what is agape love

What Is Agape Love? The Bible's Word for God's Love

What is agape love in the Bible: the Greek word for God's self-giving love, how it differs from friendship and desire, with Strong's notes, Scripture, and plain answers.

Illustrated portrait of Christopher McAllister

By Christopher McAllister

Founder of theBibleand.Love

Published September 28, 2026Updated October 25, 20265 min read1 John 4:8 (NIV)

A person stands with open hands in a barley field as dawn light fills the valley.

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

— 1 John 4:8 (NIV)

People who search what is agape love want a clear definition of the Greek word behind many New Testament "love" verses — not a vague synonym for warmth. This page names that word, shows where Scripture uses it, and points to the verses that already walk the same ground. A longer essay that already lives on this site is Agape love: God is love. A grouped list of love verses is Bible verses about love. The wider answer to "what does the Bible say about love" is What does the Bible say about love. Agape is often contrasted with eros, so see what eros love means.

Word study (lead verse). In 1 John 4:8 the verb and the claim sit in the Greek love-family of agapaō / agapē. Agapē is Strong's G26: love, goodwill, benevolence — love that chooses the other's good. John does not say "God feels loving"; he says "God is love," and the surrounding verses show that love in the sending of the Son. See also Bible Hub G26 and 1 John 4:8 meaning.

Matthew Henry notes that the gospel provision for forgiveness and salvation, consistent with God's glory and justice, "shows that God is love," and that mystery still rests on many things (Bible Hub, Matthew Henry on 1 John 4). On the same chapter at Blue Letter Bible he presses that love is of God and that the one who does not love has not known God (Blue Letter Bible, Matthew Henry on 1 John 4).

Agape in plain English

Agape love is the New Testament's main word for love that gives, commits, and seeks the other's good — above all, God's love shown in Christ. It is not a mood you wait for. It is love that moves toward people who did not earn it. Romans 5:8 says God demonstrated his own love while we were still sinners. John 3:16 says God so loved the world that he gave his Son. Those sentences are the definition in action. See Romans 5:8 and John 3:16 meaning.

Agape also names the love Christians owe one another. John 13:34 says, "Love one another. As I have loved you…" The degree is Christ's love, not a thin politeness. 1 Corinthians 13 describes that love as patient and kind, refusing envy, boasting, and a record of wrongs. See 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and Bible verses about loving others.

How agape relates to other love words

Greek had more than one love-word. Philia / phileō language often carries friendship and warm affection (see Types of love in the Bible). Philadelphia is brotherly love among believers (Bible verses about brotherly love). Hebrew hesed names covenant kindness in the Old Testament (What does hesed mean). Agape is the word John reaches for when he says God is love and when Jesus commands love that looks like the cross.

Agape does not cancel friendship, family loyalty, or marital affection. It names the love that can hold those loves to the truth and keep giving when feelings thin out. For unconditional love language in Scripture, see What does the Bible say about unconditional love and Bible verses about unconditional love.

Verses that show agape

  1. 1 John 4:8. "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." Agape starts with who God is.
  2. 1 John 4:10. "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son…" Agape is initiated by God.
  3. John 3:16. God loved the world and gave his Son. Agape gives.
  4. Romans 5:8. Love demonstrated while we were still sinners.
  5. John 13:34-35. Love one another as Christ loved — the visible mark of disciples.
  6. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Patient, kind, truth-rejoicing love in daily form.
  7. Ephesians 5:25. Husbands love as Christ loved the church and gave himself up.
  8. Matthew 22:37-39. Love God with all you are; love your neighbor as yourself.

How to use this page

If you need a one-line definition, start with 1 John 4:8 and 1 John 4:10. If you need the love lived toward people, read John 13:34 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. If you want the older essay already on this site, open Agape love: God is love. For a daily verse, open Bible verse of the day.

Questions people ask

What is agape love in the Bible?

Agape (agapē, Strong's G26) is the Greek word often behind "love" when Scripture speaks of God's self-giving love and the love Christians owe God and neighbor. 1 John 4:8 says God is love; 1 John 4:10 shows that love in the sending of the Son.

Is agape the same as unconditional love?

Scripture shows love given before it is earned (Romans 5:8) and love that will not be cut off from those in Christ (Romans 8:38-39). "Unconditional" is a modern summary word; the verses are more precise. See What does the Bible say about unconditional love.

How is agape different from friendship love?

Friendship language (phileō / philadelphia) stresses warm affection and loyalty among companions or brothers and sisters. Agape stresses willing, self-giving commitment to the other's good — including when affection is hard. Both appear in the New Testament. See Types of love in the Bible.

Does agape mean I ignore truth or harm?

No. 1 Corinthians 13 says love rejoices with the truth and refuses delight in evil. Agape seeks the other's good; it does not rename harm as kindness. See 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

Read Agape love: God is love, 1 John 4:8 meaning, Bible verses about God's love, and Types of love in the Bible.

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