luv´ẽr ( אהב , 'ōhēbh , אהב , 'āhēbh ): In the Old Testament 'ōhēbh , from 'āhēbh , "to love," is sometimes "lover" in the sense of "friend," in the older English sense of the word ( 1 Kings 5:1 , "Hiram was ever a lover of David"; Psalm 38:11; Psalm 88:18; Lamentations 1:2 ); more frequently it has the meaning of "lover" in the special sense, sometimes in the evil sense of the word (Jeremiah 22:20 , Jeremiah 22:22; Jeremiah 30:14; Ezekiel 16:33 , Ezekiel 16:36 f, etc.; Hosea 2:5 , Hosea 2:7 , Hosea 2:10 , etc.); ‛āghabh , "to love" (Jeremiah 4:30 ), rēa' , "companion" (Jeremiah 3:1 ), and 'ăhābhı̄m , "loves" (Hosea 8:9 ), are also translated "lovers" in this sense.
In the New Testament the simple word "lover" does not occur, but we have various compound words, philótheos "lover of God" ( 2 Timothy 3:4 ); philágathos , "lover of good," and philóxenos , "lover of hospitality" (Titus 1:8 ); phı́lautos , "lover of self" (2 Timothy 3:2 ); philḗdonos , "lover of pleasure" (2 Timothy 3:4 ).
In the Revised Version (British and American) we have, for "a lover of hospitality" (Titus 1:8 ), "given to"; for "covetous" (Luke 16:14; 2 Timothy 3:2 ), "lovers of money"; for "not covetous" (1 Timothy 3:3 ), "no lover of money"; for "despisers of them that are good" (2 Timothy 3:3 ), "no lovers of good."
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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