The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. The word Koine denotes “common,” because this style of Greek was the language of the common man-on-the-street during the time of Christ.
Koine Greek came into vogue about 300 years before the birth of Jesus, and it became an obsolete language about three centuries after the Lord’s death. It was the most precise instrument for the conveyance of human thought that the world has ever known.
Without doubt, this language was providentially employed by God in giving the world the New Testament revelation of his Son.
The “Love” Vocabulary
Koine Greek had several words representing different aspects of love. Eros generally had to do with sexual love. From this term derives the English “erotic.” This word, however, is never found in the New Testament.
Then there was the noun storge. This term was primarily employed of family affection. Paul used a negative form of it in describing the base traits of certain pagans of his day. He spoke of those who were “without natural affection” (astorgous — Romans 1:31).
A very common word for love during the apostolic age was philia. It is the word of genuine affection — heartfelt love. It is seen in the name, Philadelphia (brotherly love). Jesus had this kind of love for his closest disciple, John (John 20:2), and for Lazarus (John 11:3).
The noblest form of love, however, was agape. William Barclay, in his superb discussion of this word, noted:
Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion which rises unbidden in our hearts; it is a principle by which we deliberately live (1974, 21, emphasis added).
It is the kind of love that we must have for all men — even our enemies (Matthew 5:44). The Christian must always act out of love, i.e., in the best interest of his fellow human beings.
Culled from christiancourier.com
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