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12:11). It is an unselfish “love,” ready to serve. The use of
in Peter’s answers and
the Lord’s third question, conveys the thought of cherishing the Object above all else, of
manifesting an affection characterized by constancy, from the motive of the highest
veneration. See also Trench,
- !
, Sec.xii.
Again, to “love” (
) life, from an undue desire to preserve it, forgetful of the real
object of living, meets with the Lord’s reproof, John 12:25. On the contrary, to “love” life
(
) as used in 1 Pet. 3:10, is to consult the true interests of living. Here the word
would be quite inappropriate.
Note:
In Mark 12:38,
KJV
,
, “to wish,” is translated “love” (
RV
, “desire”).
B. Nouns.
1.
(
1
, 26), the significance of which has been pointed out in connection
with A, No. 1, is always rendered “love” in the
RV
where the
KJV
has “charity,” a
rendering nowhere used in the
RV
; in Rom. 14:15, where the
KJV
has “charitably,” the
RV
,
adhering to the translation of the noun, has “in love.”
Note:
In the two statements in 1 John 4:8 and 16, “God is love,” both are used to
enjoin the exercise of “love” on the part of believers. While the former introduces a
declaration of the mode in which God’s love has been manifested (vv. 9, 10), the second
introduces a statement of the identification of believers with God in character, and the
issue at the Judgment Seat hereafter (v. 17), an identification represented ideally in the
sentence “as He is, so are we in this world.”
2.
(
$ &
, 5363) denotes, lit., “love for man” (
and
, “man”); hence, “kindness,” Acts 28:2, in Titus 3:4, “(His) love toward man.”¶
Cf. the adverb
, “humanely, kindly,” Acts 27:3.¶
Note:
For
$
, “love of money,” 1 Tim. 6:10, see
MONEY
(love of). For
, see
BROTHER
,
Note
(1).
LOVE FEASTS
(
1
, 26) is used in the plural in Jude 12, and in some mss. in 2 Pet. 2:13;
RV
marg., “many ancient authorities read ‘deceivings,’” (
); so the
KJV
. These love
feasts arose from the common meals of the early churches (cf. 1 Cor. 11:21). They may
have had this origin in the private meals of Jewish households, with the addition of the
observance of the Lord’s Supper. There were, however, similar common meals among
the pagan religious brotherhoods. The evil dealt with at Corinth (1.c.) became enhanced
by the presence of immoral persons, who degraded the feasts into wanton banquets, as
mentioned in 2 Pet. and Jude. In later times the
became detached from the Lord’s
Supper.
LOVELY
(
$ )
, 4375), “pleasing, agreeable, lovely” (
, “toward,”
,
“to love”), occurs in Phil. 4:8.¶ In the Sept., Esth. 5:1 (3rd sentence).
LOVER