The Many Loves of the Love of God

When we speak of the Love of God, or praise God for God's Loving-Kindness, we are remembering that above all, God is Love. But this Love is not merely the feeling we tend to associate with liking something a great deal, such as when we say "I love this coffee" or "I love that activity". Rather, we mean that God's Love is something deep and active, constantly working for the abundant life and flourishing of those God loves. In short, it is Love operative in sacrificial acts of kindness: Loving Kindness. Many Scriptural words and concepts fill out what this Divine Loving-Kindness means.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, several words are used to describe the love of God. These Hebrew words convey different aspects of God's love and His relationship with humanity:

Khesed: Khesed is often translated as "lovingkindness" or "steadfast love." It is a deep, loyal, and covenantal love that God shows to His people, characterized by faithfulness, mercy, and compassion.

Psalm 59.16 I will sing about your strength; I will praise your Khesed love in the morning. For you are my refuge and my place of shelter when I face trouble.

Psalms 63.3 Because experiencing your Khesed love is better than life itself, my lips will praise you.

Psalm 136.1–26 [1] Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his Khesed love endures. [2] Give thanks to the God of gods, for his Khesed love endures. [3] Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his Khesed love endures, [4] to the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself, for his Khesed love endures, [5] to the one who used wisdom to make the heavens, for his Khesed love endures, [6] to the one who spread out the earth over the water, for his Khesed love endures... [23] to the one who remembered us when we were down, for his Khesed love endures, [24] and snatched us away from our enemies, for his Khesed love endures, [25] to the one who gives food to all living things, for his Khesed love endures. [26] Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his Khesed love endures!

Ahavah: Ahavah refers to a general, unconditional love. It is a term used to describe God's love for His people, and it also encompasses the love that believers are called to have for God and for one another.

Jeremiah 31.3 In a faraway land the LORD will manifest himself to them. He will say to them, ‘I have loved you with an Ahavah everlasting love. That is why I have drawn you with Khesed love.

Deuteronomy 7.8 It was because the LORD hold Ahavah love for you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery...

Proverbs 10.12 Hatred stirs up strife, but Ahavah love covers all offenses. 

Song 2.4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was Ahavah love. 

Song 8.6-7 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for Ahavah love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. 7 Many waters cannot quench Ahavah love, neither can floods drown it. If one offered for Ahavah love all the wealth of one’s house, it would be utterly scorned.

Hosea 11.4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of Ahavah love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them. 

Rachamim: Rachamim is often translated as "compassion" or "mercy." It describes God's tender and compassionate love, particularly in times of distress, showing His willingness to forgive and show mercy.

Psalm 86.15 But you, O Lord, are a God of Rachamim compassion and mercy. You are patient and demonstrate great Khesed love and faithfulness.

Psalms 103.8 The LORD has Rachamim compassion and mercy; he is patient and demonstrates great Khesed love. 

Likewise in the New Testament, several Greek words are used to describe the love that comes from God:

Agape: Agape is the highest form of love, often described as selfless and unconditional love. It is the love that God has for humanity and that believers are called to show to one another. Scripture emphasizes this love as the embodiment of God's character.

1 John 4.16–19 [16] So we have known and believe the Agape love that God has for us. God is Agape love, and those who abide in Agape love abide in God, and God abides in them... [18] There is no fear in Agape love, but perfect Agape love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in Agape love. [19] We love (Agape) because he first loved (Agape) us.

John 3.16 For God so loved (Agape) the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

1 Corinthians 13.4–13 [4] Agape Love is patient; Agape love is kind; Agape love is not envious or boastful or arrogant [5] or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6] it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. [7] It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [8] Agape Love never ends...  [13] And now faith, hope, and Agape love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is Agape love.

Phileo: Phileo refers to a deep friendship and affectionate love. It is a love that is warm, personal, and intimate. Jesus often used this word to describe His relationship with His disciples.

John 5.20 The Father loves (Phileo) the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished.

John 11.35–36 [35] Jesus began to weep. [36] So the Jews said, “See how he loved him (Phileo)!”

John 15.14–15 [14] You are my friends  (Philos) if you do what I command you. [15] I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends  (Philos), because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.

John 16.26–27 [26] I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; [27] for the Father himself loves (Phileo) you, because you have loved (Phileo) me and have believed that I came from God. 
Revelation 3.18–19 [18] Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. [19] I reprove and discipline those whom I love (Phileo). Be earnest, therefore, and repent.

Eros: Though not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, eros refers to romantic or passionate love. While it is not directly associated with God's love for humanity, the Bible uses metaphors of marital love to illustrate the intimate relationship between God and His people.

Hosea 2.18–20 [18] The LORD says: I will make you lie down in safety. [19] And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. [20] I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.

Revelation 21.1–2 [1] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. [2] And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Storge: Storge refers to natural affection and familial love. It is the love found within families and is often used to depict the love that God has for His children.

Matthew 6.9 Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Ephesians 3.14–15 [14] For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, [15] from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.

1 John 3.1–2 [1] See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. [2] Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.

These different words for love in the Bible demonstrate the multi-faceted nature of God's love and the various relationships God desires to establish with creation. While all these forms of love are essential, both Khesed and Agape are emphasized as the central and foundational love that comes from God and is to be shared with others.