Matthew 5:44ESV
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Agapao is the verb. Jesus commands the decision of love toward people you have every reason to hate.
Greek word · FaithLabz word study
ἀγαπάω
agapao
to love, actively choosing to love
Often translated: to loveto cherishto be devoted toto hold dear
What agapao means
Agapao is the verb form of agape. It is the action of love, not the feeling. Greek had several words for love, and the New Testament writers reached for this one when they wanted to describe a love that chooses, a love that decides, a love that moves toward someone whether or not it feels like it. Eros loved because it wanted. Philia loved because it shared. Storge loved because it was family. Agapao loved because it had decided to. When Jesus tells his disciples to love their enemies, he uses agapao. He is not asking them to feel warm feelings toward people who hate them. He is asking them to act in the interest of those people, deliberately, against the gravity of their own hearts. When Paul writes that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church, agapao is the verb. The model is not romance. The model is a Savior who set his face toward a cross. The texture of the word is committed action under cost. You can agapao someone you don't yet like. You can agapao someone who has hurt you. You can agapao when your feelings have gone quiet. It is the love that does not ask permission from the emotions to show up. That is why the Bible can command it. You cannot command a feeling. You can command a decision.
Why this word matters
Most of us were taught love is a feeling. So when the feeling goes quiet, we assume the love has too. Agapao breaks that frame. It says love is what you do, not what you feel. It says you can be loving toward someone you are angry at. It says the marriage where the feelings come and go is not failing as long as the agapao keeps showing up. It also says you cannot opt out of loving the people who irritate you. Jesus closed that exit. That is harder than it sounds. It is also more freeing. You are not waiting on your heart to catch up before you act. You act, and over time, more often than not, the heart follows.
Etymology
Agapao shares its root with agape, the noun. Both come from a word family that classical Greek used loosely, but the Septuagint and the New Testament filled it with theological freight. In secular Greek it could mean ordinary affection. In Scripture it became the word for the love that chooses, the love that gives, the love that mirrors God's own posture toward broken people.
Key Verses
Where agapao appears in Scripture, and why each verse showcases it.
John 13:34ESV
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
Both verbs are agapao. The standard is not how you feel about each other. The standard is how Jesus has acted toward you.
Ephesians 5:25ESV
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
Agapao again. The model for marital love is a man on a cross, not a feeling in a chest.
1 John 4:19ESV
We love because he first loved us.
The verb is agapao on both sides. Our capacity to choose love toward others is downstream of being chosen ourselves.
Related Words
Words in the same semantic family.
1 Teaching on agapao
Every video where Adam teaches on this word, in publication order.
Featured In
This word is studied in depth in the following monthly Bible studies.