Beloved (27) (agapetos from agapao = to love, agape = unconditional love borne by Spirit - Gal 5:22-) means beloved, dear, very much loved. Agapetos describes the love of another, this love being called out of the "giver's" heart by preciousness of the recipient of the love (the "beloved'). Agapetos is used only of Christians as united with God or with each other in love. Agapetos is used only of Christians as united (by covenant, the New Covenant) with God and/or with each other in love. Agapetos describes "one who is in a very special relationship with another" (BDAG) and in secular Greek is used mostly of a child, especially an only child to whom all the love of his parents is given (cf use by the Father describing His only Son and Abraham describing his "only son" in Ge 22:2). BDAG adds that agapetos " pertains to one who is dearly loved, dear, beloved, prized, valued (papyri, LXX; pseudepigraphia) indicating a close relationship, especially that between parent and child." Beloved is a term of endearment and is someone that you love, and someone you are deeply devoted to. In the context of the New Testament agape love speaks of God’s divine and infinite love, a love that seeks the ultimate spiritual welfare of the one loved. Agapetos could be translated “divinely loved ones.” God the Father uses agapetos of Jesus at the transfiguration... While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him (A command we do well to heed!)!” (Mt 17:5) In fact the first 7 uses in the NT are of God the Father speaking of Christ, His beloved Son (Mt. 3:17; 12:18; 17:5; Mk. 1:11; 9:7; 12:6; Lk. 3:22) and as Friberg says these uses describe "One not only greatly loved but also unique, the only one of a class." This usage by God to describe His only Son, the Son of His love, gives you some idea of the preciousness of the word beloved! This truth makes it even more incredible that believers are referred to here by Peter as "beloved!" In all of Paul's uses of agapetos, he is referring to saints and sometimes uses beloved to modify his description 1Cor 15:58 ("beloved brethren" - even in face of this church having multiple spiritual "issues", cf Eph 4:1), Eph 6:21,Col 4:7, 9 ("beloved brother", as in ). Col 4:14 (Luke the beloved physician). 1Cor 4:14, Eph 5:1 ("beloved children"). "Beloved brother" in Philemon 1:16. In 1Cor 4:17 Paul describes Timothy as his "beloved and faithful child in the Lord" where "child" does not speak of biology, but of soteriology. In other words, Paul was involved in Timothy's new birth experience (cf 2Ti 1:2). Paul used the verb form agapao, to describe the saints at Thessalonica as "brethren beloved (agapao) by God, His choice (1Th 1:4-note). In Ro 11:28 beloved describes Jews who are elect and therefore part of the remnant ("Messianic Jews"). Agapetos - 61x in 60v in NT - 7" class="scriptRef">17" class="scriptRef">17" class="scriptRef">Mt. 3:17; 16.12" class="scriptRef">12.18" class="scriptRef">12:18; 5" class="scriptRef">17:5; 11" class="scriptRef">11" class="scriptRef">Mk. 1:11; 9.7" class="scriptRef">9:7; 12:6; Lk. 3:22; 20.13" class="scriptRef">20:13; Acts 15:25; Ro 1:7; 11:28; 19" class="scriptRef">12:19; 16:5, 8, 9, 12; 14" class="scriptRef">1 Co. 4:14, 17; 10:14; 15:58; 2Co. 7:1; 12:19; Eph 5:1; 21" class="scriptRef">6:21; Phil. 2:12; 4:1; Col. 1:7; 4:7, 9, 14; 1Th 2:8; 1Ti 6:2; 2Ti 1:2; Philemon 1:1, 16; Heb 6:9; Jas 1:16, 19; 2:5; 1Pe 2:11; 4:12; 2Pe 1:17; 3:1, 8, 14, 15, 17; 1Jn. 2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7, 11; 3Jn. 1:1, 2, 5, 11; Jude 1:3, 17, 20. With the exception of 1Th 2:8 where agapetos is translated as "very dear," all the NT uses in NAS are translated "beloved." Peter uses beloved as a descriptive title, reminding his readers who were going through much suffering because of persecution, that they were not to trust their feelings but to remember that they were loved with all the love in the heart of God. What a sweet pillow upon which to rest our weary, tried, tested, tempted hearts, just to know that our Father loves us (cp He 13:5). It helps one endure the heartaches and pains of life. Agapetos - 24x/24v in the non-apocryphal Septuagint - Gen 22:2, 12, 16; Ps 38:20; 45:1; 60:5; 68:12; Ps 84:1; 108:6; 127:2; Isa 5:1; 26:17; Jer 6:26; 31:20; Amos 8:10; Zech 12:10; 13:6. Note the first use in the OT... Gen 22:2 And He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” 12 And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son from Me.” Comment: In Ge 22:12 the Lxx translates agapetos as "only son" (Hebrew = yachid) rather than as beloved. In a similar way, in Zech 12:10 agapetos is used to translate "only son" (again the Hebrew is yachid). Ps 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Isa 5:1 Let me sing now for my well-beloved (agapao in perfect tense) A song of my beloved (agapetos) concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved (agapao in perfect tense) had a vineyard on a fertile hill. Comment: Here agapetos refers to the nation of Israel as a whole rather than as beloved.