Random Thoughts On Biblical Greek

So.... sorry I suck at blogging. But, I just read this tonight and had to share.  I'm too excited about this (yes, I'm a nerd) and had to write it down/share.  Since it's too long for a text or status post, I'm blogging about it.

So I’ve been reading through my Greek/English New Testament, documenting the usages of the word ‘love’, as Greek has multiple words for love, each having a different meaning.  I’ve found some interesting things, but my favorite discovery happened tonight during my study.  I’m currently in the book of John and just read the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (if you’re not familiar with it, read John 11).  John 11:5 notes that Jesus loved Lazarus (and his sisters) using the Greek hjgapa (egapa) a variant of the word agaph (agape) meaning unconditional love; the love mentioned in John 3:16.  Later, in John 11:36, the people morning with Mary and Martha over Lazarus’ death note that Jesus wept and said 'look how much he [Jesus] loved him [Lazarus]'.  But here is where it gets interesting.  The word for love used by the people to describe Jesus’ feelings for Lazarus is ejfilei (ephilei) from the word fila (phila) used to describe familial love (e.g. the love of a brother and/or sister, or a child has for a mother and/or father) interestingly, it is also the root of the words used to describe self-love and love of money.

Maybe I’m a nerd, but here is what got me excited about this word choice difference in the text.   The narrator, John, writes about Jesus’ love for Lazarus using  hjgapa, indicating the unconditional love of God for His people; a love that as one of the disciples, he witnessed every day.  However, when writing about how people perceived Jesus’ love, he used ejfilei, indicating that the people attributed Jesus’ tears to brotherly love; the same love Mary and Martha had for Lazarus. 

In other words, how often do we misinterpret God’s love for us?  How often do I perceive God’s love as something less than perfect, unconditional love?  Jesus’ death (and resurrection; can’t forget that part!) was the ultimate example of agaph love; a love that I should daily strive to emulate (and daily fail miserably at doing so).  But how often do I truly recognize God’s love for what it is?  As a disciple of Jesus, I should always, like John, see God’s love as agaph.

Gweli i chi
Amy