It’s Not All Art

2 Samuel 19:6 You love those who hate you, and you hate those who love you.

Hebrews 11:6 Without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who become diligent in seeking Him.

Last night, I had a dream about agape, the Greek word always translated as ‘love’ in the New Testament. And then I woke up to be given this Old Testament verse about love and hate. It’s more than a sign.

In this Old Testament verse, David is getting a verbal spanking from his leading commander because he is putting his own personal agenda before the needs of the greater good, and he isn’t making sound judgements. But that aside, I want to use this space to further develop ‘love’ as it is used specifically in the Bible. Our English words are not always sufficient to transfer meaning from the original language in which the Bible was written.

Nearly fifteen years ago, after my second year of New Testament Greek class in seminary, I continued to add translation into my daily devotional time. At first, my translations were more about method and came off as a bit perfunctory. Time did not linger when translation turned into critical interpretation (exegesis), and what may have been a rote exercise became diligence in seeking the Father. I began desiring, pursuing and knocking on His door long before I knew those were three of the Twenty Commands in Matthew’s mountain sermon.

After those numerous years translating the Greek New Testament to English, I have seen a lot and have learned a lot about biblical translation and how easy it is for the trusting public to latch on to English words like a nursing baby. Some of these ‘Bible’ words have become sacred ground, like Old Testament memorial stones that just dare to be moved. The word, love, is one of those sacred cows.

Our translators of old have done us no favors in homogenizing this love-ly word, using one English rendering for such a variety of Greek meanings. Personal attachments to the word ‘love’ is like trying to separate white on rice; not that it can’t be done; it won’t be done. This is our beginning place for disassociating the English word, love, for some of these Greek words that not only mean something else but also, something more. The sensitivities are extremely high when ‘love’ is tampered with, but so are the rewards for those who are diligent in seeking Him. It is in this spirit of seeking God’s perspective diligently that I ask you to continue your reading of this blog.  

In the English culture and etymology, love is a word that has an emotional connotation, but the Greek language is so much more complicated than that. The first century Greek was called Koine Greek, meaning ‘common.’ This is the language of our New Testament Bible. This language evolved out of its earlier Classical roots and continued to evolve into the language it is today. Liken it to the Old English of Shakespeare’s day to what English is now.

All that to say, the translation implications are serious for us Bible readers. In our particular area of scholarship in Divine Discipleship, understanding is critically imperative and parallel to the output of obedience to Scripture. What do we know about ‘love’ and its origin? Not only that, how was it used and in what context? Jesus said that to love God and love neighbors were the two greatest commandments. This directive in English leaves little room to move forward with any intentionality. Because experience with human love is so radically different and individual, my definition of love may be different than the next guy’s definition of love. So, there is a lot of leeway when it comes to interpretation. But if we can use the original Greek terminology that gets translated, love, we might find out more than what we know now. And this is what I want to speak to.

The Greek word translated as ‘love’ in this verse about the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-39) is ἀγαπάω {ag-ap-ah'-o} a verb meaning to value or esteem (according to The New Analytical Greek Lexicon, Wesley J. Perschbacher. 1990). This Greek word is also found in other contexts including, but not limited to, Proverbs 20:13 “Do not value sleep.” Would you say, “Do not love sleep?” Hopefully you can begin to see what has happened to this Greek word that always gets translated as ‘love.’

Value or esteem (I prefer value) may not seem like an action verb, but if believers are commanded to value God and value the neighbors, there may be some follow up and accountability in order. How do I prove that I value God and value my neighbors? Well, this is where Matthew’s (and Luke’s) Twenty Commands come in. The reward in translating the book of Matthew was finding these twenty Greek imperative verbs in chapter’s five, six and seven.

These commands are the key to valuing God and valuing the neighbors. For instance, when I desire, pursue and knock (Matthew 7:7), I value God. When I store up treasure in heaven, I value God. When I am not consumed with thoughts (worry), I value God. Worry suggests mistrust which definitely does not value God.  Likewise, shine your light and do not judge values the neighbors.

The Twenty Commands, in the perfect symmetry that they are, can be sliced right down the middle; ten commands are meant to value God, and ten are meant to value the neighbors. What has always been treated like an art has more science than we knew.