φιλέω, φιλῶ; imperfect 3 person singular ἐφίλει; 1 aorist ἐφίλησα; perfect πεφίληκα; (φίλος); from Homer down;

1. to love; to be friendly to one (the Sept. several times for àÈäÇá): τινα, Mat 10:37; Joh 5:20 (here L marginal reading ἀγαπᾷ); ; 1Co 16:22; Rev 3:19; with ἐν πίστει added, with a love founded in and springing from faith, Tit 3:15; τί, to love i. e. delight in, long for, a thing: τήν πρωτοκλισίαν, Mat 23:6; ἀσπασμούς, Luk 20:46; τήν ψυχήν, to be desirous of preserving one’s life (opposed to μισεῖν, to hate it when it cannot be kept without denying Christ), Joh 12:25; with nouns denoting virtues or vices: τό ψεῦδος, Rev 22:15 (σοφίαν, Pro 29:3; Pro 8:17); followed by an infinitive, like the Latinamo facere, to love to do, i. e. to do with pleasure: Mat 6:5 (Isa 56:10; Pindar Nem. 1,15; Aeschylus septem 619; Agam. 763; Suppl. 769; Euripides, Iph. Taur. 1198; Rhes. 394; Xenophon, hipparch. 7, 9; Aelian v. h. 14, 37).

2. to kiss: τινα, Mat 26:48; Mar 14:44; Luk 22:47 (often in the Greek writings; the Sept. for πΘωΗΡχ, Gen 27:26 f, and often).

3. As to the distinction between ἀγαπᾶν and φιλεῖν: the former, by virtue of its connection with ἄγαμαι, properly denotes a love founded in admiration, veneration, esteem, like the Latindiligere, to be kindly disposed to one, wish one well; but φιλεῖν denotes an inclination prompted by sense and emotion, Latinamare; ὁ μή τοῦ δεόμενος οὐδέ τί ἀγαπωη ἄν. ὁ δέ μή ἀγαπωη (ἀγαπῶν (?)), ὀυδ’ ἄν φίλοι, Plato, Lysias, p. 215 b.; ἐφιλησατε αὐτόν (Julius Caesar) ὡς πατέρα καί ἠγαπησατε ὡς εὐεργέτην, Dio Cassius, 44, 48; ut scires, eum a me non diligt solum, verum etiam amari, Cicero, ad fam. 13, 47; L. Clodius valde me diligit vel, ut ἐμφατικωτερον dicam, valde me amat, id. ad Brut. 1. Hence, men are said ἀγαπᾶν God, not φιλεῖν; and God is said ἀγαπῆσαι τόν κόσμον (Joh 3:16), and φιλεῖν the disciples of Christ (Joh 16:27); Christ bids us ἀγαπᾶν (not φιλεῖν) τούς ἐχθρούς (Mat 5:44), because love as an emotion cannot be commanded, but only love as a choice. Wisdom says, τούς ἐμέ φιλοῦντας ἀγαπῶ, Pro 8:17. As a futher aid in judging of the different, between the two words compare the following passages: Joh 11:3; Joh 11:5; Joh 11:36; Joh 21:15-17; (even in some eases where they might appear to be used interchangeably (e. g. Joh 14:28; Joh 16:27) the difference can still be traced). From what has been said, it is evident that ἀγαπᾶν is not, and cannot be, used of sexual love (but it is so used occasionally by the later writers; cf. Plutarch, Pericl. 24, 12, p. 165 e.; symp. 7, p. 180 b. ὁ ἐρώμενος τόν ἐραστην ἀγαπᾷ; cf. Stephanus Thesaurus i., p. 209 a.; Sophocles’ Lexicon, under the word ἀγ??Rev 2:1-29; Woolsey in the Andover Rev. for Aug. 1885, p. 170f). Cf. Tittmann, Syn. N. T. i., p. 50ff; Cremer, under the word ἀγαπάω (4te Aufl., p. 9f); Trench, § xii.; (Schmidt, chapter 136, especially § 6; Cope, Aristotle, rhet. vol. 1m Appendix A. (also given in the Journ. of Philol. for 1868, p. 88ff); also Höhne in (Luthardt’s) Zeitschr. f. kirchl. Wissensch. as above with for 1882, p. 6ff; especially Woolsey as above Compare: καταφιλέω.)