Hebrew Word Study –  The Four Loves – Ahav : Dod, Yichud, Racham – אַהַב  דוֹדִ יַחֵ֥ד רָחַם  

II Samuel 1:26: “I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.” 

Song of Solomon 6:3: “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.”

Psalms 86:11: “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.”

Psalms 18:1: “I will love You, O LORD, my strength.”

My brother who is a linguist with Wycliffe Bible Translators told me that whatever is important in a culture is reflected in the language of that culture.  For instance, in the Arctic regions of Canada the Inuit culture has many different words for snow (linguists debate the actual number) because snow is important to those living in a land of ice and snow.  Is it wet snow, good for packing and building igloos, it is a powdery snow which is good for tracking, etc?  Snow is important in the Inuit culture and thus there are a number of different words for snow.  In the United States, snow is not that important, it is nice for Christmas and prettiness as well as a pain in the neck for many of us.  But it is ultimately not all that important as we have just one word in English for the white, wet stuff – snow. Meteorologists have tried to incorporate other words like snain for rain and snow or a wet snow but it just never catches on, at least to the point where it is incorporated in a dictionary as nothing more than a slang term. 

However,  the English language does have a uniqueness, it has more adjectives than any other language.  What is an adjective, it describes things.  We do not say; “I have a new car.” Instead, we add a few adjectives: “I have a candy apple, red Tesla – yippee!”  A language will reflect what is important in that culture and of course, it is things that are important in our culture.  

We have all heard of the three words in Greek for love, which are phileo, agape, and eros.   Phileo is often defined as brotherly love, agape is an unconditional love and eros is an erotic love.  Hebrew actually has four words for love. English has just one word for love – love.  We love everything from our family, friends, pet dog Sparky, and Big Macs.  We throw that word love around like the words hello,  hi, how ya doin’.  For most of us, it is just a word to use when you have nothing else to say. Sort of one of those fill-in-the-blank words.  It is used so much in so many different contexts that it has virtually lost its meaning.  We throw out the words: “God loves you” and the person thinks: “Yeah, yeah, so does my pet dog Sparky.”  

Hebrew has at least four words for love, and I say at least four words as there are other words that are often translated as love like chasad which is really a word for mercy, but in the right context it can be translated as love or there is the Hebrew word thalpor which is a word for cherish which is a form of love.  Yet, there are four very specific words in Hebrew that speak of different levels of love. In fact, in my In Depth Study on this topic, I talk about the level of love in our Christian experience. That will be found on our All Access site at www.hebrewwordstudy.com. 

First, you have the most common word for love which is ahav or ahavah in a feminine form. It is general overall, generic love. It can be used for loving anything or anyone from Grandma to your pet dog Sparky.  It is a non-romantic, non-erotic, or sexual love.  It is the love expressed between the Biblical Jonathan and David. A strong brotherly love that speaks of a bonding and friendship.  But, with all due respect to the LGBT community, it is not a reference to sexual or physical intimacy. Ahav is rarely used in the Bible for marital love other than for the sake of comparison as Jacob had two wives and loved the one more than the other. 

Then there is the romantic love.  This is the word dod for beloved or dodi as found in the Song of Solomon for my beloved.  This is that romantic love, you know like those Twinkies you see leaving the local Middle School or High School.  That little teenage boy and girl walking out of school, hand in hand, each sharing an ear pod to their iPhone listening to their favorite song, staring all Google eyes with each other – really cute. We call it puppy love, infatuation but certainly not a mature love, although the puppies would dispute that. 

Then there is yichud love, a uniting of two into one.  This is known among the Jews as a marital love. It means together alone.  When a couple completes their wedding ceremony and passes under the chupah, they are said to be born again, born into a new life, a life where your world no longer revolves around you but you and another person.  The couple enters what is called a yichud room.  In the past, this is when the marriage is consummated. Today it is a locked room where only the bride and groom have the key. It is here they are allowed to be alone together to contemplate their new life together as echad – one. 

Then there is the fourth level of love, the highest level possible. It is a level that even David knew he could not achieve for it is a Godly level.  I wrote a whole book on the topic called Racham.  It is a love that David used in Psalms 18:1 and put it in an imperfect inflection.  That is he did not say: “I love you Lord” but “I will love you, Lord.”  

You see, no matter how great a love you have felt while in the flesh, how wonderful and ultimate a love you felt for others and from God, there is even a greater love that you have to look forward to.  That love that will experience when you receive that Divine Kiss from God and your spirit leaves this fleshly, corrupt body and is joined with God in the ultimate expression of love called Racham. 

To read my In Depth Study on this topic go to our All Access Site at www.hebrewwordstudy.com and look under In Depth Studies for The Four Loves In Hebrew.   

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