Part of Speech: Verb
Strong's Number: H157
Original Word: ’ahab
Usage Notes: "to love; like." This verb occurs in Moabite and Ugaritic. It appears in all periods of Hebrew and around 250 times in the Bible.
Basically this verb is equivalent to the English "to love" in the sense of having a strong emotional attachment to and desire either to possess or to be in the presence of the object. First, the word refers to the love a man has for a woman and a woman for a man. Such love is rooted in sexual desire, although as a rule it is desire within the bounds of lawful relationships: "And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her…" (Gen 24:67). This word may refer to an erotic but legal love outside marriage. Such an emotion may be a desire to marry and care for the object of that love, as in the case of Shechem's love for Dinah (Gen 34:3). In a very few instances ’ahab may signify no more than pure lust, an inordinate desire to have sexual relations with its object (cf. 2Sam 13:1). Marriage may be consummated without the presence of love for one's marriage partner (Gen 29:30). ’Ahab seldom refers to making love (usually this is represented by yada‘, "to know," or by shakab, "to lie with"). The word does seem to have this added meaning, however, in 1Ki 11:1: "But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh…" (cf. Jer 2:25). Hosea appears to use this nuance when he writes that God told him to "go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adultress…" (Hos 3:1). This is the predominant meaning of the verb when it appears in the causative stem (as a participle). In every instance except one (Zech 13:6) ’ahab signifies those with whom one has made or intends to make love: "Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed" (Jer 22:20; cf. Ezek 16:33).
’Ahab is also used of the love between parents and their children. In its first biblical appearance, the word represents Abraham's special attachment to his son Isaac: "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest…" (Gen 22:2). ’Ahab may refer to the family love experienced by a daughter-in-law toward her mother-in-law (Ruth 4:15). This kind of love is also represented by the word raham.
Usage Number: 2
Strong's Number: H157
Original Word: ’ahab
Usage Notes: "to love; like." This verb occurs in Moabite and Ugaritic. It appears in all periods of Hebrew and around 250 times in the Bible.
Basically this verb is equivalent to the English "to love" in the sense of having a strong emotional attachment to and desire either to possess or to be in the presence of the object. First, the word refers to the love a man has for a woman and a woman for a man. Such love is rooted in sexual desire, although as a rule it is desire within the bounds of lawful relationships: "And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her…" (Gen 24:67). This word may refer to an erotic but legal love outside marriage. Such an emotion may be a desire to marry and care for the object of that love, as in the case of Shechem's love for Dinah (Gen 34:3). In a very few instances ’ahab may signify no more than pure lust, an inordinate desire to have sexual relations with its object (cf. 2Sam 13:1). Marriage may be consummated without the presence of love for one's marriage partner (Gen 29:30). ’Ahab seldom refers to making love (usually this is represented by yada‘, "to know," or by shakab, "to lie with"). The word does seem to have this added meaning, however, in 1Ki 11:1: "But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh…" (cf. Jer 2:25). Hosea appears to use this nuance when he writes that God told him to "go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adultress…" (Hos 3:1). This is the predominant meaning of the verb when it appears in the causative stem (as a participle). In every instance except one (Zech 13:6) ’ahab signifies those with whom one has made or intends to make love: "Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed" (Jer 22:20; cf. Ezek 16:33).
’Ahab is also used of the love between parents and their children. In its first biblical appearance, the word represents Abraham's special attachment to his son Isaac: "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest…" (Gen 22:2). ’Ahab may refer to the family love experienced by a daughter-in-law toward her mother-in-law (Ruth 4:15). This kind of love is also represented by the word raham.
Usage Number: 3
Original Word: ’ahab
Usage Notes: ’Ahab sometimes depicts a special strong attachment a servant may have toward a master under whose dominance he wishes to remain: "And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go free…" (Exod 21:5). Perhaps there is an overtone here of family love; he "loves" his master as a son "loves" his father (cf. Deut 15:16). This emphasis may be in 1Sa 16:21, where we read that Saul "loved [David] greatly." Israel came "to love" and deeply admire David so that they watched his every move with admiration (1Sam 18:16).
A special use of this word relates to an especially close attachment of friends: "… the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul" (1Sam 18:1). In Lev 19:18: "… Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…" (cf. Lev 19:34; Deut 10:19) ’ahab signifies this brotherly or friendly kind of love. The word suggests, furthermore, that one seek to relate to his brother and all men according to what is specified in the law structure God gave to Israel. This was to be the normal state of affairs between men.
This verb is used politically to describe the loyalty of a vassal or a subordinate to his lord, so Hiram of Tyre "loved" David in the sense that he was completely loyal (1Kings 5:1). The strong emotional attachment and desire suggested by ’ahab may also be fixed on objects, circumstances, actions, and relationships.
Usage Number: 4
Part of Speech: Noun
Strong's Number: H160
Original Word: ’ahabâ
Usage Notes: "love." This word appears about 55 times, and it represents several kinds of "love." The first biblical occurrence of ’ahabâ is in Gen 29:20; there the word deals with the "love" between man and wife as a general concept. In Hos 3:1 the word is used of "love" as a sexual activity. ’Ahabâ means "love" between friends in 1Sa 18:3: "Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul." The word refers to Solomon's "love" in 1Ki 11:2 and to God's "love" in Deut 7:8.
Usage Number: 5
Part of Speech: Participle
Strong's Number: H157
Original Word: ’ahab
Usage Notes: "friend." This word used as a participle may mean "friend": "… the rich hath many friends" (Prov 14:20).
