Agape and Phileo Love

Q: How many times does Agape and Phileo love appear in the New Testament?

A: Thank you for your question. A quick look at any Lexicon of the New Testament will give you an answer as to how many times Agape and Phileo love are mentioned. According to the New American Standard (NAS) New Testament Greek Lexicon, Agape appears 106 times in the New Testament. Using the that same Greek Lexicon, Phileo appears only 21 times in the New Testament. These numbers take into consideration the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as being New Testament books. Agape, pronounced ag-ah'-pay, is defined as meaning "brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence and love feasts." It is used the most in 1 John were it is found 14 times. 1 Corinthians and Ephesians are the only other New Testament books where Agape is used ten or more times. Multiple books only use Agape one time, including the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Some of the more popular passages of scripture using Agape are John 13:35 and Romans 8:39.

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35)."

"...nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39)."

Phileo, pronounced fil-eh'-o, means "to love, to approve of, to like, sanction, to treat affectionately or kindly, to welcome, befriend, to show signs of love, to kiss, to be fond of doing, be wont, use to do." Phileo is used ten times in the Gospel of John, but is not used more than four times in any other New Testament book. In fact, it is only found in seven New Testament books; besides the Gospel of John, it is found once in Mark's Gospel, 1 Corinthians and Titus, twice in Luke's Gospel and Revelation and four times in Matthew's Gospel. A couple of the more prominent passages which use Phileo are Luke 22:47 and John 21:15-17.

"While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him (Luke 22:47)."

"So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My lambs." He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep (John 21:15-17)."

It is often mentioned that the city of Philadelphia got its name from the word Phileo. Philadelphia is nicknamed "The City of Brotherly Love," because of this association with Phileo. Hopefully, the citizens of that great city are expressing a "Phileo" love towards one another. The most interesting difference between the words Agape and Phileo is the amount of times each one is used in the New Testament. Phileo is used about one fifth as many times as Agape is used. From what I gather, the reason may be due to the idea that Agape love appears to be more of a love which is generated from within a person's heart where Phileo love appears to be used more to describe the behavior of individuals. For example, Agape love is used in Galatians 5:22. There it reads, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness." This describes an attitude of the heart which can only come from abiding in Christ as He produces His fruit in us that we bear.

Continuing with this theme, we can use John 12:25 as an example of how Phileo used in regards to behavior. ""He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal." In this context it talks about love in the sense of how we are living in this world. However, it is interesting to note that how our love is expressed in the natural world is directly tied to the love we are receiving in the spiritual world from God through faith in Jesus Christ. As John 13:35 talks about, the evidence of our faith in Christ is manifest in how we love each other. The love of God, which is meeting the desires of our heart, is expressed in how we interact and treat each other. So, while it may be splitting hairs to try and find a difference between Agape and Phileo love, they are, ultimately, intertwined when it comes to our faith and our daily walk with Jesus Christ. Grace and Peace.