved, belovedtranslated this way 3 times of its 61 uses · Strong’s G27Adjective · Translated: beloved 58, loved 2, love 1Full study and all 60 verses →
Romans 1:7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you must stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
- ἀφιλάργυρος aphilárgyrosnot loving money, not avaricioustranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G866Adjective · Translated: free of the love of money 1, free from the love of money 1Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Timothy 3:3 not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about love: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.