AGAPH outside the New Testament
Jonathan Burke
jburke at sprint.com.au
Fri Jun 14 10:21:45 EDT 2002
Hi Carl,
>
Well, Jonathan, I sort of thought you were responding to David McKay's
response to Larry Baker's message-- I took David's response to be sarcastic:
>
I was sort of responding to David. But I wasn't sure what he was getting
at.
>
I don't think there's anything "warm and fuzzy" here...
>
Nor do I. I just didn't know what he was getting at.
>
...and I frankly don't understand why it would even be termed
"unconditional." The more conventional Greek verb in the passage in question
(2 Sam 13:1) would be ERAOMAI.
>
Unconditional probably wasn't quite the right word. I was trying to
illustrate that the word AGAPH could certainly be used for the most tender
of loves and still be used for the most brutal of desires. I don't think
that's a matter of debate. The question is, how are these two diametrically
opposed thoughts contained within the semantic range of the word?
My suggestion was that the word carries some connotation of love which is
felt regardless of conditions or social factors - positive or negative.
I could probably have written a paragraph to explain myself and still not
managed to get anywhere. I chose to use a single word, an approximation at
that, which was clearly inadequate.
Jonathan Burke.
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