# ahava (אַהֲבָה)

pronounced: a-ha-VAH


**Love — given and chosen**

## In Scripture

> “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
> — Leviticus 19:18 (Ahava commanded — proof it is an act, not only a feeling)

> Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of Yahweh.
> — Song of Solomon 8:6 (The great ahava passage — love as a fire nothing outlasts)

> Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you.
> — Jeremiah 31:3 (Ahavat olam — God's everlasting love as the reason Israel is drawn back)

> We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
> — 1 John 4:16 (The New Testament makes love God's own nature)


## How to read this entry

The definition comes from the IsraelForYou lexicon. Scripture quotations and their translation are named below; later tradition or modern usage is identified when it appears.


https://israelforyou.com/hebrew/ahava/