Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

Love in the Syriac New Testament

It is common knowledge that the Greek New Testament uses four different words for love. The most prominent, and most theologically significant is agape or in its verbal form agapao. This is usually defined as divine love, or human love that has its origin in God. The Abbott-Smith Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament says that this word-group "is fitly used in the NT of Christian love to God and man, the spiritual affection which follows the direction of the will, and which, therefore, unlike that feeling which is instinctive and unreasoned, can be commanded as a duty" (p. 3). It is not found outside of biblical or ecclesiastical books, and can thus be considered a distinctly Christian term.

The second term is philia/phileo. There is some overlap between these terms and the agape/agapao pair. For instance, both are used in Jesus' post-resurrection interview with Peter in John 21:15-17. Jesus uses agapao the first two times he asks the question, "Do you love me?" and phileo the third time. Peter uses phileo on all three occasions. Some interpreters argue for a progression downward in Jesus' questioning, with him looking for Peter to respond with the "stronger" word, but finally giving up and moving down to Peter's level the third time. This is probably to read too much into the distinction between the words, and most understand the three-fold repetition to be Jesus' means of restoring Peter after his three-fold denial of Christ. This interpretation is strengthened by the consideration that the Syriac New Testament uses the root rhm not only for all three of Peter's responses, but for all three of Jesus' questions. The same root is used in translating agapao in Romans 9:13, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." (Interestingly, if Syriac has a cognate to the most common Hebrew word for love ahab, it does not occur in the Syriac New Testament.) Another term that Syriac uses to translate the agapao/agape pair is hoba. It is used, for example, in 1 Corinthians 13. This is a word that has no Hebrew cognate and which does not occur in the Aramaic of the Old Testament.

However, there is also a sense of phileo distinct from the uses of agapao. This is the love that springs from natural affection and from the emotions. This, of course, separates it from agapao to the extent that the latter is will-driven, rather than emotion-driven. It is also the term used for friendship, and forms the root of the compound "brotherly love" (see, for example, Hebrews 13:1). The Syriac New Testament uses hoba here to translate the Greek philadelphia (brotherly love).

Two other words, usually translated "love" occur in the Greek New Testament. The first is storge, which occurs only in compound forms. The second is epithumia, which means desire or longing. It is often translated "lust," and effectively replaces eros, which does not occur in the New Testament. We will consider the Syriac equivalents next week, as well as the significance of our findings.

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