The New Testament Agape

The word agape undoubtedly belongs to the key words of the New Testament. This article deals with its position in the New Testament in general. First, the occurrences of this term in the New Testament and in earlier writings (especially in the Septuagint) are compared and then the fact is considered that no certain instance of this word is as yet known from a pre-Christian non-Jewish document. Its origin is also not entirely clear. The term agape, however, was at least in its fundamental meaning understandable even for those who met it for the first time. This could have had some impact on the spread of Christianity, but the content and depth of this New Testament word must be more acquired and adopted also by those who have been brought up as Christians.

Keywords: New Testament; Septuagint; Agape; Love